Cutting your carbon footprint
Here we provide some top tips for best practice to reduce your carbon footprint in and out of the lab and ensure sustainability is prioritised!
Recycling
Ensure you are using the lab and office recycling bins often and correctly. Please ensure:
- Items are not contaminated (by hazardous materials)
- Items are empty and dry and their lids are removed
- Labels are defaced or removed (you can also write waste over old labels)
- Some items cannot be recycled and should go in designated waste bins:Biologically, chemically or radioactively contaminated items
- SharpsPaper towels and blue roll (these are already recycled and have too low a fibre count to undergo further processing)
If you are unsure about whether an item can be recycled, contact an eco group member for further information.
See our Recycling section for more information on the recycling facilities in SII.
Freezer care
Freezers are a huge way that we can improve our carbon footprint.
- If your samples will be safe, ultra low temperature freezers should be set to -70oC instead of -80oC
- Ensure the door is shut as much as possible – don’t stand around with an open fridge or freezer while you search for your samples
- Ensure your freezer can breathe – check filters are clear, ensure enough space on all sides of your freezer and remove clutter from beside or on top of units.
- If you notice a damaged seal, arrange for it to be fixed right away.
- Keep your units free of clutter.
- Clear out and defrost freezers at least once per year – this prevents ice build up and clears space for new items!
- Replace any freezers which are older than 10 years – the university have a fund to meet extra costs for buying high eco rating fridges and freezers
Shut your fume hood sash
Fume hoods are one of the most energy intensive pieces of equipment in the lab. On average, they use as much energy as 3.5 houses every day. We can cut costs and energy usage by closing the hoods when not in use.
Turn off equipment
Many lab groups already have a traffic light system in place to highlight when it is safe to turn off equipment at the plug.
Green= Safe to turn off when not in use
Amber=Turn off at end of day
Red= Never switch off
Please contact us if you require traffic light stickers!
Items of particular importance are:
Centrifuges - Switch off centrifuges at the end of the day and leave the lids open. This is especially important for centrifuges that are set to specific temperatures.
Water baths - Water baths only take 10 minutes to heat up to the correct temperature. For health and safety reasons they cannot be left on unattended out of hours. Please ensure that these are switched off at the end of the day.
You can also switch off the lights in rooms if you know nobody is working in them.
Water waste
Every drop counts! Ensure taps are turned off when not in use and report leaks right away.
When rinsing, use a low flow of water to reduce the amount wasted – only use purified water if necessary as this takes extra energy to produce.
If you need to use hot water, for example for defrosting samples, consider filling the sink (or a smaller container) reducing water used and energy used to heat the water.
Ventilated lab areas
In lab areas which are ventilated (e.g. microscope rooms, cold rooms) make sure to close the doors behind you when you enter or exit.
New starts
Ensure new staff, students and visitors are made aware of all of these measures. Please download our Sustainable Lab Induction sheet.
Need a labcoat?
If you have a new start that needs a labcoat, there are a supply of second hand labcoats under the window in the small washroom on Level 1 of the SGDB – check whether you can reuse one of these before you buy a new lab coat.
Ways to be more sustainable outside of the lab
These tips are for outwith the lab - be it in the office or on your way to work, small changes can make a big difference!
Computers and monitors
If you NEED to keep active work on your computer we would recommend using the hibernate function instead of standby as the computer will save all your active work onto the hard drive but will not use any power when switched off.
Turn your monitor off at the end of the day
Printing and electronic lab notebooks
We live in a digital world – try viewing papers on your computer or tablet instead of printing them off.
Similarly, get on board with a digital lab-book – OneNote has many features, which make it ideal to use as a lab-book, and it is already available to you through your university account. We have put together a seminar about how you can begin using a OneNote labbook. Contact us for slides.
Bring your own lunch
It may sound trivial but one of the main ways in which you can reduce your carbon footprint is by preparing your own lunch and transporting it in re-usable containers.
Cutting out cheese and meat as ingredients also goes a long way to reducing carbon footprint.
Change your commute
This graph taken from Government data shows how you can cut your carbon emissions by using public transport or changing to commuting by bike or foot. If that’s not possible try carpooling! The graph displays the carbon equivalent it takes to transport 1 person 1 kilometre.
See the GUEST website for more useful links on transport.
BYOB
Single use plastic bottles and cutlery have a huge carbon footprint. Instead of buying bottles of water or juice, bring your own reusable water bottle. If you fancy something different, go for something in a can. Similarly, have a work set of cutlery so you are never caught short.
Single use coffee cups are not recyclable and 3 billion go to landfill every year in the UK – not only does buying a reusable coffee cup save the environment, it can save you money too with many vendors offering discounts when you bring your own cup.
While we are trying to eradicate single-use cups from being used in our institute events, best practice is to bring your own reusable cup to all events.