Sustainability Game

Sustain-abilities

Put your lab practices to the test

Make the most of every sustainable opportunity as you travel the board and achieve the lowest Environmental Impact Score (EIS) possible by the time you reach the finish. Make enough sustainable choices by the time you reach the final space, and achieve sustainability stardom.

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One strategy to reduce your lab’s environmental footprint is to purchase products that are made using non-hazardous chemicals and from non-hazardous raw materials. How will you go about making purchasing decisions based on greener manufacturing practices?

Contact the manufacturer and ask about their manufacturing practices

QUESTION 1 Manufacturing

Consult the product’s ACT Label for the manufacturer’s responsible chemical management score and choose products with a low environmental impact score in that category

Ask product manufacturers for SDS sheets for every material used during product manufacturing

SOMEWHAT CORRECT but very labor intensive with limited chance for manufacturer responsiveness.

CORRECT My Green Lab’s ACT Label is like an eco-nutrition label for product sustainability. Responsible Chemical Management during manufacturing is one of the environmental impact factors scored on the label. Let My Green Lab do the work collecting the data and scoring the product’s environmental impact.

INCORRECT Most manufacturer’s consider raw material data proprietary and will only share it with qualified business partners under confidentiality agreement.

You’re looking to buy a laboratory bottle for storing reagents. You can get it shipped from a local supplier by truck or save some money by purchasing from an overseas supplier. Which method do you choose?

Ship it from overseas.

Ship it locally.

CORRECT One overseas cargo shipment can produce the same amount of pollution as 50 million cars.¹

Did You Know: Most Nalgene bottles and matrix tubes are manufactured in the US at our Rochester, New York facility. Beakers, cylinders and filterware are manufactured just over the border in Monterrey, Mexico and travel to our US warehouses by truck.

Your workplace is working to achieve energy reduction goals and is increasing sustainable product purchases by 10% for the year. Choosing products manufactured using renewable energy qualifies.

Choose an ACT-labeled product verified to use a renewable energy source

Choose a product that has a green symbol next to it on the distributor website

Buy only products that come in a green box

CORRECT My Green Lab’s ACT Label program is like an eco-nutrition label for sustainability. Products are scored on the environmental impact of their manufacturing practices, use and end-of-life disposal options. Thanks to manufacturer transparency and third-party scoring, you can confidently compare product label scores and make informed greener purchasing decisions. Renewable energy use during product manufacturing is just one environmental impact factor you can consider.

NOT ALWAYS CORRECT “Green” symbols on distributor websites can mean a lot of things and may not always be associated with data to support the claims. Be sure to ask what the green symbol means for each product and ask for the data to support the claims.

INCORRECT Let’s not even go there… Answer A is correct.

Did You Know: More than 90 Thermo Scientific Nalgene bottles and labware products are now participating in the ACT Label program? The Nalgene bottles manufactured in Rochester, New York are made using renewable hydroelectric energy form Niagara Falls.

You’re placing an order for 1L polypropylene graduated cylinders for your lab and want to choose a product packaged in the most sustainable manner. Which is the best choice?

Corrugate cartons made from 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content

High graphic paperboard cartons printed with soy-based ink

Plastic thermoform shells

CORRECT Among these options, the best choice is to buy products packaged in plain brown corrugate cartons made from 100% post-consumer recycle content. They are made from a renewable resource and can be recycled again after use.

INCORRECT Even though the soy ink is a nice touch, high graphic paperboard cartons are not recyclable in many communities. Using a carton that’s made with a high percentage of PCR material and is recyclable too is a better choice.

INCORRECT Plastic thermoform shells are neither made from a renewable resource, nor recyclable in most communities. And your polypropylene cylinders aren’t fragile enough to require this level of packaging.

Did You Know: Nalgene labware and bottles are packaged in cartons made with 100% PCR material. Please continue the cycle and recycle your Nalgene cartons.

QUESTION 2 Manufacturing

QUESTION 3 Manufacturing

QUESTION 4 Manufacturing

QUESTION 5 Manufacturing

You need to order HDPE bottles for your lab. Even though you’re trying to reduce your plastic consumption, you really need a bottle that won’t leak, shatter or leach unknown chemicals. You want to act more sustainably without compromising your research or your health and safety program. What is your best option?

Purchase an HDPE bottle made from no more than 25% post-consumer recycled (PCR) material

Purchase an HDPE reagent bottle made from virgin material that’s manufactured and packaged in ways that reduce the product’s over all environmental impact

INCORRECT Any amount of PCR of unknown origin can contribute to unwanted material that can potentially contaminate your research solutions and interfere with test results. There are ways to reduce a product’s environmental impact without putting your research at risk.

CORRECT You don’t have to choose between the quality of your research and acting more sustainably. You can have both. Sustainable choices in manufacturing practices, packaging, and end-of-life disposal can help offset the need to use high-quality virgin material to maintain product quality.

Did You Know: The ACT Label provides sustainability data on manufacturing practices, use, and end-of-life disposal to help you make informed choices

You’ve got lab samples that have to be stored at minus 80ºC temperatures, but the ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezer in your lab has little available space due to storage of old and forgotten samples, with many in bulky storage containers. What do you do?

Keep searching for available space in other freezers in your organization.

Organize an event with freezer users to check the samples you are storing and remove those which are no longer needed and ensure your samples are neatly stored in appropriate storage solutions (racks/boxes).

QUESTION 1 User Impact

CORRECT Using freezer space efficiently and neatly storing samples can help to maximize the use of your cold storage capacity.

QUESTION 2 User Impact

You want to replace an aging ULT. What should you look for when making your purchase?

A similar make and model to the one you have.

A newer energy efficient model.

CORRECT Freezers designed through green chemistry that use natural hydrocarbon refrigerants and water-blown foam can reduce energy use by up to 70% compared to older conventional freezers. Some units even carry the Energy Star certification. ³

Did You Know: Our Thermo Fisher Scientific facility in Carlsbad, California replaced 115 ultra low temperature freezers with 77 of our Thermo Scientific™ TSX Ultra Low Temperature Freezers, reducing our energy consumption by 50% and our carbon footprint by 441 metric tons.

QUESTION 3 User Impact

You just purchased a -20°C Manual Defrost Countertop Freezer for vaccine storage. When it comes to maintenance, do you:

Wait until problems arise, and then pay for necessary parts and repair services.

Buy an annual service contract up front.

CORRECT An annual service contract will prolong the life of your equipment, reducing waste, and keeping your lab running more reliably.

QUESTION 4 User Impact

You need 2 liters of ACS-certified xylenes in your laboratory. You can purchase a 4L bottle for slightly more than the cost of two 1L bottles. Which do you buy?

One 4L bottle for $304 ($76/L).

Two 1L bottles for $336 ($168 each).

CORRECT Buying items in bulk that you don’t use every day most often leads to waste, which will cost you even more to dispose of when those items are hazardous like Xylene.

QUESTION 5 User Impact

Before incubating samples in your lab water bath, you decide to take the best — and most sustainable — approach for avoiding decontamination. What do you do?

Use Lab Armor beads instead of water.

Add sodium azide as a disinfectant to prevent growth of organisms.

CORRECT Compared to water, Lab Armor™ Beads are more resistant to bacterial growth and therefore can help prevent the spreading of contamination throughout the lab. The non-toxic, highly recyclable beads not only save resources — reducing energy consumption through better heat retention — but also improve energy efficiency by over 50%.

INCORRECT Liquid disinfectants used for water bath maintenance are harmful to the environment, and the highly toxic sodium azide becomes an explosive compound with some metals (copper, lead, silver, brass). Lab Armor™ Beads are more resistant to bacterial growth and therefore can help prevent the spreading of contamination throughout the lab. Periodic use of 70% ethanol is all that is required to keep Lab Armor™ Beads clean and contamination-free.

Neither. Once it’s up and running, change the set point to -70°C.

SOMEWHAT CORRECT While changing the set point on ULTs to -70°C can reduce the environmental impact of cold storage and contribute to up to 40% in energy savings, the average conventional ULT freezer still consumes as much energy as a single-family home (~20 kWh/day). So you’re really just netting out. ²

INCORRECT An average ULT freezer consumes as much energy as a single-family home (~20 kWh/day), and collectively cold storage units (e.g. ULTs, refrigerators, cold rooms) contribute substantially to a lab’s energy use. But there’s a lot that can be done to reduce the environmental impact of cold storage, including defrosting (~10% energy savings); changing the set point on ULTs to -70°C (~40% savings); purchasing energy-efficient models to replace older units (up to 70% savings); and throwing away superfluous samples to make space in existing units. ²

Raise the water temperature to 90°C (194°F) or higher once a week for half an hour.

Use distilled or deionized water instead of tap water.

ALMOST CORRECT This method does work for contamination purposes, but even after that, it’s still a good idea to empty the bath and manually clean out any lagoon leftovers. In comparison, the non-toxic, highly recyclable Lab Armor™ Beads are more resistant to bacterial growth, more thoroughly prevent the spread of contamination throughout the lab, and improve energy efficiency of standard water baths by over 50%.

INCORRECT Just adding the right water can extend the life of a water bath and keep it from looking flaky and fouled up on the surface, but that won’t be enough to back off the lagoon syndrome. Lab Armor™ Beads are more resistant to bacterial growth and more thoroughly prevent the spread of contamination throughout the lab. The non-toxic, highly recyclable beads save resources — reducing energy consumption through better heat retention — and improve energy efficiency of standard water baths by over 50%.

You want to help your lab divert up to 90% of waste from landfills in order to achieve a zero-waste certification. What should you do?

Commit to reusing, recycling, and incinerating (for renewable energy) materials.

Choose suppliers that are zero-waste certified.

Purchase only reusable materials.

QUESTION 1 End of Life

CORRECT It’s not easy, but to be zero-waste certified you only have to commit to sustainable waste management from your lab. And with initiatives like reusable products and glove and garment recycling — you can achieve it. Extra points if you do all of the above.

Did You Know: At Thermo Fisher, we’ve had 26 sites work towards zero-waste, saving us up to $6.7 million. So, it really does pay off.

QUESTION 2 End of Life

You’re ordering a reagent that needs to be shipped cold and you’d like to choose a vendor that offers the most sustainable packaging for shipment. Which vendor should you pick?

The one that uses a paper cooler

The one that uses an EPS foam cooler that can be mailed back for free

The one that uses an Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam cooler

CORRECT Made from 100% paper — including the widely recycled corrugated packaging and insulation, a paper cooler can be an environmentally preferable alternative to EPS coolers.

SOMEWHAT CORRECT While good at protecting products, EPS foam coolers are difficult to recycle, creating a ton of disposal issues for you.

INCORRECT While good at protecting products, EPS foam coolers are difficult to recycle, creating a ton of disposal issues for you. Furthermore, life-cycle analyses often show that transporting an EPS cooler back can release more carbon that it takes to generate a new cooler.

Did You Know: Thermo Fisher’s use of the 100% paper cooler eliminates, in volume, the EQS equivalent of two Olympic-sized swimming pools every year. That’s the size of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool every five years!

QUESTION 3 End of Life

Some of the computers in your lab are broken beyond repair, and you need to dispose of them in the most environmentally friendly way. What do you do?

Put them in the recycling.

Donate them so someone may use them for spare parts.

Recover and send the reusable components into a program that can utilize the materials, then take the remaining parts to a recycling center.

CORRECT If these computers were in usable condition, you should certainly donate them to an organization in need. If not, the best option is to look for programs that may reuse certain components — such as Thermo Fisher’s Ion Chip Recycling Program — which recover valuable metals from semiconductor chips to eliminate hazardous waste from our environment, and reduce mining of natural resources. Then, take the remaining components to a recycling center for proper disposal.

QUESTION 4 End of Life

You have glassware from an experiment in need of cleaning. What cleaning solution do you use?

Chromic Acid

A universal lab detergent

Alcoholic Potassium Hydroxide

INCORRECT Chromic acid is very effective, but has fallen into disfavor over the years due to its toxicity and corrosivity, and because it must be carefully disposed of as hazardous waste. Consider replacing it with an effective, environmentally friendly laboratory detergent such as Nalgene™ L900.

CORRECT A universal, environmentally friendly lab detergent such as Nalgene™ L900 Liquid Detergent is effective, yet it’s neither toxic nor corrosive. In fact, it’s biodegradable and does not need to be disposed of as hazardous waste.

INCORRECT A very powerful cleaning medium, but prolonged exposure will damage (by etching) ground glass joints. It’s also flammable and corrosive, and a source of potentially hazardous waste that must be disposed of. Consider replacing it with an, environmentally friendly laboratory detergent such as Nalgene™ L900. (13)

QUESTION 5 End of Life

You have a choice of sample bottles to purchase for a field sampling project. Which is the most sustainable choice?

Polypropylene

Polyethylene

Polycarbonate

ALMOST CORRECT While polypropylene is recyclable in many communities, it is not as readily recyclable as polyethylene.

CORRECT Both high density and low density polyethylene are readily recyclable in greater than 70% of communities in the United States.

INCORRECT Polycarbonate is a tough, impact resistant material, but it’s not recyclable and consumes more energy during manufacturing than polypropylene or polyethylene.

All of the above.

You want to buy an outfit for your upcoming interview at Thermo Fisher, but interview clothes aren’t really your style. What do you do?

Buy a new outfit then donate it to charity.

Buy an outfit second-hand and throw it in the wash before you wear it.

QUESTION 1 Personal Footprint

CORRECT It takes over 713 gallons of water to make one cotton shirt — enough water to drink for 2.5 years. One wash cycle uses 19 gallons of water.

QUESTION 2 Personal Footprint

You’re looking to pour yourself a hot beverage to start the day. Which drink is the most eco-friendly?

Coffee

Tea

CORRECT Drinking tea instead of coffee can help reduce your water footprint by up to 28 gallons per cup.

QUESTION 3 Personal Footprint

You’ve got a sink full of dirty dishes that need to go into the dishwasher. Do you:

Load the dishwasher and run the cycle.

Rinse off the dishes, load the dishwasher, and run the cycle.

Scrape the dishes, load the dishwasher, and run the cycle.

CORRECT Scraping your dishes instead of rinsing them can help save up to 6,000 gallons of water a year.

QUESTION 4 Personal Footprint

You’re doing your grocery shopping for the week and want to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Which of these items is the LEAST environmentally friendly?

Packaged foods like rice and cereal.

Meat and dairy products.

Fruits and vegetables.

CORRECT Meat and dairy are responsible for 14.5% of human caused global greenhouse gas emissions. Every day you go without, you reduce your carbon emissions by 8 pounds — which adds up to 2,920 pounds a year! While the most environmentally friendly foods are fruits and vegetables.

QUESTION 5 Personal Footprint

You want to lower the environmental impact of your daily commute, but there’s no public transportation and you live too far away to walk or bike. What should you do?

Start a carpool and pick up a co-worker or two along the way.

Leave before or after rush-hour to avoid the wasteful stop-and-go traffic.

CORRECT While studies show that non-consistent driving does help save 40% more fuel, carpooling helps mitigate that traffic for others while also reducing energy consumption and emissions.

Your lab replaced your -80°C freezer with an energy-efficient Thermo Fisher ultra-low temperature freezer that enables you to store reagents at -70°C, reducing energy consumption by 35%.

Yay! Your score just got greener.

POSITIVE Reality Strikes

NEGATIVE Reality Strikes

You forgot to clearly label some chemical waste, causing someone to throw away $20,000 worth of samples. This creates unnecessary waste, and also sets your work back 4 years.

Oops… that’s gonna hurt your score.

POSITIVE Reality Strikes

Your lab’s e-waste drive had a huge turnout — properly recycling dozens of old devices, and eliminating hazardous toxins from our air, oceans, soil, and other environments overseas.

Yay! Your score just got greener.

NEGATIVE Reality Strikes

You accidentally left a bottle of chemical waste near the floor drain, causing toxic chemicals to enter the sewer. The EPA has fined you $25,000 per day.

Oops...that’s gonna hurt your score.

POSITIVE Reality Strikes

The request for your building to install LED lights has been approved, which reduces your energy consumption by 60% — and even creates a healthier work environment!

Yay! Your score just got greener.

Score:

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Did You Know: ACT labeled Thermo Scientific Nalgene bottles and labware score very well for responsible chemical management during manufacturing. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest possible impact, these products all score 1.

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Score:

How to play

Click the bottle to spin for a question category. Land on a sustainability category and answer the question or land on a "Reality Strike" and face the consequences of a situation out of your control (good or bad). Repeat until the end where you will receive your score. Goal: Get the lowest Environmental Impact Score (EIS) possible.

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final Impact

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. One overseas cargo shipment can produce the same amount of pollution as 50 million cars.¹

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. An annual service contract will prolong the life of your equipment, reducing waste, and keeping your lab running more reliably.

INCORRECT Answer B is the better choice. Buying items in bulk that you don’t use every day most often leads to waste, which will cost you even more to dispose of when those items are hazardous like Xylene.

Click the bottle to spin

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. Using freezer space efficiently and neatly storing samples in appropriate storage solutions (racks/boxes) for the type and size of materials can help to maximize the use of your cold storage capacity.

INCORRECT Answer A is correct. While choosing suppliers that are zero-waste certified is a sustainable practice, you only have to commit to sustainable waste management from your lab to be zero-waste certified. And with initiatives like reusable products and glove and garment recycling, you can achieve it. Kudos to you if you do all of the above.

SOMEWHAT CORRECT Answer A is correct. While purchasing reusable products is a sustainable practice that reduces waste, this practice alone may not get you to your goal. Kudos to you if you do all of the above.

INCORRECT Answer A is correct. To be zero-waste certified you only have to commit to sustainable waste management from your lab. And with initiatives like reusable products and glove and garment recycling, you can achieve it. Kudos to you if you do all of the above.

INCORRECT Answer C is correct. If these computers were in usable condition, you should certainly donate them to an organization in need. If not, the best option is to look for programs that may reuse certain components such as Thermo Fisher’s Ion Chip Recycling Program which recover valuable metals from semiconductor chips to eliminate hazardous waste from our environment, and reduce mining of natural resources. Then, take the remaining components to a recycling center for proper disposal.

INCORRECT It takes over 713 gallons of water to make one cotton shirt — enough water to drink for 2.5 years. One wash cycle uses 19 gallons of water.

INCORRECT Drinking tea instead of coffee can help reduce your water footprint by up to 28 gallons per cup.

INCORRECT Answer C is correct. Scraping your dishes instead of rinsing them can help save up to 6,000 gallons of water a year.

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. Meat and dairy are responsible for 14.5% of human caused global greenhouse gas emissions. Every day you go without, you reduce your carbon emissions by 8 pounds — which adds up to 2,920 pounds a year! While the most environmentally friendly foods are fruits and vegetables.

INCORRECT While studies show that non-consistent driving does help save 40% more fuel, carpooling helps mitigate that traffic for others while also reducing energy consumption and emissions.

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INCORRECT Answer C is correct. Scraping your dishes instead of rinsing them can help save up to 6,000 gallons of water a year.

Continue

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INCORRECT It takes over 713 gallons of water to make one cotton shirt — enough water to drink for 2.5 years. One wash cycle uses 19 gallons of water. (14)

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. Using freezer space efficiently and neatly storing samples can help to maximize the use of your cold storage capacity.

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. One overseas cargo shipment can produce the same amount of pollution as 50 million cars. (1)

INCORRECT Drinking tea instead of coffee can help reduce your water footprint by up to 28 gallons per cup. (15)

INCORRECT Answer C is correct. Scraping your dishes instead of rinsing them can help save up to 6,000 gallons of water a year. (16)

CORRECT Since the computers are unusable, the best option is to find programs that reuse components like Thermo Fisher’s Ion Chip Recycling Program which recovers valuable metals from semiconductor chips. Then take the rest to the recycle center.

INCORRECT Answer B is correct. An annual service contract will prolong the life of your equipment, reducing waste, and keeping your lab running more reliably. (5)

INCORRECT While studies show that non-consistent driving does help save 40% more fuel, carpooling helps mitigate that traffic for others while also reducing energy consumption and emissions. (17)

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Congrats, you’ve achieved sustainability stardom!

A green thumbs up to you! Rather than making unnecessary waste, your decisions have helped make waste unnecessary. Which is what we’re trying to do!

Thermo Fisher Scientific utilizes My Green Lab's ACT label, making it easier for labs to make greener product choices.

Learn more about the ACT label program and our commitment to sustainability.

Learn more

There’s opportunity to make your world greener

You made some good decisions and have potential to make more. Play again and you could achieve sustainability stardom!

You’re banished to the landfill, but there’s hope for a greener future.

Play again and apply your new sustainability knowledge to make better decisions and become a sustainability star!

Environmental Impact Score (EIS):

5.0

October 2022

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