Good science can go further with lab changes that drive down costs. The problem is that biologists asked to cut lab overhead costs may not know where to begin. A nice overview of universal approaches to improving lab sustainability was shared with Labconscious by Steve Miller from Lab ReNew.
Lab ReNew is a non-profit offering free guidance to Boston area labs to improve sustainability without risking their science. It’s no secret that biomedical research and development requires investment. These days investors are rewarding cost-cutting. Likewise, research funding bodies, like Cancer Research, U.K., and Wellcome are adding energy-saving plans and environmental impact requirements for researchers and organization grant applicants. Pharmaceutical companies that serve the healthcare industry are implementing sustainability strategies to lower the environmental impacts of drug manufacturing as part of clinical supply chains in a collaborative task force. Green lab practices are a moral imperative to protect nature and human health — and a competitive advantage for life science labs during uncertain economic times.
“We provide lab sustainability guidance. We do it for free. We look at energy, water, waste, and behavioral programs.”
Many effective, no-cost, or low-cost, sustainability solutions exist for laboratory energy, water, waste, and vendor management. Steven Miller, the founder, and director of the non-profit Lab ReNew, shares this approach in his presentation below. The mission of Lab ReNew is to guide research labs to conserve science funding and foster a research environment that is carbon-neutral, energy-efficient, and pollution-free. For example, red bag biohazard waste is expensive. A laboratory they guided reduced their energy costs by 25% by auditing what they were throwing away and how they were doing it. Overall, laboratories can drop operating overhead by more than 12% with this nonprofit’s free guidance. While Lab ReNew provides free, direct sustainability guidance to laboratories in the Boston area, the concepts he shares are universal. Labconscious is grateful for the opportunity to host Steve Miller’s talk.