The RSPCA Manchester & Salford branch aims to minimise the environmental impact of its operations. The branch has introduced practices and processes in the animal centre and the charity shops to meet the following sustainability objectives:
● Reduce or eliminate waste
● Reduce energy consumption
●Source responsibly
The RSPCA Manchester & Salford branch aims to ensure that:
● All employees and volunteers enact these practices and processes while on the branch’s premises, including the animal centre and the charity shops.
● All managers (including trustees) endorse and support these practices.
● All employees, volunteers, and other branch stakeholders feel encouraged to suggest ways of improving these practices in order to further reduce the branch’s environmental impact.
● Current and future suppliers operate environmentally friendly.
● Purchased items are reviewed at least annually to make sure the most environmentally friendly products are in use throughout the branch.
Initiatives and practices implemented to date
Waste management
● Reduce use of plastics and harmful chemicals
● Reuse materials and items where feasible
● Recycle materials and items where feasible
Conscious (energy) consumption
● Use of cruelty-free, environmentally-friendly products wherever possible
● Use of fair-trade products including tea, coffee and sugar
● Use of energy-saving LED lights in all shops
Staff and volunteers are fully supportive of the initiative to reduce energy which is reflected in their practices such as:
● Optimising staff journeys by mapping out the foster home network and proximity to suppliers to reduce carbon footprint resulting from travel;
● Switching off electric items including lights when not needed.
Ongoing sustainability initiatives
Digitalisation
The RSPCA Manchester & Salford branch continues to digitalise operations to replace paper-based processes where feasible.
Electric vehicles
The RSPCA Manchester & Salford branch relies on vans to transport animals for rescue, rehoming, and veterinarian visits. In 2022 we scrapped two diesel vans and in 2023 we will replace the one remaining diesel van with one electric
van.
Community engagement
The RSPCA Manchester & Salford branch wants to inspire and support their stakeholders including fosterers, pet owners and adopters, and charity shop customers to reduce their carbon footprint. The branch will develop guidelines
to promote sustainable practices within the existing foster care network, when on-boarding new foster carers, and when engaging with the branch’s wider network via social media.
Procedure for monitoring the policy implementation
The branch’s philosophy is that of continuous improvement and the initiatives and practices are regularly monitored for their effectiveness whilst new practices are being sought and, where feasible, implemented. To ensure the RSPCA
Manchester & Salford branch meets these sustainability commitments and to monitor the policy effectiveness, a periodical review is undertaken by the branch manager and the trustees.
