SPECIAL REPORT Carbon audit: Glebe Family Medical Practice

Glebe Family Medical Practice, Glebe NSW

• 9 GPs
• 6 receptionists
• practice manager
• plus allied health staff

IT’S the little things that count. The Glebe Family Medical Practice in inner Sydney discovered this when they undertook a carbon audit of the practice to measure their contributions to climate change.

Dr Charlotte Hespe (pictured), a GP at the practice, said their main contribution to carbon emissions came from electricity use.

“We used to keep on all the computers, monitors, screens and printers,” she says. “So now everybody’s computer gets turned off at the end of the day, which sounds silly but in fact it’s quite a big thing.”

In fact, the practice will save around 760 kg in carbon dioxide emissions a year just with this small change.

Dr Hespe says she has been conscious of environmental issues for a long time. “When I saw the Leichhardt practice carbon audit in Medical Observer (13 June 2008), I thought, yes, we as a practice can take responsibility for what we generate as well.”

CONTROLLING CARBON EMISSIONS

The first step in this process was to conduct a full carbon audit on all directly controllable carbon emissions caused by the practice’s business activities.

The audit was conducted by Gavin Pereira, environmental director of the Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI), as part of the Low Carbon Doctors Initiative, a joint venture by Medical Observer and CRI.

“Electricity was just on 50% of the total,” he said (see below). “All other emissions were through staff travel and purchases they consume in the practice, such as furniture, sheets and medicines.”

Mr Pereira said a carbon footprint of 123 tonnes of greenhouse gas a year was quite good for the practice, which employs 20 staff. “We would have expected a footprint probably even a little bit higher. I think they’ve done quite well,” he says.

One area where the practice scores very well is in staff travel. It represented just 10% of the total carbon footprint as nearly all of the 20 practice staff cycle, walk or take public transport to work at least some of the time.

“I ride my bike instead of driving my car,” Dr Hespe says. “That’s meant another couple of doctors have started doing the same thing. I know the practice down the road, when they heard I was doing that, they started doing it.”

This practice has taken an even more significant lead in combating climate change; they have signed up to become the first carbon-neutral practice in Australia.

Mr Pereira explains that to become carbon neutral, the practice needs to buy carbon credits, which are tax deductible, to offset their carbon footprint.

“For this practice, it is $460 a quarter,” he said. “In the long run, the more they cut down on their emissions, the less money they pay.”

Dr Hespe said the practice staff initially weren’t too keen on the idea of reducing their emissions.

“There were a few complaints about how long it took to get the computers going in the morning, but people get over these things,” she said.

Key changes

• All computers switched off at power source (760kg/year CO₂ saving)
  
• Staff commute by cycling, walking or by taking public transport
  
• Committed to purchasing carbon credits to offset the practice’s footprint.

Practice carbon footprint

Electricity 50% (61.46 tonnes)
Medical supplies 14% (17.2 tonnes)
Staff travel 10% (12.29 tonnes)
Other expenses 9% (11.06 tonnes)
Building expenses 7% (8.6 tonnes)
Assets 6% (7.37 tonnes)
Waste 4% (4.92 tonnes)
Total: 122.92 tonnes (CO₂ per year)