Hi Reader, I want you to believe that everyone can drive meaningful change.
Let me show you how - by sharing real experiences, practical resources, and proven advice.
Often, all it takes to overcome initial uncertainty is seeing the bigger picture and gaining a bit of perspective.
So, let’s walk through it together.
Today's Lesson: How Everyone Can Contribute
Driving change at every stage of a career
Number Of The Day
Approximately 6760 labs worldwide have been part of the LEAF or My Green Lab certification in 2024. This means that tens of thousands of scientists from different backgrounds have found ways to make their labs greener. Whether in academia or industry, it is possible to drive effective change. The key is to realize that everyone can contribute, and then to give them the chance to do so. Let’s see how this might be possible:
They saved >477 tons of CO2e and >300 tons of waste respectively, with each saved >$150 000 per year.
Of course, any institution will reap several benefits. I included the keywords there to highlight what I perceived as the biggest leverage points for each based on my experience.
> You simply need to decide to do so. And if you don’t know how, there is plenty of literature or contact an outside advisor.
To prove it, I have outlined for 13 different positions what actions can be taken, based on my experience.
Although only one position applies to you, I felt that if you progress over time, this gives you an idea of what might lie ahead.
Secondly, it will show you how to leverage the help of others:
Professors
Don’t get distracted by the nitty-gritty details; you set the tone.
Trust your group to optimize workflows – if you show buy-in, they will impress you, saving money, time and instrument downtime.
Unique Action: Initiate that standard lab protocols include hints on how to work more sustainably.
Your students and postdocs look up to you – if you give them the chance to drive change, they will do so. And yes, sometimes a few words are enough, if they doubt your buy-in, they won’t act.
Reaching Others: Include 20 minutes of sustainability review in every other lab meeting. Moreover, talk to other professors to influence how core facilities are run or how instruments are shared.
Postdocs
You own your projects but also have strong influence over how work is done.
Unique Action: Beyond optimizing your own protocols, support larger improvements, such as adjusting freezer temperatures or improving procurement choices.
One of my favorite examples: in a lab where I was advising, two postdocs had established a system where they would place a few plastic serological pipette tips next to the glass ones - driving cultural change while still leaving everyone the choice. These are the little tricks that come with experience.
Reaching Others: Because you train and mentor others, you play a major role in shaping lab culture, and you can pass on sustainable practices when training or onboarding others.
PhD Students
As a PhD student, you are becoming an expert in your field. Sustainability can be a valuable supporter in your development.
It's on you to find out where you can save and where not. However, here is a little guide for you.
Reaching Others: You are also becoming an important figure in your research group. By raising sustainability topics in lab meetings, proposing improvements, or sharing best practices, you can influence how the entire group works.
Master’s Students
As a master’s student, you take on more independence and responsibility. This means you can actively improve how your experiments are planned and executed.
Unique Action: Start with the low-hanging fruit and see what can be improved that others might not see.
Reaching Others: Because you understand the academic system better, you can also start to network with sustainability initiatives. That will help direct questions to the right people and support collaboration.
Bachelor Students
Use sustainability as a perspective to learn how to work efficiently, responsibly, and sustainably from the very beginning.
Unique Action: Invest in yourself by building the right habits, such as maintaining instruments correctly, turning off unused equipment, and learning about experimental design.
Reaching Others: Think actively about your own experiment, but bring your ideas to your supervisor – that trains you, shows initiative, and prompts them.
For Institutes
As I have been working with several institutes now, I also thought I would include two positions one will more commonly find there:
Directors
If you make sustainability a priority, everybody will learn about it. You can already do a lot by simply signaling buy-in and encouraging everyone to engage.
Unique Action: It’s in your power to put sustainability on the agenda and initiate the hiring of an advisor or open a position for a sustainability manager.
Reaching Others: Prompt responsible people to reassess your work with third parties – those who deliver goods and those who manage waste.
Research Coordinators
You are the connection between leadership, professors, and scientists.
Unique Action: Share specific ideas or make people aware of educational series like this one.
Last year, I was advising at the Leibniz-HKI in Germany, where I worked closely with two phenomenal research coordinators. In the end, the projects we drove were perceived as so exciting that they received more media coverage, both locally and internationally, than they could handle at the time.
Reaching Others: You should also use your overview to connect people, because those working on sustainability often do not know that others in the institute share their passion.
What Else: You are often the person who can prompt the hiring of an advisor. Working with them directly allows you to see what is possible and get support on how to make things happen.
Technicians and Facility Managers
You have uniquely deep knowledge about your workflows, instruments, and assays. This puts you in a strong position to drive change.
Unique Action: Drive change and document what you did, because few people have such deep technical understanding to figure out solutions on this level.
These technical details might seem obscure to anyone not working with HPLCs but they are small, yet meaningful ways to make your work more efficient, safe and sustainable - read more here.
Reaching Others: Share what you have done online and at your institute – since they do not have your technical background, they will certainly be inspired.
Companies
Of course, responsibilities vary with company size. However, the greater structure in companies allows them to coordinate more efficiently than academic institutions:
Research and Development Scientists
Given your expertise, you can make your work much greener.
Unique Action: Apply all the small changes discussed earlier in your workflows. I compiled almost all I know of here.
Reaching Others: For anything bigger, talking to your supervisor is often the first step, just to see how open they are. Beyond that, explore whether there are other initiatives in your company, how EHS departments think about sustainability, or where an advisor can help.
Group Leaders
You are in an amazing position because you can ask your team for ideas and implement them together.
Unique Action: Drive optimization – once you achieve measurable savings or higher efficiency, you can report this upwards. This gets you the spotlight and inspires others.
While AstraZeneca has saved >$150 000 in one year just through energy reduction, just closing fume hoods can save up to a $1000 per hood per year. This graph is from a study conducted on the campus of Stanford University showing how much energy lab equipment requires – averaged throughout multiple laboratories.
Reaching Others: Check whether other divisions have already implemented similar changes or share with them what you have been able to do.
Directors, Vice Presidents, and CSOs
You have the executive power to drive change, even if you are too far from the lab to optimize individual assays.
Unique Action: You can drive change in procurement – even if it means identifying and supporting the right people. Furthermore, making space for people, giving them time, or organizing webinars to learn about sustainability might lie in your hands.
This was a LinkedIn post of mine after I gave a talk at the DWI in Aachen - over 10,000 people have seen it. Now, more than ever, sustainable alternatives with the same or even higher performance for labs are available. The key, however, is knowing which ones to choose. More on high-performance chromatography, mass spectrometry, and how to select the right instruments will follow soon.
Reaching Others: Connect those below you through a common goal. It is a great idea to consider certification schemes or drive large-scale change (with an advisor if necessary).
CEOs
Also when it comes to sustainability, it is your chance to enable everyone else.
Unique Action: If you clearly prioritize sustainability, others will follow your lead. You can advocate for hiring a sustainability manager or, as a more cost-effective solution, an advisor.
Reaching Others: It is also useful to connect those driving change with communication teams such as marketing, sales, or PR to spread the word – not only for your company’s benefit, but also to inspire others.
Sustainability Managers
Whether you work in a university, research institution, or company, if you do not have detailed knowledge of lab processes, you can bring in an advisor to help.
Wouter de Broeck invited me to the VIB in Ghent to give a talk and host a workshop. It was a great experience. He was really on top of things, and they had some very enthusiastic scientists. Especially then, a little experience or even just a gentle push can really tip things over.
Unique Action: By being persistent – whether about freezer temperatures or impact measurements – you can truly drive change.
Reaching Others: You are also in a perfect position to share resources like this with laboratories and connect sustainability communicators with leadership.
Applying The Knowledge
Combine just a few people from each position, and you create a synergistic system.
While everyone contributes their expertise, those from different seniorities can often communicate effectively horizontally, making it all much easier.
And even if it is just you and a colleague, getting outside help and then talking to leadership often provides enough leverage to expand your impact.
The key is to take action.
You don’t need to have all the answers - just connect to those who do the work and someone who can help them take the first step.
How We Feel Today
References
Schell, B. R., et al., 2024. Lab sustainability programs LEAF and My Green Lab®: impact, user experience & suitability. RSC Sustainability, 2, pp.3383–3396. doi:10.1039/D4SU00387J.
Penndorf, P., 2024. Reducing plastic waste in scientific protocols by 65% – practical steps for sustainable research. FEBS Letters, 598(11), pp.1331–1334. doi:10.1002/1873-3468.14909.
Freese, T., et al., 2024. The relevance of sustainable laboratory practices. RSC Sustainability, 2(5), pp.1300–1336. doi:10.1039/D4SU00056K.
Penndorf, P., et al., 2023. A new approach to making scientific research more efficient – rethinking sustainability. FEBS Letters, 597(19), pp. 2371–2374. doi:10.1002/1873-3468.14736.
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Edited by Patrick Penndorf Connection@ReAdvance.com Lutherstraße 159, 07743, Jena, Thuringia, Germany Data Protection & Impressum If you think we do a bad job: Unsubscribe
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