Alice’s sustainability pledge: To help others make greener choices

We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly" - Anne Marie Bonneau, the ‘Zero Waste Chef’.

I love this quote. For too long, ‘sustainability’ has been put into a societal box that it doesn’t need to be in.  A box that limits, alienates and divides people.  Say the words ‘eco-warrior’ and the mind immediately conjures up an image of a tree-hugging hippie, resolutely chained to the nearest digger.  The notion of ‘being green’ has unhelpfully become an all-or-nothing phenomenon that one must either commit to or not. Alas, the prospect of committing to a life without electricity or cheese is understandably a little overwhelming for some. But as Jen Gale, previous vet and author of Sustainable(ish), so rightly points out, “we don't need a handful of people living off grid, growing their own lentils, and weaving their own garments from nettles, we need millions of us switching to renewable energy, remembering our reusable water bottles, eating less meat and buying a bit (a lot) less crap.”  Herein lies my pledge – to help others make greener choices.

My sustainability experience

In 2019, a group of like-minded colleagues set up a ‘Green Team’ at my workplace, Garston Veterinary Group.  Drawing inspiration from the wealth of resources developed by Vet Sustain and Davies Veterinary Specialists, we have already made huge leaps forward in reducing the practice’s carbon footprint.  The hard work of our practice Green Team is fuelled by a passion for the environment; individuals who are already well-informed of the steps we can take to live and work in a more sustainable way. But, whilst their efforts behind the scenes have been (and continue to be) highly commendable, it is arguably their ability to inspire and educate the people around them that is most powerful.

To demonstrate my point, here are five examples of how Garston’s Green Team have already helped others make easy, greener choices:

1. Inspiring the next generation of environmentalists

As part of our efforts to make our gardens more bee-friendly, we recruited several staff children to make some ‘bug hotels’.  The results were fantastic, and our children gained a better understanding of the vital role that insects play in our ecosystems. 

2. Empowering people to plant trees with every internet search

By switching the practice computer search engines to Ecosia, we have helped every staff member to boost their planting efforts from the comfort of the consult room.  Ecosia uses ad revenue from internet searches to plant trees where they are needed the most. By searching with Ecosia, the practice is helping to reforest the planet and empowering the communities around Ecosia’s planting projects to build a better future for themselves.

3. Providing and funding CPD with a sustainability focus

Several staff members have attended webinars and lectures in the past year, with the aim of learning how we can work more sustainably without compromising our clinical standards.  This knowledge has been shared and used to inform new, practice-wide protocols. 

4. Making recycling as easy as possible

Outside of clinical work, the team encourage the recycling of an ever-increasing number of materials, including pens, crisp packets and pet food packaging.  We have spent a huge amount of time labelling and configuring our bin systems to help recycling become second nature for everyone.

5. Offering alternatives and encouraging people to try new things

For most of us, the supermarket shop is a mindless ritual that varies only slightly from week to week.  We are much more likely to buy something different if we have tried it already - and liked it.  Thanks to the Green Team, all of Garston’s branches now offer staff a choice of locally produced dairy milk or oat milk to be enjoyed in their tea or coffee.  This has encouraged people to try greener alternatives that they may not have ever considered before.

What’s next?

Looking forwards to the year ahead, our Green Team have many exciting projects in the pipeline, which we hope will continue to help others make greener choices.  In recognition of our role to inspire and educate, we have decided to create a Sustainable Living Facebook page for the Garston community.  We want to change the perception that sustainability is a members-only club and break down some of the social barriers that stop ordinary people from making simple, everyday changes to the way they live.  We want to show people exactly where they can find local food producers and ‘refillable’ shops.  We want to encourage people to try just one vegan recipe per week or to choose different, seasonal veg for their Sunday roast.  We want to inspire people to reuse or repurpose old household items and we want to educate people on sustainable brands and consumerism.  We will do everything we can to empower others and we will not seek to judge or criticise. 

As educated and well-respected professionals, vets have a duty to lead and not lag when it comes to sustainability. I will use my voice to demonstrate, encourage, inspire and educate.  I pledge to help others make greener choices, because together we can achieve so much more. 

For more information and ideas, follow #GreenTeamVet on social media and make your own pledge online.