Kelperland Vets are doing their part!

As the new year is upon us we all set new resolutions – some more successfully than others.

2019 is the year that Kelperland vets is making a big effort with both recycling and plastic reduction. We are by no means perfect in this regard and we have a long way to go – but we’ve made a start at least.

All medical industries (dental, human, veterinary) are terrible users of plastic, and awful at recycling this post use. There are some good reasons for this, mainly to do with sterility. If we use a piece of plastic that has been sterilised then it is completely rid of any microbes, reducing the risk of infection – the most obvious example is plastic syringes. These syringes cannot be reused because if we try to sterilise them again they melt! Also, sometimes clinical waste is present within the syringe post-use (ie blood) so it has to be disposed of in an appropriate way.

So the medical industries face challenges here but we are seeing some shards of light. We at Kelperland are delighted to switch to a new syringe brand which makes its syringes with 25% less plastic. This is at extra expense to our business but we are happy to take this additional cost on to align with our values.

Likewise, medical industries are terrible at recycling waste. There are huge amounts of waste generated by the enormous use of plastic and also cardboard waste that is used to transport new equipment and materials into any hospital, veterinary or otherwise. In January our wonderful nursing team started collecting recyclable waste out of interest to see how much there would be – we have all been astonished! An enormous box has been filled many times over each week. So, again at our own expense, we have now ordered our own recycling bin to take all this recyclable rubbish away. Unfortunately, local councils currently leave this onus on individual businesses, but here at Kelperland, we want to make a big effort in this regard so we are happy to get this organised.

When businesses start talking about their values sometimes my eyes roll. Inherently though a businesses’ values are what guide it in the way it conducts itself. As a proudly family run business our mission is to provide a useful and caring veterinary support hub for the local community.

We want to treat owners and their pets with kindness and compassion, and that rings true for the environment in which we all live too.