Along with a handful of leading higher education institutions, UBC was recently recognized at the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories last month for leadership in promotion of the new ACT label and taking action on sustainability.
ACT is the first environmental impact label created for laboratory products, developed by the non-profit My Green Lab. ACT—which stands for accountability, consistency, and transparency—is designed to provide critical information on the environmental impact of laboratory products.
“It is very exciting to be the first Canadian university to be recognized with so many leading institutions all working toward creating a more sustainable future”, said John Madden, Director of Sustainability and Engineering. “By taking the steps to integrate this environmental impact label throughout our lab procurement practices, UBC has the ability to make informed decisions toward making a positive impact on our environment.”
Reading the ACT label is simple: the lower the score, the lower the impact on the environment. Most categories are rated on a scale of 1-10.
Laboratories have a huge environmental impact, in fact each year UBC labs generate an estimated 70 tons of plastic waste. In general, buildings with laboratories consume as much as ten times more energy than regular office buildings and can use millions of gallons of water per year. Taking actions within laboratories such as using the environmental impact label can have a positive impact on reaching zero waste targets.
My Green Labs created ACT to help organizations and individuals significantly reduce their environmental impact. By providing third-party verified information on a product's energy consumption, water use, and end-of-life, manufacturers with an ACT label empower purchasers to consider sustainability alongside performance.
“The ACT label is fairly young, so the current priority is promotion, both with researchers and suppliers. Through the Green Labs program UBC has promoted use of the ACT label to researchers. Green Labs is currently working with procurement staff to explore ways in which the university can encourage suppliers to adopt the label,” said Hannah Land, Green Labs Energy and Water Coordinator at UBC.