One of the UK’s leading small animal hospitals has earned a highly prestigious national environmental award as a result of its eco-friendly practices and sustainability programmes.
Linnaeus-owned Southfields Veterinary Specialists in Basildon has been accredited as a Green practice – the highest level possible – by Investors in the Environment (iiE).
iiE is a nationwide accreditation scheme which encourages businesses to transform their working practices to introduce more environmentally friendly and sustainable methods and systems.
The iiE audit report lavished praise on Southfields saying that sustainability is evidently a priority for the practice, and that the Green Champion, and wider Green Team, should be commended for their clear commitment to embedding sustainability as a core value throughout the animal hospital.
This has been led by developing a comprehensive and process-driven Environmental Management System (EMS) into operations at the state-of-the-art hospital, which Southfields moved into in 2022.
Among a raft of green measures implemented at Southfields are plans for waste and travel management, and the delivery of sustainability training for all staff, including at inductions.
Southfields has also made a clear effort to meet reduction targets, made possible by solar panels, air-source heating, a new heating management system, light sensors and LEDs.
Additionally, half-hourly electricity data has been used to develop heat maps to allow high-resolution analysis, while Southfields is also praised for running free yoga classes and delivering a marine life rescue presentation through the British Divers & Marine Life rescue charity.
Kathryn Witney, operations assistant and green champion at Southfields, said: “It has been a fantastic team effort to achieve iiE Green status, just one year after we secured Silver status and shows the whole team’s commitment to making our hospital as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible.
“We won’t rest on our laurels and will continue to look for ways to further improve our sustainability strategy and widen its impact for the benefit of the practice, our clients and the local community.”
Southfields offers specialist services such as anaesthesia and analgesia, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, exotics, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, radiation and soft tissue surgery.
For more information, go to the Southfields website or search Southfields Veterinary Specialists on social media.
