Borders vet practice achieves prestigious award after going green

Galedin Vets is reducing its carbon footprint and cutting waste by introducing a range of initiatives at its sites in Berwick, Eyemouth, Coldstream, Duns, Galashiels, Kelso and Innerleithen.

It recently received a bronze award from the Investors in the Environment scheme in recognition of its work.

The initiatives include recycling PPE – such as masks, gloves and aprons – worn by vets and nurses, placing recycling stations for paper, cardboard and plastic around each practice and reducing water, gas and electricity consumption with LED lights and lighting sensors.

In addition, the practice is encouraging colleagues to switch off appliances where necessary and has introduced reusable surgical drapes, gowns and scrub hats for veterinary surgeons.

Farmers, horse riders and pet owners, who are among Galedin’s clients, have thrown their support behind the environmental work by agreeing to receive invoices, receipts and admin communications by email, so the practice has become virtually a paperless business.

Some 1,600 clients registered to switch their account from paper to digital as soon as they had the opportunity.

Clients have also been donating clothes and shoes at the clothes bank in the car park of its Berwick practice, which recycles clothes in exchange for donations to chosen charity the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust.

Deputy practice manager Chris Richardson said: “We are delighted with the accreditation. There was a strong feeling in the team when we began to discuss how we could be more sustainable and everything we’ve achieved has been a real team effort.

“The initiatives that we’ve introduced have really galvanised everyone and colleagues are coming up with lots of ideas on what we can do next. Embracing greener ways of working has been a success, but it’s still a work in progress.

“We started the campaign to go paperless in October and it has been a massive success. We were astonished by how much support there was for this as clients registered to change their account from paper to digital.

“There is clearly a strong appetite among our clients to become more environmentally friendly.”

Team members at the Berwick and Galashiels branches have also grown wildflower gardens to encourage bees, birds and insects, while Duns have introduced bird feeders.