At Heath Vets, we are proud to have taken significant steps to reduce our environmental impact and embed sustainability into the way we work every day. As a veterinary practice, we recognise that our operations can affect the environment through the use of resources, medicines, and consumables. By making conscious choices and implementing sustainable practices, we have already made meaningful progress in reducing this impact while maintaining the highest standards of care for our patients.

One of our key achievements has been the successful reduction of paper waste. We have transitioned to digital record-keeping and now communicate with clients electronically through email and PetsApp. This approach allows us to share information quickly and efficiently while avoiding unnecessary printing and the use of paper leaflets.

We have also been proactive in selecting environmentally responsible consumables. For example, all of our toilet paper is 100% recycled and supplied by Who Gives a Crap, a company devoted to promoting sustainability. Small changes like this across the practice help us reduce our reliance on products that are harmful to the environment.

Energy efficiency has been another important area of focus. By carefully controlling and monitoring our air conditioning and switching off equipment when not in use, we have successfully reduced unnecessary energy consumption, lowering both our environmental footprint and our utility usage.

Medicine use is an area where our actions directly benefit both animal health and the wider environment. We follow strict guidance for responsible prescribing, ensuring that antibiotics are only dispensed when absolutely necessary. In addition, we actively promote the use of tablet wormers rather than spot-on products, as these reduce the risk of chemicals entering waterways and damaging local ecosystems.

Low-flow anaesthesia techniques reduce fresh gas flow rates to the minimum required for safe sedation, cutting the consumption of volatile agents like isoflurane and sevoflurane and dramatically lowering greenhouse-gas emissions. By using circle breathing systems and precise patient monitoring to recycle exhaled gases, clinics conserve anaesthetic vapors and minimise waste. When paired with on-site oxygen concentrators, which extract and deliver high-purity oxygen directly from ambient air, clinics eliminate frequent cylinder deliveries, reduce logistics-related carbon emissions, and avoid the environmental costs of producing and transporting bottled oxygen.  This not only maintains high standards of patient safety and comfort but also advances environmental stewardship; demonstrating that responsible, eco-friendly care and operational efficiency can go hand in hand.

Waste management is an area where we have made strong progress. We now have dedicated disposal streams for general waste, recycling, sharps, clinical waste, and unused medication, all of which are carefully managed to meet environmental and safety standards. Alongside this, we have significantly reduced the use of single-use products. Reusable surgical scrubs, gowns, and instruments are now standard practice, with all items sterilised in-house using our autoclave.

To ensure that these achievements continue to grow, we have appointed a Sustainability Champion within the practice. This role helps us monitor our progress, review our actions, and share updates with the whole team so that sustainability remains an active and ongoing part of our culture.

Through these actions, Heath Vets has already made measurable improvements to our environmental responsibility. We are proud of what we have achieved so far and remain committed to continuing this journey, protecting not only the pets in our care but also the communities and environment that support them.