Hampshire veterinary practice goes green to help protect the environment

St Peter's Vets is lowering its carbon footprint by reducing energy, gas and water consumption across all four surgeries, and has increased the amount of paper, cardboard and plastics it recycles. It has also reduced anaesthetic gas emissions.

It’s the second award St Peter’s Vets has received from the iiE environmental accreditation scheme in recognition of its green efforts and the practice was presented with the bronze level accreditation last year. The iiE scheme is designed to help organisations reduce their impact on the environment and become more sustainable.

Among the green initiatives St Peter’s Vets has introduced are:-

• Turning off lights, equipment and radiators when not needed
• Reducing hot water consumption
• Drying items naturally instead of using a tumble dryer
• Recycling soft plastics, blister packs and pet food sachets as well as segregating all other waste
• Cutting greenhouse gas emission from anaesthetic agents by adopting low-flow anaesthesia techniques
• Reducing single-use plastics by investing in a water purifier instead of buying in bottles of distilled water, which is needed for certain medical procedures such as dentals.

St Peter’s Vets’ environmental initiatives are overseen by vet Ella Townsend, who has formed a ‘green team’ with five colleagues.

Ella said: “It’s important to everyone at St Peter’s Vets that we embrace sustainable ways of working and do as much as we can to protect the environment.

“We’re particularly proud that we’ve exceeded our target of a two per cent reduction in gas and electricity usage, and it shows how much of a difference can be made by turning off equipment when it’s not needed and being a little bit more mindful about how we use energy every day.

“It has also become second nature for team members to take apart any packaging to remove all the recyclable elements so we produce as little waste as possible. Even by making small changes, we can achieve our targets and help to create a more sustainable future.”

Earlier this year, St Peter’s supported a national campaign to recycle plastic chocolate and biscuit tubs and raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support by acting as a local drop off point. Its Petersfield practice is also giving new life to unwanted items, including books and clothing, by introducing a swap shelf where team members can bring in things they no longer need and exchange them for something they’ll find useful.