Certified Labs Re-Engagement Program
To get certified, finish the easy, 30-minute Green Labs Certification and submit it to sustainability@caltech.edu.
Once your lab is Certified, what happens?
Well, Green Labs wanted to continue to engage and support Certified labs after they get Certified. So, we decided to reward to labs who continue to showcase their sustainability excellence by developing a re-engagement program!
Green Labs Certification Re-Engagement Challenge
Green Labs devised a way to challenge labs even more and give labs credit for work they are already doing, above and beyond their Certification. So, our plan is to add a simple white flower sticker to your Certification plaque. As labs achieve goals in 5 categories outlined below, we will add colourful stickers to each petal of our flower stickers. At the end of the year, depending on how many colourful stickers your lab achieves, your lab will receive a permanent "2025" sticker indicating how well your lab did!
Intrigued? We thought so!
So, how do you get the stickers?
You can complete tasks that show your commitment to sustainability (we will send a list of suggestions for you to get started). We also have Green Labs resources indicated that can help you accomplish various goals.
Send us your accomplishments in whatever form makes sense - photos, data, slides, etc. - and we will reward you with a sticker if that action qualifies!
What if you don't qualify for a category?
If you feel your lab cannot compete in a particular area (for example: your lab does not have any fridges or freezers) we will have a way for your lab to still gain the sticker if you show you have gone above and beyond in your sustainability journey!
We hope this category will increase awareness of sustainability in your lab spaces, and show support for Green and efficient best practices.
Resources:
- Green Labs Guide
- Fact Sheets (which include some slides that can be used during group meetings)
- Restaurant Guide or Events resources
- Recycling Signage and How-To Guides on our Spring Clean Events Webpage covering a wide range of topics including fume hoods, freezers, sustainable purchasing, and more!
Your lab can attain the Education sticker through two (or more) of the following actions (each action can be repeated):
- Create and present on one sustainable or sustainable labs topic during lab meeting and share Green Labs the slides for other labs
- Prepare slides on sustainable initiative or pilot program and share with Green Labs
- Educate high school researchers, SURF students, community members, volunteers etc. about sustainability initiatives
- If your lab does tours, try to incorporate a blurb/plug for sustainability
- Meeting agendas can be used to present one Green Labs monthly tip
- Share with us your sustainable onboarding procedures/protocols to encourage and share sustainable lab behaviours with new members
- Other: specific things that outside of the norm, to give you an opportunity to shine in non-typical ways (social media or such) that we have not thought of!
- For example: hosting a meeting or giving a presentation to other labs or at a conference, if the speaker is presenting on sustainable initiatives and show us that they have done that (and/or perhaps share slides) and this would count!
We hope this category will increase adoption of purchasing sustainable products such as consumables or lab appliances etc., including low waste/low packaging alternatives.
Resources:
- Green Labs Guide
- Fact Sheets (which include some slides that can be used during group meetings on topics like what the TechMart Green Designation means and more!)
- Restaurant Guide or Events resources
- Recycling Signage and How-To Guides on our Spring Clean Events Webpage covering a wide range of topics including sustainable purchasing, take-back programs for various brands, recommended sustainable products
- Green Labs Marketplace to swap items lab-to-lab!
Your lab can attain the Sustainable Purchasing sticker through two or more of the following actions (each action can be repeated):
- Put together a writeup or slides etc. on a product and why it is sustainable, why you are switching to that product, or suggest switching to your lab, and share with Green Labs
- We will add your products to our preferred sustainable lists as well!
- Switch to a biodegradable option
- Switch to sustainable vendors (for example switching from Amazon)
- Consolidate buying on a single day, instead of every day to reduce shipping costs
- Other: specific things that outside of the norm, to give you an opportunity to shine in non-typical ways that we have not thought of!
We hope this category will increase adoption of cold storage inventories to reduce unnecessary energy footprints, and to increase adoption of best practices that promote energy efficiency and cold storage lifetime.
Resources:
- Green Labs Guide
- Fact Sheets (which include some slides that can be used during group meetings on topics like what the Energy Star means, Cold Storage best practices and more!)
- How-To Guides on our Spring Clean Events Webpage covering a wide range of topics including how to clean your freezer, freezer inventories signage, and resources on if -70C is actually a sufficient temperature for your samples, rather than storing samples at -80C (which increases energy expenditures by 30%, reduces the lifetime of your freezers, and increases maintenance work needed like defrosts every year)
Your lab can attain the Cold Storage sticker through one (or more) of the following actions:
- Change at least one of your Ultra-Low Temperature Freezers from -80C to -70C!
- Utilize Freezer Rebate Program to replace an older unit with an energy efficient model
OR TWO (or more) of the following actions (each action can be repeated):
- Divest significant amounts of unneeded samples
- Participate in the International Freezer Challenge
- Change your lab or office thermostat to match seasonal weather changes (so during the summer, increase the inside temperature a few degrees, and in the winter decrease the inside temperature a few degrees, so that HVAC works less hard)
- Change thermocycler incubation settings from 4C to 10C or warmer
- Inventory or organize a freezer
- Other: specific things that outside of the norm, to give you an opportunity to shine in non-typical ways that we have not thought of!
- Other: if you have no freezers or fridges, what else are you doing to be sustainable, and how does that contribute to your energy or other savings?
We hope this category will increase awareness of energy usage in lab spaces and adoption of practices to reduce unnecessary energy consumption.
Resources:
- Green Labs Guide
- Fact Sheets (which include some slides that can be used during group meetings on topics like what the Energy Star means, Lab Energy Vampires, Cold Storage best practices and more!)
- How-To Guides on our Spring Clean Events Webpage covering a wide range of topics including how to clean your freezer, inventories signage, how to use your fume hoods, and more.
Your lab can attain the Energy Conservation sticker through one (or more) of the following actions:
- Participate in the Shut the Sash Program
- Conduct an energy audit and share with Green Labs
- Participate in the Energy Monitoring Program
- Green Labs will install sensors on your equipment that will monitor usage and suggest timers with shutoff times that will not interfere with research
OR TWO (or more) of the following actions (each action can be repeated):
- Show evidence of good fume hood behaviours in your lab
- Switch over to surge protectors that turn off at night or smart power strips
- Add timer plugs to equipment (so that equipment can be turned off during off-hours)
- Check quality of electrical cables and old cords to see if you can upgrade to energy efficient ones
- Ensure computer monitors or other equipment is turned off overnight and over holidays
- Install and ensure compliance for the Energy Efficiency stickers (that all Certified labs can get printed for free!) and share guidance on how your lab ensures the sticker indications are followed by lab members
- Other: specific things that outside of the norm, to give you an opportunity to shine in non-typical ways (social media or such) that we have not thought of!
We hope this category will increase adoption of vendor take back programs for materials that can be reused or recycled, increased accounting for waste when planning lab meals or lab orders.
Resources:
- Green Labs Guide
- Fact Sheets (which include some slides that can be used during group meetings on topics like how to recycle at Caltech and more!)
- How-To Guides on our Spring Clean Events Webpage covering a wide range of topics including how to recycle e-waste or other unneeded equipment, recycling signage for labs and for regular recycling, take-back programs for various brands and more
- Waste and Protocol Audit resources (here is a how-to Guide)
- Green Labs Marketplace to swap items lab-to-lab!
Your lab can attain the Recycling sticker through one (or more) of the following actions:
- Conduct a waste audit (here is a how-to Guide) and share your results with Green Labs
- Conduct a protocol audit and share your results with Green Labs
- Participate in the PIPETTE TIP WASHING initiative!
- You can even simply submit your pipette tip purchasing information to participate!
OR TWO (or more) of the following actions (each action can be repeated):
- Participate in recycling program for lab plastics or gloves (outside of the pipette tip box or Styrofoam recycling programs already at Caltech)
- For example: TeraCycle or PolyCarbin
- Show a significant contribution to existing recycling programs including pipette tip boxes, Styrofoam, batteries/e-waste etc.
- Propose a new recycling pilot program that will benefit Caltech
- Make significant efforts to reduce the amount of consumables your lab uses (thus reducing the amount that needs to be disposed of!)
- Participate in a lab cleanup and/or show that your lab donated or recycled many unneeded materials where possible
- Designating recycling areas in lab spaces and putting out clear signage on how to recycle lab items
- Send non-traditional or hard-to-recycle items back to vendors for recycling or reuse
- Includes non-traditional items like printer ink cartridges, NEB Styrofoam return program, or others (see Spring Clean Event for more information on these programs)
- Other: specific things that outside of the norm, to give you an opportunity to shine in non-typical ways (social media or such) that we have not thought of!