You know you want to do it, but you don't know where to start. It's a daunting task for sure - veterinary practice is not known for being soft on the environment, so the thought of acting to reduce the impact of your veterinary workplace can seem paralysingly complex. So where DO we begin? Well, you can begin with this podcast. Dr Jeremy Watson is a veterinarian and practice owner. His desire to take action on climate change was put into motion in 2011 when a practice rebuild commenced, marking the beginning of his journey towards establishing a vet business with environmental sustainability as one of its core values. In 2020, Jeremy joined Vets for Climate Action, driven by a passion to highlight the vital role of veterinary teams in inspiring urgent action on climate change. Following on from his sustainability-focussed clinic rebuild over ten years ago, Jeremy's clinic has recently snagged accreditation as Australia's very first certified carbon-neutral veterinary practice, and Jeremy now works tirelessly to get other vets on board with the same eco-friendly approach. In this conversation, Jeremy talks us through what his experience looked like, what he learned from it, and what the 'levers' are that can be pulled to have the greatest impact in the right direction. Jeremy also introduces us to Vets for Climate Action's Climate Care Program, a program that aims to overcome that paralysis of knowing it's a problem, but not knowing where to start. He discusses what that process looks like, what the most common stumbling blocks are, and what the short-term wins are, beyond it simply being the right thing to do. Topic list: 04:02 - Bad Decisions and Good Stories  05:11 - The Human Nature of Climate Inaction  07:09 - Resistance to Change and Climate Paralysis  09:10 - The Climate Care Program for Vet Practices  11:40 - Surprising Environmental Impacts in Vet Practices  13:01 - Business Case for Environmental Sustainability  17:31 - The Process of Becoming Carbon Neutral  19:04 - The Importance of Reducing Anaesthetic Gas Usage  20:10 - Financial Benefits of Sustainable Practices  24:22 - The Climate Care Program's Support and Structure  28:03 - The Unexpected Impact of Bedding on the Environment 29:05 - Alternatives to Traditional Pet Cremation  32:10 - The Benefits of Going Paperless  33:01 - Joining the Climate Care Program  35:07 - UN Definition of Sustainability  36:09 - The Role of Vets for Climate Action  37:37 - The No-Brainer of Solar Panels for Vet Practices  38:41 - Importance of Collaboration in Climate Action  40:08 - Impacts of Some of Our Practices on the Environment  47:15 - The Climate Care Program's Role in Vets for Climate Action 48:03 - Global Collaboration for Veterinary Sustainability Join our community of Vet Vault Nerds to lift your clinical game and get your groove back with our up-to-date, easy-to-consume clinical episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vvn.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get help with your cases in our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Specialist Support Space.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ V⁠⁠isit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thevetvault.com⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for show notes and resources related to this episode. Connect with us through our online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vet Vault Networ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠k⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for episode highlights, clinical resources, discussions, questions and support. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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