29 Jun 2023
The Paragon Veterinary Group has become the first practice to be rated outstanding under the RCVS’ new environmental sustainability award scheme.
James Westgate
Job Title
Pictured (from left) are Anne Lawson, Karen McDonald, Diane Armstrong, David Black, Laura Binnie, Sally Stockton, Bridget Taylor and Alice Duvernois.
The Paragon Veterinary Group has become the first practice in the UK to be rated “outstanding” under the RCVS’ newly launched environmental sustainability award scheme.
The award underscores a three-year sustainability drive for the Cumbrian-based group that included encouraging the community to recycle pets’ medication packs and also investing in equipment to reduce anaesthetic gas emissions.
Led by small animal vet Laura Binnie, the sustainability drive began in 2020 when she was asked by Paragon directors to develop a “green group” within the practice.
The aim of this was to formulate an action plan to look at all aspects of sustainability at Paragon, which has ultimately been recognised by this accreditation.
Mrs Binnie said: “Everyone across Paragon has worked incredibly hard to achieve this status. It’s been daunting at times, and in an ever-changing world sustainability can be a bit of a minefield, however we are very proud to have been able to develop the culture of sustainability within Paragon and achieve an outstanding accreditation.”
Some of the criteria for the accreditation were relatively simple tasks, such as switching to LED bulbs, recycling correctly and switching lights off when rooms were not in use, but some of the larger tasks required investment and intense staff training.
Mrs Binnie added: “One of the major changes we have made is to use less isoflurane to anaesthetise our patients. It was important to do this, as both the manufacture and use of it emits harmful greenhouse gases into our environment, adding to climate change.
“To do this safely and to ensure our animals still had the same safe anaesthetic effect, which of course is the number one priority, Paragon has invested in new equipment and staff have had to retrain which has been challenging for them.”
Waste was also a factor to consider for the Paragon green group, and considerations went beyond packaging waste, which was addressed by buying in bulk.
Previously, animal incontinence pads were simply discarded, but these have been replaced with re-useable pads which can be rinsed down and washed to be used again.
To achieve its aim of being carbon neutral by 2030, Paragon is also hoping to replace its company vehicles with electric versions once local infrastructure allows while plans are also in place to plant a large woodland to lock in carbon, increase biodiversity and reduce flooding.
Lead RCVS PSS assessor Alice Duvernois said: “It was fantastic to be able to visit the Paragon sites along with my fellow assessors. They have shown true dedication and passion when it comes to environmental sustainability and the awards are very well deserved.
“Paragon has gone above and beyond, but we hope that all practices will take some inspiration from them and start taking steps to becoming more environmentally aware.”
