Our vision in 2024 is to proceed with our new build premises in order to continue to offer our high standard of care to our growing client base, whilst reducing our carbon footprint and maintaining our dedication to supporting local biodiversity.
Our commitment:
We are aware that our service has an impact on the environment through energy and resource use and waste production. Through our environmental policy and Green Group actions we aim to reduce our impact on the local environment and wider carbon footprint by identifying key action areas and creating targets which enable us to continuously improve our sustainability whilst maintaining our high standard of patient care.
Key areas of impact
- Waste production: in particular single use plastics and cardboard packaging
- Resource usage: practice vehicles, vehicles used by staff to come to work, vehicles used by clients coming for appointments. Oil for heating and hot water. Electricity usage. Water usage
- Pharmaceutical and chemical use: disposal of unused pharmaceuticals, use of endo-and ecto-paraciticides, use of antimicrobials, use of anaesthetic gas. Procurement and delivery of consumables
- Biodiversity: paddock and green space management
Actions:
Having identified the key areas of impact, we commit to the following actions to continuously improve our environmental sustainability as a business:
- Responsible resource use (including medicines)
- Provide dedicated recycling containers and communicate their use to the practice
- Transition to the use of electric vehicles with on-site charging facility. Installation of green energy solutions in our new build practice such as ground-source heat pump and solar panels.
- Communicate to clients and practice responsible disposal of used pharmaceuticals and chemicals
- Reduce the use of blanket endo-and ecto-parasiticide use through communication with clients and bespoke parasite plans. In particular by encouraging horse owners to join our new Equine Health Plan preventive care package.
- Be proactive in appropriate use of antimicrobials by recommending culture and sensitivity testing and reducing our use of critical antibiotics. Promoting preventive health care via our health plans to reduce medicines usage overall.
- Reduce our use of anaesthetic gas via a SOP for reducing flow rates, increasing use of local anaesthesia, increasing use of sevoflurane over isoflurane and investing in more Humphrey ADE circuits.
- Change behaviours to improve sustainability
- Encourage preventative health care eg. health plan 6 month checks and obesity clinics
- Use environmentally accredited suppliers who are based as locally as possible
- Plan ambulatory work to ensure zonal visits and reduce vehicle mileage
- Turn off lights and computer screens when not in use
- Keep external doors and windows closed in winter
- Reduce strimming of green areas around carpark to encourage wildflower and insect populations
- Encourage team action
- Have in place a system for staff to suggest environmental improvement strategies: eg quarterly Green Group meetings
- Communicating environmental achievements to clients via social media/waiting room/website
Targets
We aim to support the UK’s commitment for net zero by 2050 through the actions outlined.
We aim to reduce our relative carbon footprint by 10% over the next two years and to take the opportunity of our new build to put in place as many resource-saving and environmentally beneficial features as possible from the start.
For more information on sustainability in the veterinary profession:
https://www.bva.co.uk/take-action/working-towards-a-greener-profession/
https://vetsustain.org/
Check by here for further news on our progress and our Green Group activities
