Turn Over a New Leaf: Improving Laboratory Sustainability

Turn Over a New Leaf: Improving Laboratory Sustainability 

Introduction

Because of their electricity and water consumption, plastic waste generation, and harmful chemical usage, biology laboratories have a huge effect on the environment. Here are some tips to increase laboratory sustainability.

Energy

• Fully close the fume hood’s sash when it is not in use.¹ 
• Switch off non-essential but energy-intensive equipment, such as chilled centrifuges, heating blocks, and PCR machines, during periods of inactivity.¹ Turn off the lights in rooms that are not in constant use.
• Perform regular maintenance on laboratory refrigerators and freezers, including cleaning the condenser coils and removing frost.¹ Frequently re-organize these cold storage units and purge old samples and reagents. 
• Instead of -80°C, set ultra-low temperature freezers to -70°C.² This small change decreases the freezer’s energy consumption by 28 percent without compromising the integrity and viability of most samples. 

Plastic Waste

• Reduce employing single-use plastics by switching to glass or paper consumables, such as glass pipettes, weighing paper, and glass Petri dishes.¹ When working with plastics, use the smallest size vessels possible. 
• Reuse consumables including pipette tips and conical tubes after washing and sterilization.¹ Refill old tip boxes with new or cleaned tips. 
• Recycle used plastics, such as noncontaminated gloves, centrifuge tubes, and reagent bottles, where possible.¹ 
• Instead of buying ready-to-use materials, such as phosphate-buffered saline, culture medium, and precast gels, prepare these items from scratch.

Water

• Install aerators on faucets to reduce the flow of water.¹
• Run autoclaves and dishwashers only when the machines are fully loaded.¹

Chemicals

• Optimize experiments at a small scale to minimize chemical usage upon scale-up.¹ 
• Perform a thorough inventory of chemicals and reagents to avoid rebuying materials unnecessarily.¹

Hatch a Plan

To cultivate a work environment committed to sustainable practices, laboratory leaders should develop a sustainability plan. This resource outlines the new strategies that they will implement, highlights targeted goals, and defines the approach for monitoring progress.

Partner Wisely

Companies can help scientists improve sustainability by providing environmentally sustainable equipment.¹ Researchers can replace older instruments with newer models that use less power or water, have greater durability, contain sensors to detect when the device needs maintenance, and are built with fewer materials. Scientists can partner with companies that employ eco-friendly approaches to distribute their products, such as reducing packaging or using paper coolers.¹ 

References

1.           Freese T, et al. The relevance of sustainable laboratory practices. Rsc Sustain. 2024;2(5):1300.

2.           Graham M, et al. Roadmap for low-carbon ultra-low temperature storage in biobanking. J Transl Med. 2024;22(1):747.