{"id":2270,"date":"2022-10-27T16:53:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T11:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kewaunee.in\/blog\/?p=2270"},"modified":"2025-01-03T16:47:25","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T11:17:25","slug":"laboratory-sustainable-vs-eco-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kewaunee.in\/blog\/laboratory-sustainable-vs-eco-friendly\/","title":{"rendered":"Laboratory: Sustainable vs Eco-Friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Laboratory: Sustainable vs Eco-Friendly<\/span><\/h1>[vc_column_text]Laboratory are getting greener and are increasingly becoming aware of the need for practicing eco-friendly and sustainable research. Whilst the terms sustainability and eco-friendly are used interchangeably, there is a difference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eco-friendly<\/strong> means <\/span>\u201cnot environmentally harmful\u201d<\/span><\/i>. Eco-friendly in the laboratory context means promoting and adopting practices to prevent pollution and other actions detrimental to the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sustainably<\/strong>, on the other hand, is about the future. According to United Nations, sustainability is <\/span>\u201cmeeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs\u201d. <\/span><\/i>In the context of laboratories, sustainability takes a broader meaning to include practices and actions which doesn\u2019t use too many resources or causing environmental harm, while generating environmental, social, and economic benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sustainability, therefore, has much higher standards, and encompasses eco-friendliness in its broader meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

The broad themes that can be adopted in a laboratory setting for sustainability are conservation, waste reduction, and resource management. Let\u2019s explore them in detail in this blog.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Theme<\/strong><\/th>\nBest Practices<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Energy Conservation\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nLabs are big consumers of energy & conscious conservation of energy can deliver significant environmental and cost benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n
Water Conservation\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\n
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  • Flow control:<\/b> Valves to reduce flow, timers and automatic shut-off mechanisms can help conserve water.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    • Equipment: <\/b>When choosing equipment like autoclave, dishwashers etc, opt for models with water-conservation features.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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      • Optimise<\/b>: Process can be optimised for batch-rinsing, Counter-current rinsing, and changing distillation process can help reduce the consumption of water.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Waste Reduction<\/span><\/td>\n\n
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  • Reduce<\/b>: Minimise the amount of material purchased<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    • Reuse & recycle: <\/b>Recycling, redistribution, or sharing are good alternatives to waste disposal<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Resource Management<\/span><\/td>\n\n