{"id":37850,"date":"2021-06-30T12:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/?p=37850"},"modified":"2025-08-04T17:37:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T00:37:40","slug":"how-green-lab-certification-helped-trinity-college-dublin-establish-a-culture-of-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/the-beaker-blog\/how-green-lab-certification-helped-trinity-college-dublin-establish-a-culture-of-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"How My Green Lab Certification Helped Trinity College Dublin Establish a Culture of Sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n

By providing actionable ways to make real and impactful environmental changes across their laboratory, My Green Lab Certification helped the team at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) in Ireland establish a culture of sustainability. In this article, we capture their journey and its impact in their own words.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Desire for Change<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cBefore starting the My Green Lab Certification program, the TCIN team had been striving to engage lab personnel with environmentalism in the lab. We were more than ready to start the conversation about sustainability at the college level\u201d, says Camilla Roselli, a Ph.D. candidate who has been leading the charge on sustainability at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In the words of Ois\u00edn Joyce, another Ph.D. candidate and a TCD Lab Sustainability Advocate, \u201cthe guidance and knowledge surrounding sustainability among scientists and laboratory professionals was not apparent for early career researchers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI recalled crazy statistics about lab waste and sustainability in the back of my mind,\u201d says Joyce. \u201cOn a global platform, research labs are known to consume 10x as much energy as office space of similar size, 4x the amount of water, and lead to the production of 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, equating to around 2% of the world\u2019s plastic production.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Armed with the knowledge that the Green Lab Certification would help TCIN establish more sustainable practices, Joyce, Roselli, and the team engaged with My Green Lab to learn new ways to reduce the environmental impact of their lab.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to get as many people involved in the Green Lab Certification program as<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

possible,\u201d\u00a0Roselli adds.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Working Together to Make a Difference<\/span><\/h3>\n

A working group with representatives from various research groups in the institute was established at TCIN to begin their certification. They formed a\u00a0Green Lab committee\u00a0comprising scientists, staff, director, deputy director, and operations manager. The committee met monthly to present findings and proposed plans to introduce new ways to target each certification section.<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \t \"\"<\/picture>\n \n Members of the TCIN Green Labs committee with Camilla Roselli holding the Platinum Green Lab Certificate. From left to right: Daniel Fortunati, Guillaume Thuery, Sarah McComish, Camilla Roselli, Erin Fahey, Luke Gibbons, Matthew McAuslan, and Ois\u00edn Joyce\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-image>\n<\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n \n \n

\u201cWhether that was water, energy, or plug load, we aimed to boost our green efforts and tick all the boxes before achieving our certification,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0says Joyce. \u201cWe went from making minor changes such as creating a traffic light system for switching on and off lab equipment to progressively larger tasks such as regularly defrosting freezers and lowering the temperature from -80\u00b0C to -70\u00b0C.\u201d More than 50 people partook in the changes made to achieve the Platinum level certification throughout the process.<\/span><\/p>\n

The journey towards their certification began with a survey, which all lab members completed in August of 2020. Once they received their survey results with an overall score of 44% in September 2020, they went to work, extensively researching ways to improve their score and, in turn, their lab sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy Green Lab provided us with the foundation and direction to make changes to our day-to- day lab behaviors alongside our research to achieve our greener research goals.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen implementing the prescribed changes and behavioral alterations to our work and research, we noticed a trend of sustainability wash over the institute, with people bringing new and exciting ideas to each monthly meeting,\u201d says Joyce.<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions such as \u201ccan we share some of our materials with those in the lab next to us,\u201d and \u201ccan we order together to reduce plastic and packaging waste\u201d were being adopted amongst teaching and research facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prof. Andrew Harkin, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and co-director of TCIN, adds that \u201cexpectations grew when the project attracted interest and support, particularly from the laboratory researchers. This initiative helped develop a community of practice and changing mindset.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After taking their second survey in May 2021, TCIN received an overall score of 70%, resulting in a Platinum Green Lab Certification.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The Benefits of Lab Sustainability<\/span><\/h3>\n

Joyce believes that the MGL Green Lab Certification is essential as it provides a quantifiable metric of their sustainable efforts and successes in the lab, as well as their outreach and resourcefulness as researchers in Trinity College Dublin and Ireland.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the certification process, the TCIN Green Labs committee developed a\u00a0Trinity Green Labs Guide, that showcased all of their current eco-friendly practices and lab sustainability research. It also highlighted the changes towards sustainability that TCIN aimed to make in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

The benefits of achieving the Green Lab Certification also stretched beyond campus.\u00a0Joyce describes the certification process as one of \u201can overarching sense of accomplishment, metamorphosis, and community.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0He continues, \u201cthe process has enabled the committee to engage with a wide range of people from private companies to help with recycling Styrofoam and local sports clubs and the university gym for repurposing cold packs in the case of sporting injuries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis program permitted us to become an active player in a global initiative and become more sustainable in health science research, putting Ireland’s emerald isle on the map and making TCIN the first in Trinity College Dublin and the second in Ireland to achieve this status.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As per Roselli,\u00a0\u201cEveryone thinks twice before using single-use plastic or wasting water, and finally, everyone is engaged in making the lab a greener place, while before, just a few people were involved.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Looking Forward<\/span><\/h3>\n

Trinity College Dublin has committed to being\u00a0carbon neutral by 2030, and there is no doubt that labs will have an enormous impact on meeting that goal. Recent measures, including installing water fountains, communal scanners & printers, and engaging with estates and facilities on the provision of parking facilities for bicyclists, are helping build a culture of sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n

Completing the Green Lab Certification is helping to shape Trinity College\u2019s long-term sustainability goals.\u00a0\u201cWith a more connected network of advocates for green research throughout TCIN, we can bulk order supplies, share excess reagents, and include green lab practices and waste management during the orientation process for incoming students and researchers,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>says Joyce.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the MGL program will positively impact my lab in a long way. Both from an environmental point of view and from an economic point of view,\u201d Roselli continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the fruits of our labor amount to a tangible and recognizable entity was an achievement shared by all those involved. One that I hope all other labs and research centers get the privilege of experiencing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n <\/sc-container>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n \n

Are you inspired to start your lab\u2019s sustainability journey?<\/h2>\n <\/sc-rich-text>\n\n \n

Learn more about MGL\u2019s Green Lab Certification<\/p>\n\n <\/sc-rich-text> \n My Green Lab Certification\n <\/sc-button> <\/sc-cta-inline>\n\n<\/sc-container>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Working with My Green Lab, The Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience received the Platinum Green Lab Certification in recognition of their efforts to include sustainable best practices in the lab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"How Green Lab Certification Helped Trinity College Dublin Establish a Culture of Sustainability","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"category":[97],"topics":[109,111],"programs":[99],"lab_types":[107],"class_list":["post-37850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-study","topics-energy","topics-waste","programs-my-green-lab-certification","lab_types-academic"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39669,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37850\/revisions\/39669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=37850"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=37850"},{"taxonomy":"programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/programs?post=37850"},{"taxonomy":"lab_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygreenlab.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lab_types?post=37850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}