When you think about the environment and how you could protect it, do you also think about how to do this in a research laboratory?

Probably not. Not even if you are working in a lab. After all, most people assume that scientists are more thinking about how to achieve world domination – directly or as the minion of an evil overlord, aren’t they?

However, believe it or not, it looks like they are starting to give it some thought. Well, I should actually say “we” as I’m a biochemist myself and worked in a lab for a while. Working in technical support for a biotech company now, I’ve noticed that more and more products appear, which are advertised as “GREEN” – and that’s how the idea for this little series was born. What I’ll blog about here now for the next couple of weeks is to:

1. Present these “green” products for use in laboratories and look at them from an environmental aspect
   (i.e. why are they considered to be green? Do they really help to protect the environment?) and
2. Look at what’s already been done in laboratories to protect the environment
   (and I mean more than just the “Don’t flush that toxic solvent down the drain!” rules, which should be taken for granted).

Since I’m at home in molecular biology (that is things related to genomics – DNA & RNA and how it is isolated, detected & amplified and manipulated), it might be that I’ll be more talking about products in this area. But I’ll do my best to leave my comfort zone and look beyond my own nose.  😉

Actually, I’d be more than happy to get your help with this. If you happen to come across a “green” product for laboratories, please let me know!

Looking forward to explore this area and hear from you (tips and comments)! 🙂