Department of Veterinary Medicine Sustainability Strategy: Under Review (Easter 2025)
The Department is currently developing a new sustainability strategy which is expected to be finalised and launched during Michaelmas 2025.
The department should aim to increase the sustainability of its operations, as an integral part of its overall strategic mission.
- An increase in sustainability should be driven by a reduction in resource utilisation within the department, through reduction in energy usage, a reduction in material resource usage, and an increase in resource recycling.
- Future strategic plans for the department include oversight committees responsible for the primary operational areas of the department: Admin, Research, Clinical Services, Teaching.
- Responsibility for improvements in sustainability should be delegated to these committees, who should have standing agenda items covering sustainability, and who should regularly review operations in their areas with explicit consideration of sustainability issues.
- The Department’s actions should be integrated with the University’s sustainability program (https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk)
- The Department has set up a Green Group with students and staff from across the site. The group meets a few times a year to plan and implement Green initiatives at the Department of Veterinary Medicine.
Estate:
Much of the estate is not directly under the control of the department, so this must primarily be achieved through interactions with University estate management. The department should commit to raising sustainability issues in any interactions with Estates management, in both routine operations and longer-term refurbishment programmes.
Recent initiatives:
- The refurbishment of the lighting system to use low-energy luminaires.
Examples of resource future resource reduction could include:
- Reconsider control of heating systems
- Consideration should be given to the significant embodied carbon in the current building, and alternatives to complete demolition should be considered for any potential rebuild.
Admin:
Recent initiatives:
- Finance has moved to paper-free operation for expenses, with the adoption of the SAP Concur system.
- Finance has moved to paper-free operation for approval of invoices
- HR has moved to paper-free operation for annual leave requests and approval
- All committee papers have moved on-line
Examples of resource future resource reduction could include:
- A move to fully paper-free operation for finance and HR.
Research:
Examples of resource future resource reduction could include:
- A review of the usage of energy-intensive equipment:
- increase in the running temperature of -80 freezers to -70 (saving 30% of costs)
- storage of samples at -20, rather than -70 wherever possible https://www.freezerchallenge.org/best-practices-overview.html
- Turning off unused equipment (incubators, shakers etc.)
Materials
- Review materials purchasing and utilisation for best practice using standardised approaches (e.g the ACT database: https://actdatabase.mygreenlab.org).
- Potential to work towards lab sustainability accreditation
Teaching:
Recent initiatives:
- Students are no longer issued with paper handouts for lectures.
Examples of resource future resource reduction could include:
- A move to fully paper-free operation.
- Teaching lab review aligning with research lab sustainability approaches
- Consider the implications for teaching of of the RCVS Day One Competencies number 2: “Understand the professional, ethical and legal responsibilities of the veterinary nurse in relation to patients, clients, the veterinary team, society, and the environment.”
Clinical services:
Recent initiatives:
- All cat/dog food tins are washed and sent for recycling
- In theatre some single use devices (e.g. tissue sealing devices) are reused up to 10 times and instruments are sterilised in reusable sterilization containers.
Examples of resource future resource reduction could include:
- the imminent move to a new Practice Management system across the Hospitals & RSPCA clinic will drastically reduce the need for paper based medical records.
- further recycling opportunities for staff and customers (blister packs, batteries, etc.)
- adherence to the Veterinary Sustainability Goals (https://vetsustain.org)
This strategy is designed to build on and complement the work of our colleagues in the University Sustainability team and its evolving vision and strategy.