First Green Paw in Academia

When the Orthopedic Medicine and Mobility Service at Colorado State University (CSU Ortho Med) earned Green Paw certification from the Veterinary Sustainability Alliance, it became the first academic veterinary service in the United States or Canada to do so. That milestone is about more than a certification. It demonstrates how veterinary teaching hospitals can lead sustainability innovation while improving care for patients and clients.

Green Paw was originally designed for freestanding veterinary clinics. Academic veterinary hospitals are larger and more complex, making certification at the service level more appropriate as it allows individual teams to tailor their required actions to the nature of their work. For CSU Ortho Med, this included a rehabilitation equipment lending library in partnership with Sebastian's Love, a nonprofit founded by a CSU client. Their dog, Sebastian, recovered from a spinal cord injury with the help of borrowed mobility and rehabilitation equipment. Rather than requiring every family to purchase items that may only be needed for a short recovery period, clients can borrow harnesses, mobility aids, and orthopedic support devices, then return them for use by future patients. The result is a simple but powerful example of sustainability in action: reducing waste, lowering costs for families, and expanding access to care. Most importantly, it is the kind of creative, practical solution that emerged directly from the clinical setting itself.

Learning by Doing

Academic veterinary hospitals occupy a unique position within the profession. They do not simply provide care - they train future veterinarians. Every student, intern, and resident who rotates through a service carries those experiences into a career that may span decades. Research across the health professions has shown that positive role models are among the strongest influences on sustainability engagement, often more influential than formal classroom instruction(1, 2). This means the impact of a teaching hospital service extends far beyond its own walls. By integrating sustainability into clinical operations, academic services help establish new norms that can influence veterinary practices across the profession for years to come.

Momentum is growing throughout veterinary medicine. In 2023, the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges released a position statement on climate change(3) and subsequently established a working group to support the integration of climate and sustainability concepts into veterinary education.

Students Are Driving Change

The momentum toward sustainability in veterinary education is not coming solely from staff and institutional leadership. Students themselves are increasingly shaping the conversation. One of the most visible examples is the Planetary Health Report Card, which is a student-led initiative that evaluates health professional schools on their performance in areas such as curriculum, research, community engagement, support for student initiatives, and campus sustainability. Originally developed in human health professions education, the framework has expanded to include veterinary medicine, providing students with a mechanism to assess and encourage institutional progress.

The report card reflects a broader shift in expectations among learners. Today's veterinary students increasingly recognize that climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and resource use influence animal, human, and environmental health. Many want sustainability to be part of their professional training and future practice(4-6).

This creates a powerful opportunity for teaching hospitals. When students encounter sustainability not only in lectures and position statements but also in clinical practice, the lessons become tangible. They see how environmental stewardship can support patient care, client affordability, operational efficiency, and community wellbeing.

From One Service to Many

The CSU Ortho Med’s Green Paw certification builds on the growing body of work demonstrating that sustainability can be successfully integrated into veterinary practice. By becoming the first academic veterinary service to earn Green Paw certification, CSU Ortho Med has demonstrated leadership in bringing sustainability into a teaching hospital setting, where its impact extends beyond patients and clients to the students, interns, and residents learning how veterinary medicine is practiced.

As veterinary schools work to prepare graduates for a changing world, teaching hospitals have an opportunity to make sustainability visible where learning happens. Green Paw provides a practical framework for turning institutional commitments into everyday clinical practice.

CSU Ortho Med may be the first academic veterinary service to achieve certification, but its greatest impact will come if others follow. Scaling Green Paw across veterinary teaching hospitals could help integrate sustainability into both clinical care and veterinary education, shaping the profession for years to come.

References

1.             Luo OD, Stroshein S, Razvi Y, Jane A, Taboun Z, Robert L, et al. A qualitative study of what motivates, facilitates, and hinders climate-engaged healthcare trainees to advance healthcare sustainability. The Journal of Climate Change and Health. 2024;20:100352.

2.             Schiavone SCM, Smith SM, Mazariegos I, Salomon M, Webb TL, Carpenter MJ, et al. Environmental Sustainability in Veterinary Medicine: An Opportunity for Teaching Hospitals. J Vet Med Educ. 2022;49(2):260-6.

3.             AAVMC. Position Statement: Climate Change. 2023. https://www.aavmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AAVMC-PositionStatement-ClimateChange-0245.pdf

4.             Kern-Allely C, Pejchar L, Magnusson K, Tabor G, Stewart F, Stephen C, et al. Prevent, Protect, Restore: Using the Global Biodiversity Framework to Guide Veterinary Education. J Vet Med Educ.0(0):e20250126.

5.             Pollard AE, Rowlison DL, Kohnen A, McGuffin K, Geldert C, Kramer C, et al. Preparing Veterinarians to Address the Health Impacts of Climate Change: Student Perceptions, Knowledge Gaps, and Opportunities. J Vet Med Educ. 2021;48(3):343-50.

6.             Kramer CG, McCaw KA, Zarestky J, Duncan CG. Veterinarians in a Changing Global Climate: Educational Disconnect and a Path Forward. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2020;Volume 7 - 2020.