Green Labs NL

Green Labs NL

Green labs Netherlands (GLNL) are a group of enthusiastic scientists from various research institutes across The Netherlands dedicated to green-up laboratories. What they aim for: increase sustainability in research to generate positive environmental impact. How? By community building (check out the GLNL Twitter page), creating awareness through interviews, presentations, and outreach events, building resources on their website ready to use for labs and supporting local and nation-wide green lab projects (check out the lab waste recycling project we are running at the Princess Máxima Center on the ‘Our Actions’ page).

All GLNL members are part of local green teams that are working hard to reduce the footprint of their institutes. Hannah (Dream3Dlab & GLNL member) says: “It is so encouraging to notice that most of us want to see a change and that our efforts spark formation of new green initiatives. An exciting milestone for us this year was receiving financial support from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.”

With the received funds, GLNL in collaboration with Martin Farley (UCL) will roll out a Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) over 4 Dutch institutes. LEAF provides an online tool where research groups can track their sustainable efforts and be awarded with bronze, silver or gold medal certification when certain sustainability criteria are reached. This offers a straightforward and step-wise process for getting labs to operate in a more environmentally friendly fashion. Florijn (Dream3Dlab & GLNL member says): “This will allow us to create real impact in the form of CO2 emission and waste reduction. With the research department of the Princess Máxima Center we aim to receive the bronze medal by the end of 2021. More institutes are eager to join the LEAF accreditation system, so I expect we will get very busy in 2022!”.

Want to get involved or stay informed on upcoming events? Follow GLNL on Twitter or sign up on the member forum of the their website!