Green cleaning
by Ann Brightman
Young Living, meanwhile, makes a universitytested product called Thieves that Dr. Roman and her staff find beneficial too. It’s a combination of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils. “When washing my hands between appointments, I use lavender with Thieves.
Dr. Margo Roman uses an earth friendly disinfectant to wipe up an exam table.
reen cleaners are wonderful, both for our health and the planet’s, but ingredients like baking soda just don’t cut it in a hospital setting, where you need to ensure that bacteria, viruses and other pathogens are dealt with promptly and thoroughly. Question is, are there any environmentallyfriendly chemical-free cleaning and disinfecting products and techniques that meet the sanitation needs of a veterinary clinic? The answer is yes, according to many integrative veterinarians.
Small animal hospital Dr. Margo Roman of Main Street Animal Services of Hopkinton (M.A.S.H.) in Hopkinton, Massachusetts uses a multi-pronged approach to combating pathogens while ensuring her patients and staff are not exposed to harmful toxins. Essential oils, some of which have antiviral and antibacterial properties, play a significant role in the clinic’s cleaning choices. “Products I use a lot include Mrs. Meyers,” she says. “They have four different essential oils – basil, geranium, lavender and lemon. They’re concentrated liquids that you use per gallon of water. I mix them in a spray bottle and use them for tables and floors.” Dr. Roman also uses products from Earth Friendly. “Sometimes I’ll add extra lavender oil, since it’s antiviral and antibacterial.”
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integrative veterinary care
“I try and see animals with respiratory conditions such as kennel cough outside the clinic in the clients’ vehicles,” adds Dr. Roman. “But if they do come in, we have a diffuser that we use to clean the air and we’ll put Thieves in that. We also designed the clinic so that each room has access to outside air. I open the windows, close off the rest of the building, use that room to examine the animal and wipe everything down before opening up the room again. I might use a chemical disinfectant once every two years or so. There aren’t any laws for using strong chemicals unless you’re dealing with rabies.” M.A.S.H. also uses ozonated water to clean surfaces. “It’s antibacterial and antivirual,” Dr. Roman says. A Kangen machine is another option she recommends. “I don’t have one myself, but it will change the pH of water to make it more acidic and good for cleaning.” Dr. Roman says using green cleaners is not cost prohibitive, but it is a bit more labor intensive. “It takes a little more effort because you need to screen appointments more carefully to make sure the animal doesn’t have an infectious respiratory condition. If he does, we tell clients to leave the animal in the car.” The products themselves are easy to come by. “They’re accessible to everybody. We order them online so we don’t have to take time to go out and buy them.”
Equine practice “Cleaning up an equine facility comes with its own set of challenges, similar but different from a small animal veterinary clinic,” says Dr. Hannah Evergreen of Evergreen Holistic Veterinary Care – Equine (EHVC – Equine) in Snohomish,
