Shearbridge Vets' Clinical director Sarah Reeves and receptionist Julie Sutcliffe with their practice's clothes bank
From Skirts To Syringes, How Recycling Has Earned West Yorkshire Vet Practice Prestigious Award
2 years ago 
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CLIENTS bringing their pets to a West Yorkshire veterinary clinic can now drop off their unwanted clothes at the practice’s clothing bank.
Shearbridge Vets in Queensbury, near Bradford, is encouraging everyone to put their clothes to better use by donating to their clothes bank, where items like jumpers, skirts, trousers and shirts will be re-sold, reused or recycled.
The clothes bank, which is operated by Textile Recycling International, is proving such a success in the short space of time it has been in the car park at their practice in Osbourne Drive that they have collected 125 kilos of clothes.
The money generated from the clothes bank will be donated to the veterinary practice’s chosen charity, The Cinnamon Trust, a national charity providing support for elderly and terminally ill pet owners needing practical help, such as dog walking or fostering.
The initiative is part of a sustainability and giving back campaign at the practice, which has earned them a prestigious Investors in the Environment (iiE) accreditation.
Investors in the Environment is an environmental accreditation scheme designed to help organisations reduce their impact on the environment by cutting resource use and waste production and engaging the team.
Shearbridge Vets has been reducing its carbon footprint and cutting waste by introducing a wide range of environmentally friendly initiatives, such as the clothing bank.
Among the green initiatives introduced are recycling PPE, including masks, gloves and aprons, worn by vets and nurses during the pandemic; placing recycling stations for paper, cardboard, needles, syringes and plastic around the practice, introducing a compost bin, allowing outside space to grow wild to encourage birds and insects.
They have even used recycled water collected from their equipment steriliser to mop the floor to reduce their water consumption.
Shearbridge Vets Clinical director Sarah Reeves said: “The veterinary industry has a significant carbon footprint and we were keen to find ways to cut waste, recycle more and embrace sustainable ways of working. It has been a real practice effort and everyone is really proud to have earned the iiE award as we were all on board with ideas.
“The veterinary profession is caring by nature so looking after the planet is a natural extension of looking after pets, animals and wildlife, and having a scientific background makes us more aware of the issues.
“It is our duty to protect the environment and we take responsibility for our impact on the environment. Even simple changes have helped us to achieve our targets and create a more sustainable way of working.”
Shearbridge Vets is part of UK veterinary group VetPartners which has committed itself and its 178 practices to a range of goals that put sustainability at the heart of everything the company does.
You can read their sustainability strategy, entitled Looking forward together, here: https://vetpartners.co.uk/app/uploads/2021/02/VetPartners-Sustainability-Strategy.pdf
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