How 'Grey's Anatomy' turned Kate Walsh into climate warrior

Kate Walsh, for over two decades, portrayed Dr Addison Montgomery in Grey's Anatomy, which not only made her a TV icon but also sparked her environmental consciousness.

In an interview with Womans World, she recalled how the medical drama decision of replacing plastic water bottles with reusable ones on set while also encouraging the series cast and crew to recycle inspired her eco mission.

“When I was on Grey’s and Private Practice, they were moving away from single-use plastics, and they started with water bottles," the actress reflected. 

"They would give you Grey’s Anatomy water bottles—they always had recycling programs there."

Not stopping at water bottles, Walsh explained how Grey's Anatomy also darted its eyes on phasing out printed script pages.

“They gave us the option of not using paper sides—the script pages for each scene," she recalled.

Though Walsh shared she preferred physical copies due to being "old-school", she praised Grey's Anatomy's efforts to cut back waste.

When I went back to Grey’s in the last couple of years, I noticed the younger cast members had tablets with their sides on them. I’m old school, though—I prefer holding a physical piece of paper, but they’re doing as much as they can to reduce waste, which is great because there’s a lot of waste in the industry.” 

Walsh's experience at Grey's Anatomy, in addition to her interest, led her to dedicate her life to ocean conservation.