KINDNESS TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Aim: To understand the importance of sustainability in science and how we can implement strategies to improve waste reduction in the scientific community.

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Outline: A study published in Nature in 2015 estimated that the world’s biomedical and agricultural labs produce 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste in a year. This workshop will be led by UWA climate scientists who will describe how increased scientific waste is impacting the environment and the importance of reducing our carbon footprint. We will also involve Nikoline Borgermann from Ava Sustain who offers workshops on sustainability specifically for labs. We will brainstorm useful tactics that individuals in the lab as well as lab groups at UWA can use to reduce carbon footprints and promote sustainability in the scientific community, for example the UWA Green Impact initiative. Students will be encouraged to create Green Impact teams with their lab-mates and use the toolkit as a guide to improve sustainability in their workplace.

Outcome: HDR students will learn the importance of environmental sustainability and will learn ways in which they can become more environmentally conscious in their scientific practices and everyday life.