Green Labs
freecycle
Freecycle is an event run twice each year as part of the Green Labs suite of initiatives. This swap-and-trade event is a chance for labs to donate their excess or unused lab supplies and pick up items from other labs. This event helps to reduce waste and encourage reuse and networking among UAlberta labs.
Next Freecycle Event: Fall 2024
Green Labs Network
The Green Labs Network connects lab users who are interested in safe and sustainable lab practices with like-minded colleagues. Learn more about sustainability, how to make your lab more environmentally-friendly and stay up to date on green lab programs and events.
Green Labs E-class
The Green Labs course will provide you with information on how to make your lab more environmentally friendly. Green Labs introduces the concept of sustainability and then covers modules relevant to working in a U of A lab or conducting field work. The course was developed in collaboration with Environment, Health and Safety.
Shut the sash
You should always shut the sash on fume hoods when they are not in use.
Shutting the sash not only protects you from injuries, fires and explosions, but also conserves a considerable amount of energy.
ULT Freezer Rebate
Switching to a more energy-efficient model of ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezer? You may be eligible for a ULT freezer rebate.
Funding
Do you have an idea to make your lab more sustainable? You may be eligible for a Campus Sustainability Grant.
Model Green Labs Pilot Project
The Model Green Labs pilot project was an opportunity to show lab users what safe and sustainable labs look like and outline which key features demonstrate sustainable practices. People were able to visit the labs, learn from users' experiences and participate in the broader green labs community.
Get to know the green labs that participated in the pilot project below.
Augustana Miquelon Lake Research Station is a state-of-the-art facility run by the faculty at Augustana Campus. The site is perfect for a variety of research, fieldwork, and teaching opportunities, as well as professional development and community events.
Sustainability is integral to the site and its operations. The research station is located within a provincial park, surrounded by wildlife, wetlands and boreal forest. The station is fully equipped for overnight or long-term visits. Guests have access to beds, washrooms, a kitchen, a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, and wifi. For work purposes, there is a meeting room, an office, a wet lab, and research equipment.
Glen Hvenegaard, director of the research station, encourages instructors, researchers and community members to consider ways that they could use the site and to contact him with inquiries.
All three of Campus Saint-Jean's laboratories are certified Green Spaces Gold, and the chemistry lab is one of the University of Alberta's four model green labs.
This achievement isn't surprising, as the chemistry lab has been a site of great ingenuity over the past year. In 2015, undergraduate student Alex Schoeddert found a new way to reduce water waste in the lab. Working with Sarah Pelletier (faculty service officer) and Keshwaree Vima Babooram (faculty service officer and chemistry professor), Schoeddert built a water recycling system that will save up to 7,200 litres of water each year. This initiative helped the Campus Saint-Jean teaching labs win a Campus Sustainability Leadership Award in April 2016.
Jason Dyck's cardiovascular research lab made waves this summer when it acquired a new piece of equipment that will help make experiments a whole lot greener. The machine is named Wes, and its technology will eliminate the need for traditional western blotting, a common and resource-intensive procedure. (Read more about Wes.)
The lab started participating in the Green Labs program three years ago, and it was the university's first medical research lab to get a Green Spaces gold certification. In honour of these ongoing sustainability efforts, the team received a Campus Sustainability Leadership Award in 2015.
Chemistry often gets a bad rap when it comes to sustainability, but many lab users are hoping to turn that reputation around. Professor Frederick West's research lab team, also known as the West Group, advocates for doing lab work with sustainability in mind.
To that end, the lab is getting rid of water aspirators and installing alternative aspirators that use compressed air to function. This change could save the lab about 16,000 litres of water every single day!