University of Texas at Austin
IN-19: Green Laboratory Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 0.50 |
Lindsey
Yazbek Green Lab Coordinator Environmental Health and Safety |
Does the institution have or participate in a green laboratory program?:
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 | Yes |
A brief description of the institution's green laboratory program:
Description:
The Green Labs program, supported by a full-time staff person, provides services and resources to researchers and support staff to help them minimize waste, reduce water and energy use, and practice green chemistry, creating more sustainable labs. Green Labs fosters the next generation of sustainably minded researchers and prepares UT Austin students to enter a competitive workforce. Some of the programs offered by Green Labs include the Green Labs Leader Badge (a lab sustainability certification for student researchers), specialty recycling programs for Styrofoam, plastic film, cold packs, alkaline batteries, and nitrile gloves, Lab Supply Swaps, a lab freezer preventative maintenance and defrost program, The International Laboratory Freezer Challenge through My Green Lab and The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories, surplus chemical redistribution program, and more. Green Labs currently serves over 180 lab groups, which is more than 30% of all lab groups on campus, and is regularly contacted by new labs.
Impact:
From January 2022 to August 2024, Green Labs collected approximately 3,300 lbs. of expanded polystyrene (i.e., Styrofoam), 1,100 lbs. of plastic film, 180 lbs. of alkaline batteries, and 2,900 lbs. of nitrile gloves for recycling and sent over 15,500 lbs. of cold packs to be reused. More than 130 labs have participated in the Green Labs recycling collections.
Green has held 4 Lab Supply Swaps from January 2022 to August 2024, rehoming approximately 2,300 lbs. of lab items and saving researchers an estimated $114,000 in acquisition costs.
As part of the lab freezer preventative maintenance and defrost program, Green Labs gave out over 30 freezer defrost kits labs, and 11 labs reserved a Green Labs freezer for samples storage so they could defrost their lab’s freezer. 9 labs participated in the 2024 International Laboratory Freezer Challenge through My Green Lab and The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories.
Green Labs helped rehome approximately 530 chemicals from the retiring faculty member to other UT Austin and UTSA researchers and has collected and inventoried over 200 chemicals to be rehomed by UT researchers.
Green Labs staff and a UT faculty member have secured funding to create lab equipment, instrument redistribution, and sharing platforms. Using the online platform, researchers will be able to post lab equipment and instruments they no longer need, with the aim of rehoming them to other UT researchers. Additionally, researchers will be able to post requests for specific lab equipment or instruments, either for permanent ownership or to borrow.
Website URL where information about the green laboratory program is available:
Optional Fields
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.