Issue 11, 2024

Lab sustainability programs LEAF and My Green Lab®: impact, user experience & suitability

Abstract

Facing the climate crisis and planetary boundaries, research institutions must address the challenge of becoming climate-neutral and using resources more sustainably. Natural science laboratories are the most resource-intensive and CO2-emitting units within these institutions. Consequently, research groups aim to understand how to lower emissions and become sustainable by participating in green lab programs for wet labs, such as My Green Lab® or LEAF. Here, we compare these programs, analyse their impact on emission savings, and give insights from conducting both programs simultaneously in our biological and chemical labs. As a centrepiece, we provide a quantitative comparison of the programs based on a Germany-wide survey of participants from both programs. We showcase the significant impact of the programs on employees' motivation to work sustainably, highlight the advantages and shortcomings of the programs, and elucidate the pitfalls of greenwashing risks and the risks of leaving the most effective measures unimplemented. Finally, we provide decision-making guidance to help scientists choose the most suitable lab sustainability program based on their individual research backgrounds, needs, and personal preferences.

Graphical abstract: Lab sustainability programs LEAF and My Green Lab®: impact, user experience & suitability

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Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Jul 2024
Accepted
08 Sep 2024
First published
09 Sep 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Sustain., 2024,2, 3383-3396

Lab sustainability programs LEAF and My Green Lab®: impact, user experience & suitability

B. R. Schell and N. Bruns, RSC Sustain., 2024, 2, 3383 DOI: 10.1039/D4SU00387J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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