Sustainable Purchasing

The opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of laboratories through sustainable procurement is enormous. The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) recognizes institutions that have demonstrated initiative or progress in sustainable procurement through the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Award. Nominations were open to any institution (such as universities, government, and nonprofit organizations) with laboratory facilities that met one or more of the following criteria:

  • The institution actively encouraged sustainable procurement in laboratories at multiple levels (e.g. staff, scientists, administration).
  • The institution reached out to suppliers to request information about the environmental impact of products and packaging.
  • The institution made a commitment to promoting and purchasing ACT labeled products and/or requested ACT label adoption by suppliers.

Institutions were recognized in two categories in 2019:

  1. Improvement: Institutions that have made substantial progress on the above criteria (this category includes past recognees).
  2. Initiative: Institutions that have demonstrated motivation to in some way meet the above criteria (this category excludes past recognees).

I2SL also continued to recognize manufacturers that offered ACT-labeled products in 2019.

2019 Recognees

I2SL honored the following institutions for taking initiative in sustainable purchasing in 2019:

  • National Institutes of Health Liver Diseases Branch
  • University of Birmingham

I2SL honored the following institutions for improving sustainable purchasing in 2019:

  • Harvard University
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Colorado Boulder
  • University of Georgia
  • University of Virginia

The following manufacturers obtained the ACT label in 2019:

  • Labcon
  • Chart
  • Miele
  • Micronic
  • Stirling Ultracold

The following manufacturers obtained the ACT label in 2018 and expanded their ACT-labeled inventory in 2019:

  • Eppendorf
  • MilliporeSigma
  • Priorclave North America
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific

2018 Recognees

The 2018 I2SL Annual Conference Go Beyond Awards Luncheon featured a new set of awards recognizing manufacturers which are participating in My Green Lab’s ACT Label effort, as well as institutions that have begun to implement procedures to purchase environmentally preferable laboratory products. “ACT” stands for Accountability, Consistency, and Transparency, and the ACT label is like an eco-nutrition label for laboratory products.

The following manufacturers obtained the ACT label in 2018:

  • CoolLED
  • Eppendorf
  • MilliporeSigma
  • Priorclave North America
  • Thermo Scientific Nalgene

The following institutions were recognized for their purchasing efforts in 2018:

  • Cleveland Clinic
  • Duke University
  • Emory University
  • Harvard University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of California, Office of the President
  • University of California, San Diego
  • University of California, Santa Barbara
  • University of Colorado, Boulder
  • University of Georgia
  • University of Virginia