Accreditations
In 2021, Linnaeus won Sustainability Influencer of the year at the annual iiE awards. In addition, Ellie West, an RCVS and EBVS Specialist Veterinary Anaesthetist at Davies, and our Environmental sustainability lead, picked up the title of Individual Sustainability Influencer at the annual iiE awards in 2020.Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan
Linnaeus is proud to be a part of the Mars Veterinary Health family and work with them as they lead the way for sustainability.
In 2017, Mars launched their Sustainable in a Generation plan, supporting the Mars Purpose of ‘The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today’.
You can read more here.We know that our operations have impacts on key areas of;
Climate
Investors in the Environment
Investors in the Environment (iiE) is an environmental accreditation scheme designed to help businesses reduce their environmental impact.
At Linnaeus, we have formed a unique partnership with iiE to put sustainability at the heart of our future. The iiE’s accreditation was created to help businesses access and reduce their environmental impacts, with practices being asked to meet high-level audit criteria, set reduction targets and commit to an ongoing improvement process.
As of May 2023, 47 of our business units are members of the scheme, with 38 accredited (4 at Green and 8 at Silver level). Our central Support Office achieved Silver level in May 2022 after joining in 2020.
No Need for Nitrous Campaign
We have removed nitrous oxide from use across the group as an anaesthetic agent. Linnaeus commits to working with Associates to make sustainable and quality choices for anaesthesia and analgesia provision.
All new acquisitions using nitrous oxide are enrolled in a removal programme with specialist-led support to improve the quality of care for our patients and planet.
Lower flow anaesthesia
The benefits of lower flow anaesthesia for efficiency, increasing airway humidity and reducing patient cooling are understood, but we are increasingly aware of the impact of volatile anaesthetic agents as greenhouse gases.
Within our We Go for Lower Flow campaign, we have made capnographs available to all sites performing general anaesthesia and produced guidelines to help our practices to become more efficient in their use of these drugs.
For more information, please click here.
‘Paws to Turn Off’ campaign
We have launched a campaign to encourage our practices to turn off unnecessary lights, computers and air conditioning, with the aim of cutting down our annual electricity consumption by up to 14 per cent.
We’ve sent over 4,000 ‘Paws to Turn Off’ stickers as part of this, which members of the team can place stickers by the switches to encourage and promote energy-saving behaviour.
The stickers are made from mineral and plant-based ingredients. They are also PVC-free and made with a glue-free, water-based adhesive and are vegan-certified. Using them, despite business growth, we reduced our electricity consumption by 1% from 2020 to 2021.
Responsible Pharmaceutical and Chemical Stewardship (RPCS)
One Health Initiatives
As part of the Linnaeus commitment to the Mars Five Principles and Sustainable in a Generation plan, we support One Health initiatives within our business and charitable activities. One Health is a collaborative public health initiative which links animal, human and planetary health concerns and experts to mutual benefit. One Health acknowledges that human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems.
All of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects required for Linnaeus practices to receive iiE accreditation have a One Health theme.
The public health emergencies of antimicrobial resistance, ecologic crises and the recent viral pandemics have highlighted the links between animal and human diseases.
Safeguarding Antibiotics
Our practices recognise the importance of antibiotic stewardship. Our veterinary professionals are active in responsible pharmaceutical stewardship programmes. Currently, 88% of our small animal veterinary teams have completed a BSAVA PROTECT-ME poster since 2021. We also have an RCVS Knowledge Farm Vet Champion in every farm animal practice. In 2022, our vets are using audits and team discussions to implement best practice guidelines created by our Linnaeus Clinical Board experts for treatment of acute canine uncomplicated diarrhoea.
In 2021, our Safeguarding Antibiotics team created a series of posters and short videos to explain antimicrobial resistance, and to discuss what our vets and owners can do to support antibiotic stewardship. From 2021 to October 2022, Linnaeus has reduced the average milligrams of antibiotics purchased by 19%.
At Linnaeus our efforts are driven by our Investors in the Environment leads and our Environmental Sustainability Lead, Ellie West. Ellie is an RCVS and EBVS® European Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia at Davies Veterinary Specialists. The function of our Environmental Sustainability Lead is to catalyse sustainable working practices across all our businesses.
Ellie first started pioneering veterinary sustainability at Davies Veterinary Specialists in 2017 and has since been a massive influence on Linnaeus and the veterinary industry. Ellie received the Individual Sustainability Influencer award in the iiE ceremony in 2020.
We are proud that Ellie works to educate and spread the word about sustainability across the sector, including the vets of tomorrow by collaborating with veterinary schools on seminars for their undergraduate programmes.
Ellie West has also been named an official Veterinary Woman Role Model, you can read her full profile here. You can contact Ellie at