Dr. Matthew Richardson, veterinary practice owner and director of the Veterinary Sustainability Alliance, joins Dr. Andy Roark to address a growing challenge in veterinary medicine: how clinics can reduce their environmental impact without sacrificing patient care or profitability. He breaks down healthcare’s carbon footprint and shares practical, real-world changes clinics can implement, from energy-efficient upgrades to reducing anesthetic gases. They also introduce the Green PAW Certification, a step-by-step program designed to help practices take measurable, sustainable action.
Links: https://veterinarysustainabilityalliance.org
Dr. Richardson holds a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, a PhD in Zoology and a DVM degree. He is a small animal practitioner licensed in British Columbia and Ontario, owns The Animal Cinic in Toronto and has a special interest in environmentally sustainable practice. The Animal Clinic was the first clinic in North America to receive the Green Paw Certification for sustainability. He is the Past-President of the OVMA and The Farley Foundation, the co-founder and chair of the OVMA’s Sustainability Committee, Director of the Veterinary Sustainability Alliance and member of the CVMA Sustainability Advisory Group. A keen year-round cyclist and advocate for active transportation, Dr. Richardson can often be found on his bike or with a camera in his hand (or sometimes both).
Mentioned in this episode:
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Office Hours w/ Dr. Andy Roark
Inside the Uncharted Veterinary Community, Dr. Andy Roark hosts Office Hours where veterinary leaders can bring real-world challenges and get practical guidance from someone who understands the realities of practice life. These sessions give veterinarians, practice managers, and team leaders a chance to ask questions, workshop difficult situations, and gain perspective on issues like team dynamics, communication, burnout, and clinic operations. Instead of navigating leadership challenges alone, members get direct access to Andy’s insight along with the support of a community of veterinary professionals working through many of the same challenges.
Welcome everybody to the Kone of Shame Veterinary podcast.
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:I am your host, Dr.
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:And guys on this Thursday after Earth Day.
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:I am so happy to bring you
this interview with Dr.
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:Matthew Richardson.
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:Matthew is, , one of the directors of
the Veterinary Sustainability Alliance.
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:He is someone I met earlier this year.
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:He's a neat guy.
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:He's a practice owner that manages
to kind of set it up so that he works
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:half the time and he's off the other
half of the time and he's just, he
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:rides his bike to the clinic and
he's just built this green practice.
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:And, , he's working with, , the Veterinary
Sustainability Alliance to launch the
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:Green Paw Certification, which is a
certification, , throughout North America.
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:His hope is that , the certification
will give people some guidance on how
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:to make their vet practice greener.
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:I have a, I really enjoy
this conversation with him.
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:He gives a ton of examples of things
that they do in their practice
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:and their practices can do to
make them more environmentally
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:friendly, and it's just, it's just.
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:Good stuff.
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:It's one of those things where it's,
, small, intentional, incremental mo
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:multifocal actions that build up to,
to, to having a significant impact.
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:And so anyway, I, this made me really
happy to talk with Matthew guys.
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:I hope people will enjoy this.
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:I know a lot of people are out there
looking at their practices and saying.
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:I, I would like to, I would like to, I'd
like to do a little bit better for the
27
:environment , and I think this is a great
episode to give you some ideas and some
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:encouragement on how you can do that.
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:So anyway, without further
ado, let's get into it.
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:Kelsey Beth Carpenter: This is your show.
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:We're glad you're here.
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:We want to help you in
your veterinary career.
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:Welcome to the Cone of Shame with Dr.
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:Andy Roark.
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:Andy: Ooh, welcome to the podcast, Dr.
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:Matthew Richardson.
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:How are you?
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:Matthew: I am doing great,
Andy, how are you doing today?
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:Andy: I am doing fantastic.
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:I really appreciate you
making time to be here.
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:You are a neat guy, and I'm really glad
that we got to sit down and talk a bit.
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:So for those who don't know you
well, you and I, we just met
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:earlier this year in Toronto.
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:I was at the OVMA, , convention
there, which is always a
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:Matthew: the, during
the depths of winter it
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:Andy: It was, it was like, it
was like, Hey, let's have a
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:conference in Toronto in January.
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:, that'll be great.
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:And so anyway, but they,
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:Matthew: every, it happens every year.
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:Every year.
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:There's terrible weather, so.
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:Andy: It's one of my favorite conferences.
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:It really is.
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:I, I, the people are so wonderful
and they always have a really great
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:program and it just, I, I joke, but
also I really do love that conference.
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:you and I met there you are the director
of the Veterinary Sustainability Alliance.
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:You were on the OVMA Environmental
Sustainability Committee and you were also
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:an independent veterinary practice owner
who, who works about every other week.
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:, you like work two weeks on and
two weeks off and you have
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:got a really neat thing going.
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:And so I, first of all.
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:I love that you're someone
who can run your own business
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:and be there half the time.
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:I think that's awesome.
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:I really am trying to
preach to people these days.
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:I think there's a narrative that
independent practice owners have
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:less freedom than other people.
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:And I, I don't think that that's true.
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:I think that there could be more freedom
and independent practice ownership,
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:and I just want people to know that.
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:And then the other thing is, I'm
really interested in your work with
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:the Veterinary Sustainability Alliance.
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:so let me just sort of, lemme sort
of Pause, kind of there and just
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:say, why don't you, why don't you
take me out just a little bit and
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:tell me about what the, , veterinary
Sustainability Alliance actually is
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:and how much, space that encompasses.
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:Matthew: So, the Veterinary Sustainability
Alliance is a North American group.
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:, we have, think eight directors right
now, , four from Canada, four from the
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:us accompanying veterinarians who are
in academia, private practice, research.
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:and we are all, , obviously
very passionate about the
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:impact that veterinary medicine.
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:Has on the environment and, , the impact
that our actions have on the environment.
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:So we are, , we've partnered with
both CVMA and A VMA to develop a
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:framework for sort of how to be more
sustainable in veterinary medicine.
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:, and we just recently launched our
green PA certification where clinics
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:can, , become, , certified as a green paw
practice for sustainability initiatives.
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:Andy: How bad are vet
practices for the environment?
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:And I, and to , be honest with me.
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:'cause I've thought about this, right?
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:I am.
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:So, I am an avid outdoorsman.
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:I love to camp, I love to hike.
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:I love to, I really love to garden.
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:I care about the environment and also
I'm busy and I work, you know, and I work
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:in the practice and we, and we're moving
quickly and we're trying to be efficient.
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:And I also live in South Carolina, which
the government support for, you know,
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:environmental programs is, is, is wanting.
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:So like they ended public
recycling programs.
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:Two to three years ago at this point.
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:And so anyway, like that's, that's
kinda the environment that I'm in.
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:And so I'm looking this and
I'm looking at what we do.
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:And I'll be honest with you,
Matthew, I'm kind of, I'm, I don't,
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:I think I'm a little bit unclear,
I think on how bad is vet medicine
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:as opposed to say other industries.
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:And then really like what are
the big drivers of environmental
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:impact that, that I'm unaware of?
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:Matthew: It's sort of the dirty
secret of, of veterinary medicine.
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:, and there's sort of
three big points on that.
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:, one is that just medical care in general
is not environmentally friendly, right?
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:, globally 5% of greenhouse gas emissions
are due to the healthcare sector.
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:In the United States, it's eight
and a half percent of greenhouse
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:gas emissions are due to healthcare.
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:As a veterinarian, we should
be acknowledging that pet
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:ownership and meat production
are not environmentally friendly.
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:If we think about dogs and cats
living in the United States,
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:they are big meat consumers.
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:And so the greenhouse gas.
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:, production , of dogs and cats in, , the
United States is the equivalent of
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:heating about 10 million homes a year.
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:Andy: Wow.
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:I, no, no,
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:Matthew: yeah.
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:And, here's a great statistic.
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:I think, , if dogs and cats in
the United States were their own
126
:country, they would be the fifth
largest meat consumer in the world,
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:Andy: that's a great stat.
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:That's mind vending.
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:I have to sit and, and
think about what that means
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:Matthew: And, and, I'm not sitting
here up here on an ivory throne
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:looking down on people, right?
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:I have two large breed dogs.
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:I've had large breed dogs all my life.
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:I love large breed dogs.
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:I love a good dog that you
can go for a hike with.
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:You can, you know, go swimming
with, you can do all this stuff
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:with, , like a large breed dog
will produce up to two and a half.
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:Tons of carbon dioxide a year,
, which is the equivalent of, your
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:average family car for the year.
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:So I try not to drive, , as much as I can.
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:I go everywhere by bike and, and anyone
who knows me knows that about me.
142
:but I have two large breed dogs, right.
143
:So,
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:So that's sort of the bad news,
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:Andy: Okay.
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:Yeah.
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:This is not good for veterinarians.
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:Like, none of this is
good for, for the vet
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:Matthew: And, and, when we flip
it around and we go, right?
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:So climate change and environmental
degradation, , also lead to , poor health
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:outcomes for humans and animals, right?
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:I mean, just look at something like
COVID, or, natural disasters and all
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:this stuff like it's bad news, right?
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:The good news is that there are.
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:Are a lot of things that we can
do as pet owners, as veterinary
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:professionals, as practice owners,
and just as citizens, , to reduce the
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:impact that we have on the environment.
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:and so that's a lot of what we're
trying to do in the Veterinary
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:Sustainability Alliance is getting
people thinking about that.
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:. There are lots of studies showing that
clients actually wanna see veterinarians
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:taking a leading role in these sorts
of discussions, and they're actually
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:willing to pay a premium for it.
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:so, you know, if you wanna make a
business, you can make a business case
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:for being environmentally sustainable.
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:Andy: I think it's helpful to be able
to make a business case for it, right?
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:It, it's, it's, in the world that we
live in now, , and we've had a, you know,
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:a growing number of sort of corporate
practices and things, I think that
168
:there's a lot of people who would like
to have a, you know, a smaller footprint.
169
:I think you've gotta be able to
make a business case for that in
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:order to get groups, , often to come
along and support what you're doing.
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:Or at least make a case That this can
be a net neutral, , undertaking that
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:it's not gonna be overall expense.
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:I hate that it's that way, but I'm just
sort of trying to think about people
174
:being able to sort of get practices and
get practice groups kind of on board with
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:being more environmentally conscious to
help me get a a, an idea of scale here.
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:So we're talking about, we're
talking about meat consumption,
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:we're talking about, The
environmental impact of having pets.
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:What are the things that we
do at the practice that have a
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:significant environmental impact?
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:And then if I, if I work hard
with my practice to have a green
181
:practice, Matthew, am I, am I
actually making a difference or
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:just kind of spitting in the wind?
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:When we look at the larger picture of what
it means to have pet owners, I, I think,
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:yeah, that, that's what I would wanna
know is like of the things that are in my
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:control and in the way that I practice.
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:Is there a significant
environmental impact there?
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:Do I have the ability in the way
that I practice to, to actually
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:make an impact that means anything?
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:Matthew: Yeah.
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:Great.
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:Great question.
192
:I think, I think we do, short
answer is yes, I think we do.
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:, and there's sort of many
different things that we can do.
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:I think, you know, one of the things
is, the things that we can do within
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:our practice, and then we can, talk
about it with, we can talk about
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:it with staff, we can talk about it
with other veterinarians and get them
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:thinking about what they're doing.
198
:you know, you mentioned corporate,
the big corporations are actually all.
199
:Interested in sustainability,
and they're all looking at how
200
:they can lessen their impact.
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:And so I think that, there's a
snowballing effect for what we
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:do, , that has the possibility
of, making a real difference.
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:there's a lot of things
that we can do, right?
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:I am gonna sort of jump ahead a bit
here, but one of my pet things that
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:I love to talk about is, , lighting
choices in a clinic, right?
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:I bought my practice, 20 years ago.
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:, it had been running for 35 years.
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:It had a whole bunch of compact,
, it had fluorescent tubes.
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:In the ceiling.
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:That's what it, its lighting was.
211
:occasionally when one had died out, I'd
gone and bought an LED tube and put it in
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:and didn't really think too much of it.
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:, and then I learned about a program that
we have in Ontario, , where you can call
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:a number, , and they will send someone
around to assess The lighting you've
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:got and how you could switch it over
to LEDs and there's a big government
216
:rebate that covers about half the work.
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:So I said, sure.
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:They took away all of the
old tubes and left us with.
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:LEDs and I tracked it for two years
before I did that switch, and two
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:years after I did that switch.
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:And just going from fluorescent lights to
LEDs reduced my energy use by 28% a year.
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:, Andy: was that kind of the
first major sort of, , pro
223
:environmental sustainability move
that you made in your practice?
224
:what sent you down this path?
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:Matthew: so yes, that's
the biggest one we've done.
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:We've done small scale changes.
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:We've done big scale changes.
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:everything from making sure that
we're, we've got a water filter rather
229
:than giving bottled water to clients.
230
:We've got a coffee machine that uses
whole beans rather than Keurig pods.
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:We reuse, reusable, but rags for the
cleaning, except for sort of the sies of.
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:Dirty stuff, we're using, , IV
bags that don't have PVC in them
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:so that they can be recycled.
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:, there are a lot of choices that we
can be making, , that don't cost
235
:a lot more than what we're already
doing, , and actually are nicer for the
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:nicer to use and nicer for the world.
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:Andy: Say I was a locum vet, right?
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:I'm gonna, I'm gonna be a relief vet.
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:I'm gonna come in for the day.
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:, what would I see as I kind of came
into the clinic what would I notice
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:Matthew: you wouldn't notice a lot, , to
be honest,, but you would notice things
242
:like, instead of there being, , paper
towel easily accessible everywhere.
243
:In each exam room, there's
a drawer that has a stack of
244
:reusable rags that we can use.
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:, and so things like that, , in the kitchen
there's, reusable cutlery, plates, dishes,
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:, I think the big thing that they would
notice is that there's usually anywhere
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:between one and three bicycles parked in
the lobby we're right in downtown Toronto
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:and, , we have tried to get the city to
put in bike racks in front of the clinic
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:so that we can leave our bikes outside.
250
:but , I have, between one and
five, , employees who rides
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:their bike to work, , every day.
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:, we're using recyclable.
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:Nitrile gloves, for example.
254
:, which is a huge thing.
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:, we're being mindful of our
anesthetic protocols, so we're
256
:using less inhaled anesthetic gases.
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:Things that just sort of changes that
we're making, , that we, you know, if
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:we have a TV behind, , reception that
does occasionally pop up little, Hey,
259
:did you know that we're doing this?
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:Did you know we're doing that?
261
:but most of the time,
unless you were looking.
262
:I don't think you'd be particularly
aware that you know it.
263
:It's not like we're a bunch of hippie
granola crunchers who are, you know,
264
:reusing needles and things like that.
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:Andy: Yeah, so, so that's where, that's
where the hippie granola country line is.
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:Is, is that reusing?
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:It is.
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:Okay, I got that.
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:.
So you, you bought this practice, right?
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:It wasn't always this way, and then when
you bought it, my perception is that
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:you did not jump in and just spin the
searing wheel of we're gonna add in all
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:of these protocols and things like that.
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:Did you have a problem
with the team buy-in?
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:Were there people who were just
like, who kinda rolled their
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:eyes or who didn't perceive that
they liked their paper towels?
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:tell, tell me about that do you
hire a certain type of person?
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:I mean, I'm imagining there are some
people who would be really attracted
278
:to what you're doing and maybe some
people who would say, yeah, I don't,
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:this isn't the way I'm used to doing
things, or, I don't share this values.
280
:Talk, talk to me about,
cultural fit with your staff.
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:Matthew: =You raise a good point.,
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:I bought half of the
practice 20 years ago.
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:I bought the other half.
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:. Five years ago, four years ago.
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:So that was really when
things started to change.
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:But before then, we'd done some things.
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:It was not me, it was a staff member
who's suggest the reusable towels.
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:Right.
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:My parents had a place out in
the country that they sold and
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:they had a bunch of extra dishes.
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:So I brought in a bunch of reusable
dishes that we could use and just said,
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:this is how we're doing things now in,
in terms of that, , the lighting was.
293
:was a big one, but that was, the advantage
of being the owner and the one who cares.
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:The most about this is that there are
decisions like that, that you just say,
295
:like, this is what we're doing, right?
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:It actually made for better
quality of light for everyone.
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:So I think everyone's, happy with that.
298
:there are some things that, you
know, that, that do get some grumble.
299
:as I said, I got a, a coffee
machine that makes like individual
300
:coffees from whole beans.
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:And thought, oh, isn't this great?
302
:We're gonna get rid of the Keurig.
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:And, forgot that not everyone likes
really strong, really dark coffee.
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:Andy: They were like, no,
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:I, I missed the light roast.
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:Yeah.
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:Matthew: so my staff were like,
oh no, I don't like your coffee.
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:, I don't wanna get rid of the Keurig.
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:So we now actually you have the choice.
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:The concession I made to the
Keurigs was that we would
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:get, , a box from TerraCycle.
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:So there's a company called
TerraCycle, which their whole
313
:thing is they will recycle things
that generally aren't recyclable.
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:, so there's less impact on that even
if people are choosing to drink.
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:Arguably less good
316
:Andy: Yeah.
317
:I mean, to me, I, I do, I do
love a heavy, dark roast coffee.
318
:Alright.
319
:So, you know, so I'm thinking about
this and I'm thinking about the examples
320
:that, that you're sort of putting down
and I think about all the different
321
:kinds of practices there are out there.
322
:There's just the different styles of
practice, like I said, um, you know,
323
:you've got mixed animal practices, small
animal, mobile practice, things like that.
324
:I, I know when you guys were doing work
, with the Green Cross certification, that
325
:you, you sort of took those types of.
326
:Variability between practices into play.
327
:Tell me a little bit about the Green
Paw certification and then also it's
328
:adaptability because some people
are going, yeah, this is not, this
329
:doesn't sound like my practice.
330
:, some of these things aren't gonna
work for us and help me, help
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:Matthew: we we're out in the country.
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:We're not gonna have people
riding their bikes to work.
333
:Andy: right.
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:It's there, there, there you go.
335
:Right.
336
:Matthew: yeah.
337
:Our goal was to make the Green Paw
Certification program applicable to be
338
:evidence-based and make it applicable
to all, , practices in North America.
339
:, and so there are, , to get green
PA certification, , there are 10
340
:steps you need to do, are sort of
divided up into three different
341
:categories, which are core.
342
:Clinic and community.
343
:, and so the core is sort of the
foundational steps that if you want to be.
344
:Doing sustainability work, you really
need to sort of lay the groundwork, right?
345
:So those are, , the three steps
in core are, , forming a green
346
:team, which is sort of the number
one thing that everyone should do.
347
:And I, and, I did not do it 'cause I
was not aware that this was how things
348
:were done when I started down my
pathway of environmental sustainability.
349
:, so forming a green team, you're
bringing together, , different people
350
:with different lived experiences
from different areas of the clinic
351
:so that, , it's not just the practice
owner going, okay, here's what
352
:we're gonna do, that's sustainable.
353
:We're gonna, you know,
not use any paper at all.
354
:Then the technicians are like,
well, we really like using paper
355
:to record our anesthetic protocols.
356
:And reception says, well, we
have forms we need to sign.
357
:Right?
358
:So you need to get people from
different teams together so that you
359
:know that what you're gonna propose is
applicable to everyone at the clinic.
360
:Right.
361
:And then people are bringing
their own li lived experiences.
362
:So you need, and you need a team
because there are certain things that
363
:you just, you know, yes, I can say I'm
going to replace all of the lights.
364
:With LEDs.
365
:If I'm proposing something that, that's
sort of a bigger project, you know,
366
:or I am doing something that's gonna
require buy-in from other people, , I
367
:need to make sure that there's
enough people that are on board with
368
:it that we can sort of,, encourage
everyone to go along with that change.
369
:So that's sort of, that's the first
thing is forming your green team.
370
:, and then this next step is
assessing what your impact is.
371
:Before you do anything, right?
372
:So you need to know if you're gonna go
ahead and you're gonna make change and
373
:you're gonna say, Hey, look at all these
great things we did to reduce our impact.
374
:Well, how do you know how much
you've reduced your impact by?
375
:If you don't know what
your impact is, right.
376
:So for, for the American
Veterinary Clinics, the Veterinary
377
:Sustainability Alliance has a carbon
calculator, , that can help you,
378
:, calculate your carbon footprint.
379
:There are a number of very regionally
specific things in a carbon
380
:calculator, so it, unfortunately,
it isn't applicable to Canada.
381
:we are working on adapting it , for
the Canadian clinics as well.
382
:But, , so you need to sort of see
what your impact is, what you're
383
:measuring, so you know, what, what
impact your initiatives are having.
384
:and then the third part of core is
what are the, like what are the top
385
:five things you want to do, right?
386
:So come up with the five
things that you're going to do.
387
:So that sort of core, , and then
clinic is actually going and doing
388
:those five things that you said
you wanted in the core step.
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:and those can be big things
or small things, right?
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:So it can be changing your LEDs.
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:It could be saying we're gonna install,
, an EV charger so that when clients
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:come, they can plug in their ev and,
and charge up, or we're gonna have bike
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:racks, or we're going to, it doesn't
matter what it is, it's just, it's five
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:environmentally minded activities that
are important to the people at the clinic.
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:Right.
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:And, , I'm a huge fan of,
just getting people starting.
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:, I am a 12 month a year bike
commuter in, in Toronto.
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:, and people look at me like
I'm crazy and, you could make
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:that argument, but it didn't.
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:I didn't go from like driving
every day to being a 12 month
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:of the year bike commuter.
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:You know, I drove to work and then, and
it was a beautiful day and I signed up
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:for a charity bike ride , for the Farley
Foundation, which is a veterinary charity.
404
:and I needed to get in shape, so I would
start riding my bike on nice days, right.
405
:And then it was, you know, and it just
sort of built from there and it was like,
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:Hey, I, I'm happier on the days that I.
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:Right into work.
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:So how can I extend it?
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:So, so really those five steps , in
the, , green Pause certification are
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:all about starting, getting things
going, getting people talking.
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:And then the last two steps
are sharing information, right?
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:Community is about, about sharing
this information with your staff, with
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:your clients, and with your colleagues
to try to change people's behaviors,
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:Andy: Yeah, that's, that's fantastic.
415
:Matthew: And so it's 10 steps and
it's relatively easy, 10 steps to do.
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:We thought it was better to
have a, an easy program to get
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:people sort of starting to think
about this rather than having it
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:be, , something that was difficult
and that only a few, small handful
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:of clinics would, would get behind.
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:Andy: Well, Matthew, where
can people learn more about
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:the Green PAW certification?
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:, Matthew: the Veterinary Sustainability
Alliances website is, , veterinary
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:sustainability alliance.org.
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:, and on the website there are a
number of really good resources.
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:So there you, there's the, , green
PO certification program with all
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:of the forms you need to fill out.
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:. To, , get the certification on there.
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:There's also a blog where the
directors have written various
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:articles that it's updated, , as much
as we have time to write articles
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:about sustainability, , initiatives.
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:So there's lots of good information there.
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:, and then the, the Veterinary
Sustainability Alliance in conjunction
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:with the A BMA and the CVMA put together
some videos, , on sort of those steps
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:of core clinic and community, , that
are really great resources as well.
435
:There's, so there's, so there's
several videos on the website as
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:well, , that people can look at.
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:Andy: Outstanding.
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:Well, I'll link that stuff up.
439
:, Matthew, I'll put a link to your
LinkedIn, , page there as well in case
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:Matthew: That'd be
441
:Andy: follow up with you and,
442
:Matthew: Yeah, I, I
443
:Andy: eye on you.
444
:Matthew: I could talk about this stuff
for hours, so if anyone has any questions,
445
:they should feel free to reach out to me.
446
:If I can't answer it, I might put you in,
in touch with one of the other directors.
447
:, we've got a lot of
passion, , in the group, so
448
:Andy: Well, thanks for being here guys.
449
:Thanks for tuning in and listening.
450
:Everybody take care of yourselves, gang.
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:Matthew: thanks a lot, Andy.
452
:Andy: And that's what I got for you guys.
453
:I hope you enjoyed it.
454
:Thanks to Matthew for being here.
455
:Thanks to you, , for checking this out.
456
:Guys.
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:I hope that some of you'll go
take a look at the Green PAW
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:certification and think about how
it might work in your vet clinics.
459
:I love the idea that there's things
that we can do to be a little bit
460
:better for the environment, a little
bit better for our patients, a little
461
:bit better for our communities.
462
:And I, I think that that's true.
463
:And so anyway, this is a, I I
thought it was an optimistic episode.
464
:I really enjoy talking to Matthew.
465
:Uh, it makes me think that there,
there's a lot of stuff that we can
466
:do that actually makes a difference
and that, , that's always lovely.
467
:Anyway, guys, take care of yourselves.
468
:I'll talk to you later on.
469
:Happy Earth Day everybody.
470
:Bye.