To be “green” with plastic surgery, you have to be selfish — unfortunately, for now, the only way to jump on the green trend when it concerns your beauty is to be entirely selfish.

The only way to recycle anything, for anyone, involves the movement of your own fat back to another area in your own body. We call this fat transfer, and it involves taking fat from one unwanted area and replacing in back into a more desirable location.

The typical harvest sites (where we get the fat from) include the abdomen, thighs, hips and lower back. The recipient site (where the fat goes to) include the buttocks, face, breasts and hands.

This is a bit of a 2:1 surgery where the patient can have a reduction in bulk in one area and a plumping effect in another. This plumping effect of the fat can truly augment the youthful appearance of an area in a patient, especially the face or hands.

Fat transfer starts with liposuction where fat is literally suctioned out with a stainless steel straw called a cannula. This is often done under local or general anesthetic and best done in a hospital or an accredited surgical center.

The fat is treated by a variety of methods that may include use of a centrifuge machine or just washing or rinsing the fat with specialized solutions. The fat is then placed in a different location to have the desired plumping effects with that same cannula system utilized.

Fat transfer can smooth out wrinkles or fill in contours that have become more noticeable with aging. Smaller amounts of fat are utilized in these areas, like the cheeks, lips, temples, and eyelids.