Green Labs

Green Labs Program

The large number of research labs on UMB’s campus present an opportunity for resource conservation and waste reduction efforts. To facilitate this, the UMB Office of Sustainability has launched a Green Labs program to guide labs through processes to improve the sustainability of their operations. Sign up today for up to $100 in BIORESCO credit!

Steps for Participating:

• Fill out the Green Labs Checklist to develop a baseline for the sustainable operations your lab is already doing.
• Identify at least five new actions from the checklist that your lab is not currently doing but can implement. Resubmit the checklist with the five-plus new actions identified.
• Integrate these five-plus new actions into your daily operations. Share quantitative and qualitative data with the Office of Sustainability.

Participation Incentives:

• $25 for submitting initial checklist
• $25 for submitting checklist again with new actions identified
• $50 for submitting data on new actions

To receive the participation incentives, your lab must have a SOAPF that is not associated with sponsored funding for purposes of journal entry for the BIORESCO credit. All BIORESCO credit will be journaled to the lab’s SOAPF at the conclusion of your participation in the program. To receive credit via debit memo from the Office of Sustainability to your SOAPF, you must submit proof of purchase from BIORESCO in the amount of $100 or more. More detailed information about receiving incentives will be provided to program participants at the time of sign-up.

To learn more about the Green Labs Pilot, visit our Past Projects page.

Lab Share Program

If you have extra lab supplies or equipment that you would like to share with other labs on campus or you are in need of a particular item for your lab, consider participating in our new UMB Lab Share program! Labs can post about what items they have that they are giving away, and other labs can claim items and pick them up. Through this program, our campus will continue working toward our goals of waste reduction and reuse.

Join the Lab Share Program:

• Submit any item(s) you no longer need.
• See what items are currently available.

Lab Waste

In research laboratories and clinical areas on UMB’s campus, there are additional bins and waste streams that include hazardous waste (biological, chemical, and radioactive), broken glass, and sharps. For more information on these streams, please visit the Environmental Health and Safety website. 

Regular trash is serviced by UMB’s Environmental Services (EVS) department and cannot contain toxic, biohazardous, or radioactive materials. This stream can also not accept any broken glass or sharps. Common items in this stream include non-contaminated gloves, surgical masks, paper towels, flexible plastic packaging, and styrofoam.

Lab Trash Sign PDF

Many uncontaminated materials from labs can be recycled by EVS, including clean aluminum foil, unbroken glass, plastic bottles, paper, pipette tip boxes, metal drums, and flattened cardboard. Through the rollout of UMB’s self-service waste program, single-stream recycling is being added to labs across campus to facilitate the collection of these materials.

Lab Recycling Sign PDF

Purchasing Guide

One of the most important aspects of sustainable lab operations is the procurement of goods and services that reduce energy consumption and minimize waste. Check out our Sustainable Lab Purchasing Guidance document below for a few tips on how to ensure that the environmental impact of your research supplies is minimized.

Green Lab Purchasing Guide

Download Green Labs Signage

Turn Off Lights

Turn Off Equipment

Freezer Efficiency