We’ve all been there: You’ve just finished a heavy-duty sweat session at the gym, you’re thirsty, and the water fountain looks like it’s covered in eight million people’s saliva, plus a little bit of mold. The easiest solution? Ducking out to buy a bottle of water from the first drug store you can find.
It seems innocent enough — we’ve all gotta hydrate, right? But unfortunately, bottled water is wreaking havoc on the Earth’s precious resources. Plus, it’s almost definitely not any safer or cleaner than tap water — and in fact, sometimes it’s worse.
If you’ve been wondering about the consequences of a bottled water habit (whether it’s personal, national, or global), then look no further. This handy-dandy infographic outlines the stark consequences — environmental, physical, and economic — of guzzling the bottled stuff. Ready to quit it? Then check out our action tips at the bottom.
Hello again. Today I’d like to continue our series about how to be eco-friendly in a laboratory. Remember last weeks post about the initiative at the Simon Fraser University? Here’s another university promoting green laboratories: the University of Washington. Besides the Green Office, Green Greek (“acknowledges and educates Greek community members about their habits at home relating to sustainability”) and “SEED Green Endorsement” (recognising UW students living on campus and off, who are thoughtful about the impact of their daily life on the environment), it has the Green Laboratory Program, which I’ll introduce here now in more detail, i.e. especially the Freezer Challenge.
As pointed out on their website, “Laboratories are one of the main generators of waste …”. So true. Working in a molecular biology lab, I’v thrown away a lot of consumables every day – all the reaction vials called Eppis, all the disposable pipette tips, transfer pipets, micro plates, … – it’s simply the way, it’s the way they are supposed to be used: just once. And then you throw them away.
But leaving this aspect aside for the moment (more about this in a later post), there’s another factor with a huge impact on the environment: the energy consumption of a laboratory. I didn’t know that a lab is “using about 4 times more energy than an office of the same size”. Wow. But giving it some thought, I absolutely believe it because there’s a lot of equipment running from morning to evening or even 24h. Of course, some equipment has to run permanently, such as the various incubators, fridges and freezers. After all, your freezer at home also runs 24/7, doesn’t it? But – and here’s an important difference – your freezer at home probably got a good Energy Star rating. Why? Let’s be honest: because it’s you who’s paying the electricity bill and getting one of those A+++ fridges is one one way to save money, isn’t it?
I know, we’re back talking about money and not just about saving the environment. My feeling is that you can’t avoid this connection – there’s simply a strong link between them. Anyway, why not use saving money as a strong motivation to be more eco friendly? In the laboratory, it’s the university who’s paying the bills. But if you care about it anyway and help them to reduce their energy bill:
a) you’ve done something good for the planet and
b) you might get more money for your research – at least, you’d very much hope, that’s where the saved money ends up.
For our third exclusive infographic, we decided to picked up on an issue that really has a visible impact in our lives: Consumerism.
Of course, we all enjoy shopping around, and get access to worldwide items, bought trough a simple click of a button. Or drive around in our brand new cars, feeling free, independent and happy. Or go to some exotic restaurant, and taste the mysterious flavors of foreign cuisine.
But, here’s the thing: when we look up at the numbers behind the impact of those everyday pleasures, and think about the ongoing debate about climate change and the all the other environmental impacts caused by that lifestyle, one thing gets clear: we need to change.
Take a look at some of the numbers we’re bringing you here, and think about it.
This infographic shows current consumption rates of various natural resources and provides a timeline estimating when we will run out of them if we don’t become more sustainable. It demonstrates the impacts of American consumption, in particular, and notes where we’d be if the rest of the world consumed resources at just half the rate of the US.
Data compiled by by Armin Reller of the University of Augsburg and Tom Graedel of Yale University, graphic created by NewScientist.
Originally published on Greatist
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