Zero Waste Week Success For Westover Small Animals Practice

Key Highlights

• Across the week, the practice produced 5.5 fewer bags of industrial waste than their normal average and 3 fewer bags of clinical waste (representing a reduction of 45% and 33%, respectively.
• A successful waste audit: one vet counted their plastic waste from just syringe/needle/catheter plastic packaging – 281 bits of plastic from one vet in one week.

Westover Vets are a small animal veterinary practice in Norfolk, with 36 members of staff covering nearly 8600 patients. Since taking the lead on the Investors in the Environment programme, the Green Champion had become aware of how much waste the practice generates and how, with busy and stressful days, the practice always had a tendency to be more wasteful than was necessary.

What did they do before, during and after Zero Waste Week?

1. The Green Champion set up a Zero Waste Week, to encourage colleagues to commit to reducing, re-using and recycling and instil good habits which could be embedded in practice. To ensure preparation, the Green Champion first mentioned the initiative 4 weeks prior to the week itself and was very encouraged by the response from colleagues, many of whom have now joined the Green Team.
2. Waste arisings were carefully measured in the month leading up to the Week, targets were set, and various activities were planned, participation in which could be rewarded with prizes, which included a (competitively fought for) half-day off. The targets were:
   • Reducing the amount of industrial waste produced
   • Improving attitudes/becoming more positive/active in being eco-friendly – assessed through a poll pre and post-zero waste week
3. During the week, industrial waste bins were taped up to make being wasteful more inconvenient. There were small bottles in consulting rooms to cram waste into, and one main industrial waste bin downstairs and upstairs in the main corridors. A composting system for tea bags, hair from patients and food waste was also launched.
4. Points were achieved through good attitudes noted by members of the Green Team, and for performing 5 key acts that had been pre-chosen, based on areas in which the practice judged itself to be poor at, which included:
   1. Getting e-mail address from clients to reduce printing/paper use
   2. Disposing of food waste of correctly
   3. Disposing of fluid bags/drip lines correctly
   4. Separating and disposing/recycling autoclave packets
   5. Washing out and recycling animal food tins/packets

In the run up to, and during Zero Waste Week, staff contributed lots of ideas on how the practice can improve re-use and further reduce waste. Staff from across the practice really got engaged over the question of how the organisation could use and waste less.

The week changed mindsets; from feeling like they didn’t have the time nor energy to do their bit, the staff suddenly felt engaged, satisfied and proud to be taking steps to reducing their impact on the environment.

Whilst some protocols are not being adopted as ‘usual practice’, most have become a habit and the Green Team are planning to do quarterly re-runs to ensure these new habits don’t slip.

“Zero waste week made us as a team think about incorporating recycling and re-using into our daily routine! We started re-using things we had never thought to before! Overall, it was a successful week, and hopefully we have all picked up new habits to stick to from now on!” – Gabby Saleh – RVN (Nurse)