Combatting the carbon pawprint – a quick look at sustainability in veterinary practice
As one of the most trusted professions, veterinary professionals represent a massive opportunity to induce change, contribute to sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Veterinary professionals, whether a part of small animal, farm, exotic or any other practice, are in a unique position to contribute to sustainability and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As one of the most trusted professions in the United Kingdom, the extended influence of the veterinary team represents a massive opportunity to induce change when it comes to sustainability, whether this is as part of their role in One Health or through many other smaller, but no less important, actions towards sustainable living.
This article is a whistle-stop introduction to implementing sustainable practices in your clinic.
How can I reduce my carbon pawprint?
Cutting carbon emissions
Calculating the carbon footprint of your practice is the best place to start, not only because the necessary information should be readily available, thus making it an easier task, but because it will help you to see where your practice is most inefficient. This can be used as a framework to help your “green team” create a plan and work towards patching the holes.
For example, while building infrastructure and anaesthesia often present the greatest challenges to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in small animal practice, the ambulatory nature of equine and farm practice places fleet and fuel consumption squarely at the top of these sectors.
Luckily, we already have the building blocks necessary to help reduce emissions in these forms. For these inefficiencies, considering the benefits of low-flow anaesthesia or electric cars and how these may fit into your practice might be the next step in your journey towards sustainability.
Waste production and disposal
It may seem obvious or even a little mundane, but using what we have efficiently, reusing what we can and moving from reactive to preventative healthcare models are perfect ad hoc considerations you can put in place. Since whatever you buy will, ultimately, come out as waste, it is fundamental to prevent waste from being generated in the first place and ensure it is disposed of safely when it is.
Have a look around your practice; consider the waste you produce and how you can decrease it, and check that you are disposing of waste and hazardous materials safely.
Adjusting your mindset
Reframing your mindset so you see problems as opportunities can be really beneficial. This is because it is easy to catastrophise and fall into a negative headspace when it comes to the topic of sustainability, change and the future. It can be hard to countenance the idea of climate change with all the negativity and “end-of-the-world” speech that comes alongside it.
Starting conversations about sustainability can help combat these negative feelings by busting myths and fighting miscommunications. While it is easy to believe that you must “be someone” to have influence, this is a misconception: you are so much more powerful than you know, especially as members of one of the most trusted professions in the United Kingdom. Get the ball rolling and start having these conversations; ask for feedback and gauge the general feelings about sustainability.
Then start with the low-hanging fruit by embedding simple solutions into existing structures rather than remaking things from scratch – that can always come later! Try to make your steps easy, desirable and part of a routine, as people will be more willing to take part in change if it does not affect their daily work and habits too much. This way, you will build habits and get more people on board and talking about sustainability.
“Quick wins” to get you started
At the end of the day, the only thing that truly matters is that you start somewhere, with anything, and do so now. So, here are six “quick wins” to help you get started:
A) Change your energy supplier to a green tariff
B) See if you are recycling as much as you can in different clinical areas and ensure you have the correct bins available to segregate your waste completely and correctly
C) Add a tea bag recycling caddy in the breakroom
D) Add posters/notes around the practice to ensure lights, computers and other electronic devices are turned off when not in use
E) Create a biodiversity area in your practice – plant wildflowers to encourage bees and other creatures
F) Start the conversation! Talk with your colleagues, management and clients to gauge where you are at and where you can go; sometimes this is all it takes to get the ball rolling, manage apathy, and combat misinformation and misunderstanding
Once you’ve started, things will get easier and others will be more open to more impactful changes. This can open new avenues, such as auditing antibiotic and antimicrobial use, moving towards patient-specific care and using low-flow anaesthesia and other more carbon-friendly techniques.
Want to learn more? Then check out the Improve Veterinary Practice’s sustainability column, where we discuss a wide range of topics from simple tricks to cut energy costs and becoming a B-Corp to greenwashing, measuring antibiotic use and much, much more.
By Charlotte Marcus, MA, assistant editor of Improve Veterinary Practice, a knowledge and information hub for veterinary professionals from Improve International. After graduating from the University of Birmingham in 2020, she joined Improve International as an editorial assistant in 2021. Charlotte is passionate about communicating knowledge and has a keen interest in sustainability and mental health in veterinary and medical practice.
