Green Initiative

In 2010, the hospital began to enhance our environmentally friendly practices with the ultimate goal of becoming Green Certified by Santa Cruz County. The practice team and leadership feels that as our communities face economic and environmental challenges it is important for every individual to support energy efficiency. Our commitment to take action to reduce our carbon footprint includes the following initiatives.

Reducing energy consumption
The City of Santa Cruz has taken many steps to "green" our community and many businesses have followed their lead. We recently contacted Right Lights; an organization specializing in retrofitting energy efficient lighting. Right Lights did an energy audit of our hospital to determine what types of changes would provide us with the biggest energy and cost savings. They informed us; after compiling the data, that we could save a considerable amount of money and energy by changing out our old lights and ballasts. In March 2010 the hospital swapped out all old lights and ballasts for energy efficient lighting, thereby reducing our impact on the environment.

Hospital recycling program
Many of the items that a veterinary hospital uses can be recycled. Since the early 2000s we have worked with SCRAP to reduce our consumption of cardboard, and we have recycling containers in every treatment area and team member lunch rooms to capture all types of plastic, glass, aluminum, and other recyclable items. In addition, we provide utensils and dishes to try and reduce paper/ plastic use during meals.

Electronic medical records
One of the largest initiatives that the hospital has undertaken is the transition to paperless medical records. Although we still use paper records for some of the charts, much of the paper utilized in the practice has been significantly reduced. In addition we are utilizing email reminders, electronic fax, electronic documents for clients posted on our website, and other paper saving processes as part of our regular workflow.

Natural lighting
The hospital design incorporated skylights and large windows in the lobby, allowing for natural light which reduces the need for lighting inside during the day.

Natural landscaping
The landscaping in the backyard as well as the front on Soquel Drive is low-water, native planting. Watering is only done once a week or as needed in the winter, and twice per week in the summer. The watering system is on a timer and sensors which recognize if it is raining; the sprinklers will not turn on if rainwater is present.