Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 43.28
Liaison Adam Maurer
Submission Date Dec. 18, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

South Seattle College
IN-9: Green Laboratories

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Adam Maurer
District Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution’s green laboratory program address the following?:
Yes or No
Energy conservation and efficiency, e.g. fume hood ("shut the sash") and freezer maintenance programs Yes
Water conservation and efficiency Yes
Chemical use and disposal Yes
Materials management, e.g. green purchasing guidelines and recycling and reuse programs Yes
Training for lab users on sustainable practices No

A brief description of the green laboratory program, including the specific initiatives selected above:
As common practice, fume hoods are only turned on during use and are immediately turned off when not in use. All glassware comes back to common prep rooms where it is washed in bulk. This saves water as each student is not washing slides and test tubes inefficiently one by one. Chemicals like peroxide formers are ordered "just in time" and only in the smallest quantity. Hazardous Waste on preserved specimens has been greatly reduced in the past 8-10 years by purchasing fresh/frozen specimens and using non-hazardous fetal pigs. Fetal pig waste was reduced from nearly 600 lbs. in academic year 2008-2009 to around 20-40 lbs. in academic year 2015-2016. Waste in biology has been reduced by using smaller amounts of chemicals and by replacing labs that generate Hazardous Waste.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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