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🌿🔬Exciting News for Sustainability in Science Recognition by government bodies achieved! For some scientists, sustainable laboratory practices still sound like a questionable “innovation.” ❓ Fortunately, these concerns are a thing of the past. With thousands of scientists worldwide working to make their labs greener, our community has now taken the next step. ✅ We are excited to share that both My Green Lab Certification and the ACT Ecolabel Program have been officially recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program! 💡 This means sustainable practices for laboratories have reached a new milestone: they are now linked to Executive Order 14057, issued by President Biden, and the Federal Sustainability Plan, which also guides practices at organizations like Google and Amazon. With several funding bodies requesting reports on sustainable practices, an increasing number of sustainability officer positions, and growing participation in programs like laboratory certifications, we are making green labs a reality! If you’d like to know more about the ACT label and other certifications, we’ve previously written about the 5 certifications every scientist must know—find them on our website. 🎓 Let’s keep driving change—one lab at a time. 💚 #Sustainability #ScientificResearch #GreenLabs #EPPEcolabels #NetZero #ClimateAction My Green Lab Dr. Kerstin Hermuth-Kleinschmidt Patrick Penndorf Clara Rey Valenzuela Wouter De Broeck Valeria Scagliotti, Ph.D. Katarzyna Solka

Green Lab Efforts at COP29 ♻️ This is what you need to know:   This year at COP29, My Green Lab represented all of us as green lab advocates again 💚   In a special virtual event organized in collaboration with the media platform “We Don't Have Time”, James Connelly shared their 2024 Carbon Impact of Biotech & Pharma Report.   In other words, the scientific industry's impact is gaining awareness – thanks to the relentless work of My Green Lab.   ➡️ Now, you might ask, where do we stand?   The answer is somewhat surprising.   Here is a short summary for you based on the insights from James and Larry Lawrence (VP, Head of Sustainable Finance at Intercontinental Exchange):   💨 Carbon Impact: The Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical industry is not very carbon intense when compared to other sectors. It produces approximately 66 tCO2e/$Million Revenue—far lower than industries such as Construction Materials (4289), Oil and Gas (3986), and even Semiconductors (268).   Data from AstraZeneca’s in-depth assessment shows that the largest share of carbon impact comes from indirect emissions, i.e., Scope 3 emissions. For most companies the scope 3 emissions alone account for about 80–97% of the carbon impact.   ❗ This is important for two reasons:   According to current projections of Scope 1 and 2 (direct impacts), the biotechnology and pharma industry is well on its way to meeting all climate targets! In other words, we’re making excellent progress!   However, when including Scope 3 emissions, there is still much to be done. In fact, we have seen an overall increase in carbon-equivalent output from this industry up to 2024. Although projections suggest a significant decline over the next decade, whether this decline will be enough to meet climate goals remains uncertain.   🍀 Nevertheless, cooperations like those between My Green Lab and AstraZeneca, offer a clear blueprint for how change can look like!   Now, it’s up to us to drive sustainability and work alongside those who take environmental protection seriously! Patrick Penndorf Sriram Satagopan Victoria Patten (PhD) Nandita Singhal, ScM Dr. Kerstin Hermuth-Kleinschmidt Thomas Freese Samuele Lisi, PhD Research Recycling Kelly Gray Juliane Miani Andrew King

Preprints in Science 📄 ⏳ Promoting Publications & Enhancing Sustainability?!   Preprints are versions of scientific papers shared on public platforms before formal peer review.   ⏩ This allows for faster dissemination – and data indicates that this leads to higher citation rates   🔎 However, posting to preprint servers also offers sustainability benefits, as it promotes open sharing and reduces the bottlenecks of closed-access systems. ♻️ Additionally, they provide a signal to other researchers, allowing them to pivot their efforts, avoid redundant experiments, and focus on complementary directions that can drive the field forward.   Once met with hesitation, preprints are now widely accepted. Data from platforms like arXiv, bioRxiv, and medRxiv shows that the number of preprints has grown steadily over the past decade.   Also funders, institutions, and journals increasingly encourage or require data sharing and preprinting, researchers have become more comfortable and confident in using these platforms - but how popular are they already?

The Unseen Cost of Scientific Growth Publishing and Sustainability 📄 ♻️   The biomedical sciences have surged in productivity over the last few decades, with so many publications that barely any researcher can keep up, even within their specific domain.   This growth has fueled advances in health and our understanding of the world around us, but it also goes along iwth significant resource consumption   While the ecological impact of industrial growth in many sectors has been scrutinized, the growing environmental footprint of scientific research often flies under the radar.   More science is often considered merely positive.   One of the most pressing issues is the academic system’s encouragement of high publication rates as a benchmark for career advancement.   This question should demonstrate the issue:

Alternatives to draining the blood of horseshoe crabs for detecting bacterial endotoxins? 🩸🔹 LabReNew's comment is absolutely right - in fact, synthetical/recombinant alternatives are apparently as good in performance! Here is a nice review for all who want to know more: https://lnkd.in/dnbvdU28

30% less energy | 23% less solvents | a lot of money saved There are many simple things we can do in the laboratory 🧪 🔬 Prepare mastermixes to save on pipette tips. Use smaller petri dishes when possible. Additionally, there are more advanced practices, such as sterilizing and reusing tubes or adopting new culturing techniques to avoid using plastic spreaders in microbiology. A laboratory that focuses on marine biotoxin testing has adopted sustainable practices and saved a lot of money:

Regrettable substitutions in green chemistry 🧪 😵 This is the case of Bisphenol A   A regrettable solution is a product or process initially introduced to reduce environmental impact but that eventually creates unintended consequences.   Bisphenol A is a phenolic chemical known for its ability to impart durability and clarity. It is used in a wide array of consumer products, including food packaging, thermal paper receipts, and dental sealants.   It is classified as an endocrine disruptor, meaning it can interfere with the body's hormonal systems by mimicking estrogen due to its chemical structure. After outcries about the health effects Bisphenol A (BPA) Companies substituted BPA with Bisphenol S and F in their products, a regrettable substitution since these compounds show similar health effects—unsurprisingly due to their similar structures.   But how tremendous are the health effects really?!  

The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry 🧪   As the chemist Paul Anastas, (one of the fathers of green chemistry) recognized that pollution prevention could not rely solely on cleaning up waste after it was created, he tried to tackle it at its source—during the chemical design phase.   Along with John Warner, Anastas codified these principles to challenge the chemical industry to prioritize environmental health from the outset.   Since it is difficult to remember them, here are 6 key messages you might want to take away:   - Waste Reduction: Focus on preventing waste rather than just managing it after it's created. This approach helps save resources and reduce pollution.   - Efficiency: Strive to maximize the use of raw materials in the final product, minimizing unnecessary steps and by-products in chemical processes.   - Safety First: Design chemicals and processes to be safe for both humans and the environment, using less hazardous materials whenever possible. - Energy Conservation: Aim to conduct reactions at lower temperatures and pressures, using catalysts to save energy and reduce environmental impact. - Renewability: Use renewable resources, such as plant-based materials, instead of non-renewable ones to create more sustainable products. - Degradability: Ensure that chemical products break down into harmless substances after use, preventing long-term environmental damage or use circular economy principles to design more sustainable processes.

A Tool for Finding Greener Chemicals? 🧪 -> The EU Ecolabel? It seems somewhat unexpected but this is why it might be interesting to you:   The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary certification scheme established in 1992 to promote products and services with reduced environmental impact throughout their lifecycle. Although the EU Ecolabel does not have the goal to label single chemicals, it certainly supports green chemistry.   Insofar as the label promotes greener products, it helps to limit the use of hazardous chemicals by encouraging manufacturers to opt for safer, more environmentally friendly alternatives.   One of the strengths of the EU Ecolabel is its focus on the entire product lifecycle!

How BP plays the sustainability game ♻ ❌ “2023 : A year of delivery” Proudly, BP states its profits for 2023, being more than 7x what they made in 2022.   That they spend +100 Million dollar in an add campaign in 2005 in order to instrumentalize the phrase of carbon footprint might have helped in retrospect.   BP is certainly leading in talking about sustainability. However, that they spend less than 5% of their investments in oil into renewable energy speaks it own language…