Certified McGill GREEN Lab #MyGreenLabCertification
Bui Lab has been slowly "going green" since 2020. With the help of multiple undergrad students, graduate students and research staff, we have become a leading example at McGill! Scroll down to see what environmentally conscious actions our lab has adopted
#1 -
International MyGreenLab Freezer Challenge
Participating in this freezer challenge means that we....
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Always conduct preventative maintenance and upkeep on all our cold storage units (clean coils, filters and drip pans)
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Annually have a "Lab clean up day" where students throw all old samples, notes, reagents ... etc
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Fully defrost and decontaminate all fridges and low temp freezers
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De-ice our ULT freezer monthly to avoid accumulation
Bonus: to help with inventory upkeep ANY student/staff that leaves the lab is required to throw all irrelevant samples and to pass on any relevant samples to their supervisor!
#2 -
Sustainable Project Fund
Glass Alternatives
As part of SP0265, the Sustainable Project Fund (SPF) has granted Bui Lab 5000$ in "green lab alternative items" which we have used in the lab to purchase:
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Glass Serological Pipettes
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Glass Petri Dishes
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Sustainable Office Supplies (markers, pens)
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Dry Erase Boards for lab & office Desks
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Composting Supplies (for the student kitchen)
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And other green ideas!
The Bui Lab tallies are in!
From June 2021 to June 2022 we have saved 1100$ for the lab while also keeping 2129 plastic items out of our lab waste.
For more information on SP0265 please see the website below: https://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/sp0265-green-labs-expansion
#3 -
Sustainable Project Fund
Green Lab Certification
As part of SP20688 applied for by Bui Lab, the Sustainable Project Fund (SPF) has included Bui Lab as one of only 6 pilot labs. All pilot labs will be certified using the world-renowned MyGreenLab - Green Lab Certification Program!
After the baseline assessment survey; Bui Lab has achieved 70% which is equal to a Platinum rating!
After months of hard work, Bui Lab has been officially certified at the highest level!
We are so proud to share that our lab at @McGillUniversity was awarded the highest level of certification (Green) by @My_Green_Lab! We have achieved an amazing score of 89%. Thanks to our PI Khanh Huy Bui for his support and leadership!
The #GreenLabCertification program is considered the international gold standard in lab sustainability best practices: bit.ly/greenlabcert
For more information on SP20688 please see the website below:
https://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/sp0288-green-labs-certification
For more information on the MyGreenLab - Green Lab Certification Program please see their website:
#4 -
Single-Use Plastic Reuse & Reduction!
As part of the 5 R strategy, proactive actions are key!
Bui Lab has rethought its experimental needs & has thus chosen to reuse all its biohazardous conical tubes multiple times (5 to 7) before disposing of them into the biohazard bins.
This in turn has reduced the amount of single use plastic we use AND saved the lab money!
#5 -
GLI@SAD Outreach Projects
As part of the "Green Lab Initiative" community at McGill (GLI@McGill), Bui Lab wants to do its part to help this network grow & thrive!
To help we have taken part in and advertised many SPF funds (Sustainability Soiree 2022), we are an active member of the GLI@McGill administrative network (Melissa V.P. is the 2022 GLI@McGill Chiar & Project Manager), and we have started our own GLI group for our building (GLI@SAD).
We hope to grow our small GLI@SAD group during the next Sep 2022 departmental meeting where Bui Lab will be presenting topics such as:
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taking part in SP0265 & showing other labs how to switch from plastic to glass (hopefully recruiting 5 more labs so we can all benefit from additional funding)
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launching the concept of an SAD building
swap/share room (a reduce/reuse system
promoted by many other universities
like Harvard)
#6 -
Educational Material
In Support of the GLI@McGill community, Bui Lab has created many educational tools for all to use!
These tools have since been circulated across all McGill and used as a new "Green Lab" standard until the McGill Sustainable Labs Working Group becomes active again.
To access all related Green Lab documents including the pamphlets mde by Bui Lab, please follow this link below:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vjtLeAdjLrqia7sPTzSIBs9ZM3LvVA_Q?usp=sharing
