Green Labs at the University of Chicago aims to guide laboratories towards reducing their environmental impact. Facilities Services, the Office of Research Safety, and other units will implement division-wide energy-saving, water-saving, and waste-reduction projects. A safety and sustainability team will also be formed to implement safety and sustainability programs in every lab across the Biological Sciences Division.
The major aims of the program include, but are not limited to the following:
- Energy conservation, including proper use of equipment, lights, fume hoods, refrigerators, freezers, computers
- Water conservation, including behavioral changes, use of water aerators, vacuum pumps instead of vacuum aspiration
- Waste reduction, including Kimberly-Clark Nitrile Glove recycling, reusing, reducing printing, and bulk purchasing
- Green purchasing, including use of green cleaning products, purchasing materials with recycled content, purchasing from campus stockrooms, consulting Labshare or nearby labs for chemicals before ordering, ordering supplies in the fewest possible shipments, and ordering more environmentally friendly chemicals and reagents