Join My Green Lab and other distinguished panelists at AASHE for conversations about engagement in green lab programs:
Behavior Catalyzing Sustainable Change 10/27/2014 9:30 AM - 10:00 AM, B112 Furthering sustainability on campus and across the globe requires a team effort at shaking up the process, perceptions and habits to consider a new, more sustainable path. This panel will offer diverse perspectives from a campus sustainability director, office product supplier, and a consumer goods manufacturer. Each panelist is driving to make campus life more sustainable through changing behaviors and offers experience in leading corporate sustainability, green procurement and implementing process optimizations. The panelists will be given questions to answer with healthy debate and collaboration across the various functions to ensue. The panelists will challenge our understandings of how to best implement behavior change to drive sustainable transformation on campuses while maintaining a productive and healthy environment. Making Greener Labs Programs a Value Add 10/28/2014 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM, C121, 122 Research and teaching laboratories have a special set of circumstances that impact sustainability intervention efforts. Labs are high-impact both in terms of resource use and in terms of student learning, and not surprisingly they represent some of the most high risk and deeply-entrenched interests. We have found that labs are often the “final frontier” of sustainable operations and collaboration on campuses. Based on examples of Greener Labs programs at four research institutions, and with additional input from an industry expert, this session will convey best management practices for bridging the gap between researchers and EHS personnel so that Greener Labs projects can be a valuable addition to their lab environment rather than an additional burden or increased risk. Presenters will share how they have partnered with labs, EH&S, sustainability officers, facilities personnel, and engineering firms to add value for all. Case studies and programs from four separate research institutions will be discussed in this session. Three of the cases heavily engaged lab occupants in the process of investigating opportunities and co-creating solutions. Two of the cases included large scale energy efficiency programs in large laboratory buildings. One of the projects targeted integration with EHS. Approaches, results, and best practices from all campuses will be shared. Allison Paradise of the non-profit organization My Green Lab will speak about marketing of green labs programs to EHS, researchers, and purchasing departments. John Cook of UC Riverside will discuss the planning stage of setting up green labs – from developing a new lab for newly hired professors to addressing concerns from entrenched researchers and skeptical EH&S staff. Klara Olofsdotter Otis, a scientist and a lab manager at UCLA, will give her view on what factors are important to make labs enthusiastic about participating in green labs initiatives. Meggie Patton of Brown University will speak about working with EH&S staff to optimize the Greener Labs program at Brown for EH&S personnel, researchers, and sustainability staff. Bill Spratt of Worcester Polytechnic Institute will speak about their new and growing Greener Labs program which first focused on efficiency and fume hoods in the largest laboratory building on campus. Ben Datema, a Sustainability Program Coordinator with GreenerU and experienced Greener Labs implementer, will serve as moderator.
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My Green Lab is pleased to announce that Priorclave NA is now an official Corporate Sponsor. Priorclave NA has been at the forefront of the conversation around right-sized equipment for laboratories, specifically advising laboratories to consider research-grade autoclaves instead of medical-grade ones whenever possible. They have also worked closely with S-Lab in the UK to demonstrate the energy and water savings that can result from using a more energy- and water-efficient autoclave.
The drought in California is affecting us all, and autoclaves represent a real opportunity for water and energy savings. To learn more about best practices for autoclaves, please contact us at info@mygreenlab.org. My Green Lab will be presenting with Allen Doyle from UC Davis at the American Chemical Society meeting tomorrow in San Francisco.
Our talk will be from 9:45 - 10:05 at the InterContinental San Francisco, in the Cathedral Hill room. New findings about mercury levels in our oceans were published today in Nature. Although these findings are not surprising, they are certainly sobering. Do your part to eliminate mercury pollution - exchange your mercury thermometers and mercury-containing light sources.
My Green Lab will be presenting three talks at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference June 16-18, 2014.
Our statewide collaboration to create a Green Lab Assessment Tool will be featured on Wednesday, followed by our work at UC Riverside to begin a Green Labs program from the ground up. In conjunction with UC Riverside we will be giving a talk on Cold Storage Management. My Green Lab's annual public Board meeting will be held on May 28th at 5:30pm PST. To attend please use the following call-in information: 213-416-1560 | Access Code: 911 9313.
My Green Lab will present on Mercury Free Microscopy: Sustainable Cores, Alternative Funding on Sunday March 23rd at 12:45pm in the PECOS room. Please join us to learn more information about how core facilities are instrumental in the mercury free microscopy movement, and how funding can be obtained to eli
Research labs generally use high-pressure mercury or xenon light sources for fluorescence microscopy. These lamps are bright and produce ample light for most work, and, as a result, have been widely used in research for several years. But the increased brightness afforded by these light sources is accompanied by several negative aspects. Mercury-containing light sources present a personal safety hazard and an environmental hazard. In addition, the cost of ownership of these light sources is high, and they often no longer meet the experimental needs of many modern laboratories.
My Green Lab attended the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference this week. Of particular note were the presentations given by Erin Stanforth (PCC) and Laurel Dunn (UC Berkeley) in which they spoke about the contribution of laboratories to carbon emissions on their campuses. Both women found that laboratories contributed to over 50% of the carbon emissions on campus. Laurel discovered that there is a distinct correlation between the amount of research funding awarded to UC Berkeley researchers and the level of carbon emissions produced by UC Berkeley. Allen Doyle’s (UC Davis) poster and talk about ultra-low freezers was also noteworthy. More information about the Store Smart movement to reduce the energy consumption of ultra-low freezers can be found here: http://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/action/conserve_energy/store_smart.html My Green Lab is pleased to announce that Lumencor is now a Sustainable Corporate Sponsor of My Green Lab. Lumencor is committed to sustainable manufacturing practices and technology in the life science lighting sector. Lumencor is dedicated to developing innovative, high quality light engines that facilitate rapid, sensitive, accurate analyses. Their areas of expertise reside in analytical chemistry, materials science, solid state physics, optics and engineering. Lumencor's generous sponsorship will enable My Green Lab to advance its Mercury-Free Microscopy Initiative, which is an initiative we share with Lumencor. Included in this initiative will be a mercury-recycling program that we will implement in universities and institutions across California. We are very excited about our new Sustainable Corporate Sponsor and we look forward to keeping you informed of our progress on our Mercury-Free initiative! |
About UsMy Green Lab promotes green practices and environmentally-friendly, sustainable technology in research laboratories. |