Green Labs

From reusing dog blankets to shipping lab waste to a special recycling center, one UW lab is going the extra mile to make sustainability a priority in the workplace.

UW labs are proud to be national leaders in sustainability. Whether it’s diverting waste or cutting down on energy use, sustainability is a way of life for many lab members. 

A team from UW’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) used a Green Seed Fund Grant to increase sustainable practices in the department's 20 labs.

The Leopold Lab didn't need to implement any new practices or make changes to earn the title of "Greenest Lab" in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"We just did what we normally do," said lab manager Stephanie Zaborac-Reed.

This post was originally published in the UW Green Labs newsletter. Each quarter, the newsletter covers a topic on how labs can improve their scores in one category covered by the UW Green Laboratory Certification Application (opens in a new tab).

Read the rest of this quarter's newsletter and subscribe to future UW Green Labs mailings.

During Winter Quarter 2015, many labs achieved Green Laboratory certification by going above and beyond the criteria on the Green Laboratory application. The following are some of the cool innovations being done by these Green Labs:

This post was originally published in the UW Green Labs newsletter. Each quarter, the newsletter covers a topic on how labs can improve their scores in one category covered by the UW Green Laboratory Certification Application.

Click here to read the rest of this quarter's newsletter and subscribe to future UW Green Labs mailings.

"In order to divert the majority of people, you have to make it second nature for them." - Cameron McCallum

Lab workers put in long hours in the search for data and answers, so when the Green Laboratory Certification program wanted to reward participants, coffee was a natural choice.

The Green Labs program has been delivering responsibly-grown and locally-roasted coffee from UW Husky Grind to all the labs that participated in the program in 2014 to recognize and thank them for the extra effort they've put into making their labs green.

The International Institute for Sustainability Laboratories Emerald City Chapter and Environmental Education Fund, along with UW's Green Laboratory Certification Program, are hosting a special screening of the movie Chasing Ice on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m. in the Alder Hall Auditorium.

Chasing Ice follows photographer James Balog as he sets out to document the effects of climate change on glaciers across the world. His time-lapse cameras create a record of the disappearing glaciers.