Author: Joel Conn

SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS AT PBVC

Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic believes in sustainability and doing our part to preserve our planet.

We feel so lucky to live, work, and play in this amazing, diverse, and beautiful place we call the Central Coast. Even after 16 years living here, I still get a little tingle of excitement and gratitude when I pass Ontario Ridge heading south from SLO on 101 and get my first glimpse of the ocean. It is easy, sometimes, to forget that despite our idyllic weather and picturesque surroundings, our planet is in trouble.

Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic exists, at its core, to help our clients and our patients live happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. As such, we feel a responsibility to take whatever actions we can to help decrease our carbon footprint and to set an example in our community for environmental stewardship. Though Sarah and I have always emphasized sustainability in all aspects of our private life, we (for some reason) never really considered the importance of bringing these concepts into our business. We now recognize that taking these steps as a business is even more important than doing so individually because we are potentially able to have a much larger sphere of influence and have a trickle-down effect on our staff, clients, and community.

Here are a few of the many things we are doing to reduce our environmental impact:

1. We have fully revamped our recycling program to maximize our waste reduction, including recycling of e-waste, alternative plastics, and composting green waste.
2. We have replaced all of our toilets with ultra-low water toilets.
3. We have installed a huge solar array and Tesla power walls, allowing us to be nearly 100% self-powered off of the sun.
4. We have installed a Tesla car charger to encourage green commuting.
5. We have replaced all of our fluorescent and incandescent lights with LED bulbs.
6. We have replaced all of our paper products with recycled paper and have installed reusable fabric hand dryers and electric air hand dryers.
7. We will be installing an instant water heater to replace our conventional gas heater.
8. We have worked with our suppliers to reduce packaging, plastics, and shipments for our medical supplies.
9. We have incentivized the staff to commute more responsibly via bike, carpool, and electric vehicles.
10. We have installed energy efficient computer monitors, refrigerators, laundry, and other appliances.
11. We have switched to non-toxic and low waste cleaners and laundry products.
12. We regularly conduct staff training and updates on green friendly practices.
13. We purchase carbon offset credits for any continued education air travel.
14. We only buy food from restaurants that use eco-friendly packaging and DON’T send a million individually wrapped plastic utensils.
15. We have stocked our breakroom with reusable plates and utensils.
16. We have a paperless electronic medical records system and have digitized all of our faxes.
17. We have invited many local businesses to join our sustainability efforts and facilitated several outreach events with Eco-SLO.
18. We have established a “Green Team” to help coordinate our business’s eco activities and incentives and to continuously look for more ways to “go green.”

Finally, as of 2022, we are super excited to announce that we are one of only a handful of businesses in the county to have become SLO GREEN BUSINESS CERTIFIED!

At Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic, we believe that actions speak louder than words. We recognize that living on the Central Coast and serving our wonderful clients and patients is a true gift. We will continue to do all that we can to promote the highest standard of sustainability in everything we do.

Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic stands for equality.

Now, more than ever, I feel so fortunate to be able to live, work, and play on the beautiful Central Coast. I cannot imagine a better place to shelter-in-place and enjoy the incredible and diverse environment that we inhabit.  I feel, though, that I should preface this with the fact that I am lucky enough to have a psychologically and financially rewarding job and a supportive family. I was raised Jewish so I have some experience with intolerance, but as a white male I am able to “hide in plain sight.” I recognize that this is a huge privilege and has sheltered me from many, many challenges that others in our community face daily.

Though in many ways the Central Coast is idyllic, I think that it’s critical to acknowledge the ever-present undercurrent of racial, sexual/gender, religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparity and prejudice that exists in our community.

Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic exists, at its core, to help our clients and our patients live happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. To this end, we feel that we cannot remain silent when insidious issues threaten the very livelihoods of so many of our friends, colleagues, and clients. We cannot stand idly by in the face of hate speech, ignorance, intolerance, and racism. We are greatly saddened to hear racial slurs pour from the mouths of locals and to see an image of a gallows and noose marring the wall of a local school.

Though I have always been involved in issues of tolerance and diversity in my personal life, I struggled with the appropriateness of involving my business. I have come to the conclusion that as local business owners and leaders we have an obligation to make our opinions heard and step beyond the bounds of day-to-day business. Only in this way can we hope to de-radicalize and de-politicize the ideals of racial justice and tolerance.

So, here goes…

At Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic, we believe that Black Lives Matter.  We believe in the equality of all people, regardless of race, religion, or sexual and gender identity.  We believe that all life has inherent value. We believe that science is real and fear the loss of trust in our scientific community.  We worry about a willingness from many to accept the concept of alternate truths and facts, treating statements from laypeople and pundits with equal weight to those of experts. We believe that we should be open to discussion, continuous education, and always be striving to learn (and teach). We believe that we, humankind, represent a huge threat to our environment and climate and that every day is an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint. We believe that history is important and should be taught honestly and remembered but not necessarily celebrated. We believe that COVID-19 is a real threat, and we wear masks to show respect and to help keep community members safe.  We believe in the fallacy of false balance: not all issues have two sides and not all sides of an issue deserve equal treatment or are equally worthy of consideration.

At Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic, we believe that actions speak louder than words. We love our community and get involved whenever and wherever we can. Being active and giving our time to great local organizations like Rotary, the Diversity Coalition San Luis Obispo County, Stand Strong, and the YMCA of SLO County is more important now than ever.

At Pismo Beach Veterinary Clinic, we believe in love, tolerance, and understanding.  It’s a time for unity, not division. We believe that NOW is the time for kindness.

Joel Conn 
July 20, 2020