Veterinary Sustainability Alliance

What Veterinary Sustainability Alliance does

The Veterinary Sustainability Alliance (VSA) is a binational nonprofit organization founded in 2022 and headquartered across the United States and Canada, dedicated to advancing sustainability within the veterinary profession. VSA operates through three core programs: the Green Paw Certification (North America's first and only environmental certification for veterinary clinics, launched December 2024 at $100 per two-year certification), the Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic framework (a co-created sustainability framework with the American Veterinary Medical Association and Canadian Veterinary Medical Association structured around Core, Clinic, and Community pillars), and the V-CALC Carbon Calculator (a free open-source Microsoft Excel tool developed with Colorado State University that enables US-based clinics to calculate Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions using EPA emission factors). Supporting offerings include a library of self-paced short courses (covering honeybee medicine, waste audits, sustainable glove use, sustainable procurement, and green anesthesia), a webinar-based Sustainability Speaker Series co-delivered with CVMA, and an educational blog and video content library.

Name

Veterinary Sustainability Alliance

Legal name

Veterinary Sustainability Alliance

Website

https://veterinarysustainabilityalliance.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

VSA is a binational US-Canada nonprofit that equips veterinary clinics with sustainability tools, including the Green Paw environmental certification, the AVMA/CVMA co-created Pathway framework, and the V-CALC open-source carbon calculator developed with Colorado State University.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Veterinary Sustainability Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro primary industry

Animal Welfare Auditing, Compliance & Certification Services (Non-testing Lab) (AFAEALAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Animal Welfare & Advocacy Organizations (AFAEALAC)

Keywords

• Veterinary sustainability programs
• Clinic environmental certification
• Veterinary carbon accounting
• Sustainable veterinary education
• Veterinary green practice training

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: VSA accepts tax-deductible donations from individuals at various levels ($10, $20, $30, $40 or custom amounts) with options for one-time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual donations. Donors can also cover transaction fees.
2. Green Paw Certification Fees: VSA charges $100 for Green Paw certification, which is valid for two years once awarded. This covers the review of documentation, certification issuance, and digital badge with recognition materials.
3. Foundational Grants: VSA receives foundational gifts from corporate sponsors such as Mars Veterinary Health to support learning opportunities, networking, resources, and training for veterinary professionals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Veterinary Sustainability Alliance is a binational US-Canada nonprofit that delivers sustainability programs for the veterinary profession. Its core offerings are the Green Paw Certification (a clinic-level environmental certification), the Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic framework (co-created with AVMA and CVMA), and the V-CALC open-source carbon calculator for veterinary practices. Supporting offerings include self-paced short courses, a sustainability webinar series, educational videos, and a blog.

Product overview

The Veterinary Sustainability Alliance operates as a nonprofit organization offering a suite of sustainability-focused programs for veterinary professionals across the USA and Canada. The core portfolio consists of three interconnected offerings: the Green Paw Certification (an entry-level environmental certification for clinics), the Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic (a co-created framework with AVMA and CVMA organizing sustainability into Core, Clinic, and Community pillars), and the V-CALC Carbon Calculator (a free Excel-based greenhouse gas accounting tool developed with Colorado State University). These are supported by educational resources including self-paced Short Courses (including the SEEDs of Sustainability modules), the Sustainability Speaker Series webinar program, educational videos, and a blog. The Pathway framework serves as the organizing structure that underpins the Green Paw certification requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Green Paw Certification: North America's first and only environmental certification program for veterinary clinics, recognizing teams that complete 10 evidence-based actions to reduce their environmental impact.

Products and services

• Green Paw Certification Entry-level environmental certification program for veterinary clinics in the USA and Canada. Clinics complete 10 evidence-based actions organized across three pillars (Core, Clinic, Community) aligned with the Pathway framework, covering energy, waste, water, procurement, and transportation. Certification is valid for two years.
• Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic Sustainability framework co-created with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). Organizes clinic sustainability into three pillars — Core (team formation and goal setting), Clinic (behavioral and physical changes), and Community (external engagement) — across five action categories: Energy, Water, Waste, Procurement, and Transportation.
• V-CALC Carbon Calculator Free, open-source Microsoft Excel-based tool (Veterinary Carbon Accounting for Local Clinics) for US-based veterinary clinics to quantify greenhouse gas emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3 categories. Enables clinics to identify emission hotspots, set reduction targets, and track progress over time. Developed in collaboration with Colorado State University.
• Short Courses Self-paced online educational modules covering veterinary sustainability topics, including the Overview of the Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic (required for Green Paw certification), Clinic Carbon Calculator, Honeybee Medicine, Veterinary Waste Audit, Sustainable Glove Use, Sustainable Procurement, and Green Anesthesia (coming soon). Developed in partnership with Colorado State University DVM students (SEEDs of Sustainability program).
• Sustainability Speaker Series A four-part webinar series providing detailed guidance on sustainability in veterinary medicine and use of the Pathway framework, including the CVMA 2025 Sustainability Speaker Series covering environmental sustainability introduction, Core (team empowerment), Clinic (behavioral and physical changes), and Community (external engagement).

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced regulated medical waste from eliminating unnecessary needle changes (potential thousands of sharps per clinic per year)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created the 'Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic' framework with CVMA, providing a foundational resource for veterinary teams on their sustainability journey. AVMA endorsed the World Veterinary Association's Position on Global Climate Change Emergency in June 2023.
• Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created the 'Pathway to a More Sustainable Clinic' framework with AVMA. CVMA 2025 Sustainability Speaker Series delivered in partnership with CVMA and CAHSS, a 4-part webinar series providing additional details on sustainability in veterinary medicine.
• Colorado State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research partner in developing the V-CALC carbon calculator (CSU Impact MBA Fellow Terryann Kirui, veterinary research team including Caroline Kern-Allely, Danni Scott, Maddy Evans, Colleen Duncan). Katie Clow serves as VSA Director while affiliated with CSU. Research collaboration on Green Paw best practices paper published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
• Project AnimalAidminorOthers501(c)(3) nonprofit that collects gently used and new veterinary/medical equipment and supplies for redistribution to nonprofits doing animal welfare work. VSA recommends Project AnimalAid as a donation pathway for clinics working through Green Paw certification, aligning with procurement and waste reduction categories.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• EcoVadis: EcoVadis is a leading sustainability ratings platform that assesses corporate ESG performance across supply chains. As a commercial incumbent, it parallels VSA's mission to provide credible sustainability measurement, though it operates at corporate scale rather than for individual clinic-level certification.
• B Lab (B Corporation): B Lab is the global nonprofit certifying B Corporations for verified social and environmental performance. As an incumbent in purpose-driven certification, it overlaps with Green Paw conceptually as an entry-level certification of sustainability practices, though it evaluates whole companies rather than individual clinics.
• Practice Greenhealth: Practice Greenhealth is the leading US membership organization for environmental sustainability in healthcare, offering certification, education, and consulting across hospitals and health systems. It is a broader incumbent in healthcare environmental certification, with overlapping certification methodology but serving human healthcare rather than veterinary.
• Climate Neutral Certified: Climate Neutral Certified is an independent nonprofit certification standard for measuring and reducing corporate carbon footprints across industries. It overlaps with VSA's V-CALC tool conceptually as a domain-agnostic carbon certification, but operates at a much broader corporate scale without veterinary specialization.

Direct peers

• Vet Sustain: Vet Sustain is a UK-based veterinary sustainability community of practice that develops sustainability toolkits, frameworks, and resources for veterinary professionals. It is the closest direct functional peer to VSA in North America, operating a near-identical model of certification, education, and advocacy for sustainable veterinary practice.

Others

• One Health Commission: The One Health Commission is a nonprofit advocating for the One Health framework linking human, animal, and environmental health. It is thematically adjacent to VSA's mission of integrating sustainability into veterinary practice, with overlapping academic and policy audiences, but does not offer certification or veterinary-specific tools.
• World Veterinary Association: The World Veterinary Association is the global representative body for the veterinary profession, which endorsed a Position on Global Climate Change Emergency in June 2023. It is an adjacent industry body that shares VSA's sustainability advocacy goals at the global policy level but does not provide clinic-level tools or certification.

Emerging players

• My Green Lab: My Green Lab is a nonprofit that provides sustainability certification, education, and tools specifically for laboratories. While focused on lab environments rather than veterinary clinics, it operates a comparable niche-certification model with similar peer-reviewed methodology and certification tiers.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/VeterinarySustainabilityAlliance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/veterinary-sustainability-alliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Veterinary Sustainability Alliance