Earth Day Every Day

April 22nd marks the 39th anniversary of Earth Day, but Priority Pet Hospital makes a conscious effort to “go green” on a daily basis. While the principles of asepsis require us to use many items just once, we take a variety of steps to ensure that our impact on the environment is balanced with our patients’ needs, and we try to offset the wastefulness that’s inherent in providing medical services as much as we can.

Our use of electronic medical records is perhaps the most visible of our green practices. You won’t find rows and rows of paper files at PPH; everything we do is documented electronically. But did you know we also:

  • make use of digital X-rays for both general and dental imaging? We don’t use any chemicals or water to “develop” our films.
  • designed the practice to make extensive use of efficient T8 fluorescent bulbs and other energy-saving lighting?
  • have programmed our thermostats to avoid cooling or heating the practice any more than is necessary for the proper storage of pharmacy and other medical products?
  • use “green” cleaners and disinfectants when possible?
  • tote recycleables to our homes for weekly pickup because the Town of Gilbert and our landlord don’t provide commercial recycling services?
  • turn off computer monitors (the biggest energy consumer in any computer system) before leaving for the day?
  • save “chemical ice” packs for return to our vendors so they may be re-used for shipping heat-sensitive products?
  • use a water-conserving front-loading washing machine to clean quick-drying fleece bedding instead of heavy cotton towels that require almost an hour in the dryer?

We’re always looking for new ways to reduce the size of our environmental footprint, even when it’s something as simple as returning to Starbucks with the cup carrier we got at our last visit or making scratch pads out of paper that’s printed on one side. While “zero impact” is likely an unattainable goal for a modern veterinary practice, we’re proud to do what we can to limit Priority Pet Hospital’s effect on our environment.

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