The Woking branch of Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists has achieved a prestigious sustainability certification after successfully offsetting its carbon emissions across its audiology services.

It joins other Surrey practices at Camberley, Lightwater and Guildford to have earned the Carbon Neutral Audiology certification by calculating its carbon footprint – including emissions from client travel to and from the practice – and offsetting these through Net Zero Eyecare.

Last year Bayfields was awarded the certification for its optical offering.

Bayfields also runs a recycling scheme where clients can drop off old hearing aids into a practice. They are collected and donated to Chichester Lions Club, who send them to be reused in eye and ear clinics across countries such as Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Nigeria.

Lina Wtyklo, practice manager at Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists Woking said: “We’re delighted at the response to our sustainability initiatives from both the Bayfields practice team and clients alike.

"As a responsible business we are passionate about minimising our impact on the environment and we’d encourage anyone who wants to check their eye or ear health – or recycle their old glasses and hearing aids – to visit us and learn more about what we offer.”

Megan Harper, sustainability manager at Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists, added: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. It’s not just a corporate initiative, it’s a genuine commitment to making a positive impact on the environment.

“By getting our practices to net zero carbon status and achieving carbon neutrality across our audiology and eyewear services, by the end of 2024 across the business we will have successfully removed 15,483.83 tonnes of Co2 from the atmosphere, which is equivalent to taking approximately 3,366 cars off the road for a year.”