It is impossible to ignore the challenges that climate change is creating in our world, and the efforts that we all have to make to create meaningful action towards net zero. Many of us want to know that the businesses we are using are also taking these steps, and your veterinary practice is no exception.
The good news is 93% of vets say that environmental sustainability is important to them, according to a 2024 survey by the British Veterinary Association. Over the last few years, many groups have been set up to help provide guidance to vets as to how to make their practice greener, and the actions within these are increasingly a part of practice accreditation schemes. This article will look at some of the actions your vet might (and should!) be taking to make their practice greener, so that you can be aware of how sustainable your vet practice really is.
How can I find out how sustainable my vet practice is?
Much of the information for this article comes from Vet Sustain, a group of veterinary professionals who volunteer to champion the health of humans, animals and ecosystems. Their goal is to achieve sustainability not just in individual vet practices, but for the diverse range of industries where vets work (including farming, politics and infectious disease control) and so improve sustainability for the planet as a whole. They provide training and information for veterinary practices.
The British Veterinary Association works with Vet Sustain and in 2024 they jointly produced a net zero report. BVA also promotes sustainability in its Great Workplaces accreditation scheme.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (who are the regulatory and licencing body for the profession) also promote sustainability through their Practice Standards Scheme, with a new module introduced in 2023 with core standards for sustainability policy.
Whilst membership of all of these schemes is optional, they are all accolades your vets will be very proud to tell you about if they have them! Speak to your local practice to ask about their sustainability policies and if they are members of any of these groups.
But what sort of actions could your vets be taking to make them more green?
Green actions for any business, including vets
Vet practices are businesses like any other, with premises, equipment, staff and admin work to consider. Just like any business, there are some fundamental areas where things can be made greener.
Responsible Resource Use
- We all need to reduce fossil fuel use for energy and heating. Is your practice fuelled by renewable energy? Some now have biomass boilers and air source heat pumps, but for those that don’t, does their energy supplier support and use renewables?
- All businesses produce waste. Reducing how much is produced and sorting it into categories so that it can be recycled where possible is a great way to promote sustainability.
- Is your practice paperless? Can you sign forms digitally to reduce paper use, and do they use physical paper for hospital charts etc? Where physical paper is needed, do they source responsibly produced paper and then recycle it appropriately when done?
- There’s only so much any one business can do, so making sure that suppliers and other companies you work with take sustainability seriously too is important.
Green Buildings
- Environmentally friendly design principles can be used to make business premises healthier for the humans that work in them and the planet as a whole. If your vets is in a purpose built building, did they ensure these ideas were used in the plans? If they are in a converted building, these principles can often still be applied after the fact, such as installing new insulation and solar panels.
- There is a lot of legislation around how a building functions to make it green, and your practice will need to adhere to this.
- Biodiversity can be massively increased around a building by providing even small green spaces and gardens, window boxes and green roofs, or nesting boxes for bats and birds. Not only does this help local wildlife, areas of planting have been shown to have many beneficial effects on the mental health of humans working in and visiting a building – it works for pets too!
Being green every day
- Does your practice have a travel policy to help reduce emissions? Providing ways for staff and clients to arrive at the practice by foot, bike or public transport can really improve sustainability credentials and improve safety and air quality at the practice.
- Attending any training or meetings virtually can also reduce travel and therefore emissions outside the business too.
- Inevitably lots of lights and computers will need to be used daily, but by turning these off and switching to renewable energy, carbon footprints can be reduced.
Green Actions for Vet Practices
In some ways vets are very different from your typical workplace, and many of these aspects can be made greener through careful choices.
Operations
- Sterile equipment for operating is obviously essential in medical care, and is not something that can be compromised on, which has fuelled the rise of single use goods in human and animal hospitals. However, many high-quality reusable versions of surgical hats, shoe covers, hand cloths, operating drapes, sterilisation pouches and instruments are available (and coming back into common use), and these can be made safe time and time again with use of an autoclave (a high pressure high temperature sterilising machine)
- If your pet has an operation, they will likely be given anaesthetic as a gas that they breathe in but also breathe this out. Part of an anaesthetic machine is the ‘scavenging’ system that takes these gases out of the air in the room, but unfortunately still many systems still release them into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. By using modern anaesthetic techniques, flusorption with capture recycling, injectable anaesthetics where not possible and ensuring equipment is in perfect working order, vets can reduce the impact of this.
Infection Control
- Infection control is vitally important in a practice, but throwing bleach around everywhere is toxic to water systems, wildlife and the people using it! By keeping up to date with evidence-based infection control research, practices can minimise use of toxic chemicals.
- Vet practices always have a lot of washing to do, but fleece bedding is easier to dry on a line than in a tumble dryer, which reduces electricity use.
Medications
- Medications all use resources and energy to be produced, and if unused have to be disposed of. Good stock control ensures medications are not being overproduced and then going out of date before they can be safely used.
- All medications need to be disposed of correctly to make sure they don’t pollute the environment or cause harm to humans or wildlife
- Most critically of all, vets are on the frontline of preventing antibiotic and antiparasitic resistance. Multi-drug resistance is something that is causing serious concerns throughout the world and is likely to be a cause of mass human deaths in the future. Only using these drugs when it has been proved they are necessary is vital, as is ensuring clients are aware of how to use them safely for the right length of time. If your vet won’t just give you the antibiotics that you feel has ‘always worked before’ for your dog’s ear infection, this is why!
Summary
At the heart of it all, nearly all vets are dedicated to sustainability in their practices because it ultimately promotes animal welfare in pets, farmed and competition animals, and in wildlife. There is an ever-increasing presence of pressure groups and schemes that are promoting sustainability in practice, and practices are actively taking steps to be part of this. Ask your vets what they are doing to help – if they are working to be sustainable they will be more than happy to tell you!
And if you want a quick check? See if they have any sustainability awards or accreditations; and whether they have a Sustainability Policy.
Discussion