Testimonials
We, as a biocatalysis building comprising of all together five research laboratories and facilities, achieved the LEAF Gold award in 2024. Working together with diverse laboratory groups and implementing effective sustainability initiatives required a significant effort and consideration. Leading this accreditation process fostered a collaborative environment and raised awareness of sustainability among technical services, researchers, and academics. Simple changes, like improved waste recycling, repurposing some single-use plastics, and redesigning research experiments while being mindful of carbon footprint, instilled a sense of responsibility in every lab member.
Since joining the university in 2022, my LEAF journey was certainly guided by the ongoing projects and foundation set by my predecessors, as our building already held the LEAF Silver award. I was unaware of this accreditation but was drawn back to think responsibly about the environment and sustainability through different shared resources, conferences, and regular training sessions that the TSO team has been working on since its launch. Additionally, by working closely with colleagues across the Department of Biosciences, we've been able to leverage collective knowledge and pool resources, making sustainable changes more efficient and impactful in our building. We further took this opportunity to discuss the challenges of sustainability in the department through a Technical Lunch event. Understanding the challenges and utilising the resources available are the keys to successful sustainability practices in laboratories.
Read more from Nisha Lamichhane
Nisha Lamichhane
Technician/Assistant Laboratory Manager (Biocatalysis Building)
Working as part of and towards the LEAF Sustainable Labs Initiative has been truly impactful in both shaping the way we work and for personal development. Our laboratories achieved LEAF Gold status in 2023 and through the criteria and targets mentioned in the application, we have been able to improve our practices by making environmentally conscious decisions. The LEAF application also highlights other aspects of laboratory work (such as IT and light usage) which are often overlooked when addressing sustainability in laboratories.
A key factor in achieving this award was the implementation of a glove recycling and repurpose scheme, which has helped our lab recycle over 100kg of gloves so far. By making use of the waste calculators within the LEAF application, we discovered that we have reduced our waste bag output by over 50% and are saving around two tonnes of CO2 annually.
Throughout the process, the sustainability team and committee within Biosciences have collaborated with and helped me, allowing this glove recycling scheme to be replicated elsewhere on campus. This process culminated in presenting our labs’ achievements and the data collected to senior figures including the head of sustainability and TS&O. My self-confidence in presenting and project appraisal greatly benefitted from this experience.
Overall, the LEAF sustainability initiative is not just an excellent way to consider how to encourage environmentally conscious working practices; but also, is a collaborative way to develop soft skills and promote interdisciplinary work in green accreditation.
James Coyne
Technician (Geoffrey Pope 2nd Floor - Biosciences)
Laboratories contribute significantly to the university's carbon footprint, and addressing this through green accreditations is a core element in the university’s net zero targets. With a background in Ecology & Environmental Science, sustainability has always been central to my career. I've been involved in LEAF since it began at the university, and it was fantastic to see UoE achieve 100% LEAF accreditation in 2022. During this time, I noticed simple sustainability acts such as equipment replacement, recycling schemes, and resource sharing to significantly reduce environmental impacts, which I found highly interesting and rewarding.
Sustainability and research are always evolving. With the 2025 update to the LEAF criteria, I am excited to see continued engagement through renewed applications and savings for labs and the university. My team and I are developing Sustainable Labs by introducing new resources and guidance to support sustainable practices. Being involved in sustainability has also greatly benefited my career and skillset, and I urge people to get involved where they can!
I began my journey at the University of Exeter as a laboratory technician at the Aquatic Resource Centre (ARC) when LEAF was introduced. Leading this initiative, I embraced new responsibilities and was excited to share new innovative ideas with the team. Achieving LEAF gold in 2022, I recognised many existing sustainable practices, such as reusable shoe covers and the reuse of single-use plastics. I enjoyed communicating these practices and appreciated the recognition we received. In 2022, I moved to the Centre for Resilience in Environment Water & Waste (CREWW) labs, where I helped form the new laboratories, organised the LEAF working group and trained junior staff on submitting LEAF awards.
Today, I am on secondment as the Technical Manager for lab sustainability, a role that allows me to exercise my creativity and share my passion for sustainability. I also work with various departments at the university and external lab sustainability teams. Sustainable labs have been a significant part of my professional development, and I look forward to what the future holds!
Amy Cotton
Technical Manager (Lab Sustainability)
The Clinical Skills Resource Centre (CSRC) technical and academic team has worked collaboratively to achieve its Gold Leaf award. This has been hugely beneficial in developing working relationships between both teams, whereby creative and problem-solving skills were shared and used, and a greater understanding of each team’s specialist skills and knowledge developed. This collaboration led to the compromising of equipment purchasing and sharing of equipment for teaching between degree programs. This reduced our carbon footprint by not importing equipment from international suppliers but also enabled the repurposing of tens of thousands of pounds into implementing new and more sustainable practices and equipment. This has also created opportunities for technicians and academic staff to upskill each other using their respective skill sets and backgrounds. This has played an important part in technicians completing their professional registrations.
Our journey through the LEAF award system began during the pandemic, proving that despite challenging times and the enormous use of single-use PPE, improvements to sustainability are possible. In particular, we created in-house reusable models and mock medical equipment, instead of purchasing single-use medical equipment. Subsequently, we have reduced our single-use medical equipment and consumables by 90% over the past 4 years.
Despite achieving our gold award, the CSRC team is committed to continued improvements in sustainability. When considering centre usage and equipment for teaching, academics and technicians prioritise sustainability considerations. We aim to continue to replace single-use medical consumables and PPE with reusable analogues while still teaching to and meeting NHS standards and disposal guidelines. The CSRC is committed to continue with LEAF in the future.
Freddie Wyatt
BMBS Assistant Technical Services Manager (CSRC)
Finding out about the existence of LEAF in 2019, while working as the lab technician for the Environment & Sustainability Institute (ESI), has directed my technical career towards protecting what I care most about - the environment. Being the first University of Exeter labs to submit and gain an accreditation made sense as we were part of an institute set up to promote environmental sustainability, but it was even better seeing the roll out of sustainability accreditation for technical spaces across the whole institution in the following years.
Even though we started off not knowing much about the sustainable options out there, or where to make the most impact, LEAF has been very helpful in highlighting areas where improvement is possible and giving guidance on how to reduce the negative impact of lab research. Martin Farley (the founder) put a lot of work into LEAF and it really shows in the detailed guidance provided to applicants and the calculators that use your baseline costs and carbon emissions to see the financial and carbon impact of the changes you have implemented in your lab.
The ESI submitted the first LEAF application in 2020, via a detailed spreadsheet where we logged how we fulfilled the criteria for bronze and silver. We achieved silver and were proud of this but knew we wanted to push forward to gold in 2021. Applications for LEAF accreditation have since been streamlined into an online portal, so it's much easier to apply nowadays.
I’m so pleased that (lab) sustainability is a much hotter topic now and that others in the higher education sector have begun to create frameworks for research areas that LEAF doesn't fully cover in detail. Green DiSC is a new open source framework for targeting the environmental impacts of computational science and computing activities and I hope it will prove to be a effective addition to our ongoing sustainability initiatives.
My other hope is that more people will continue to engage and keep up to date with everything we're doing as 'Sustainable Labs’ by joining the Teams group and saving the associated SharePoint resource hub to their favourites, as this is our hub for sharing all of our lab sustainability and green accreditation guidance, best practice, new sustainability signage and top tips for sustainable lab consumables and processes.
Jenny Lord
Sustainable Labs & LabCup Project Assistant
When I was introduced to the LEAF accreditation process through a departmental sustainability meeting, I was very impressed by the resources, training, and the level of support provided. I have been trying to make small changes within our labs for several years, however the time it took for individual research and the creating of new lab protocols and signage meant that even the smallest change took a lot of effort. Now with access to all of the information, groups within and outside our department sharing resources and templates, as well as regular seminars and training sessions, the barriers to making a lot of these changes have been lifted.
Working in a teaching laboratory, I'm aware that I have an easier job than most lab technicians in instigating change as I don't have to negotiate the needs of dozens of lab groups. This has meant in our first year (2021) we have been able to acheive LEAF Silver accreditation and we are on track to apply for Gold by the end of the 2021/2022 academic year. Having these systems in place before the research labs in the deparmtent allows us to prove that they work here and make it easier for my colleagues to get their PIs and other lab users on board. Already I have been told that several Masters and PhD students who assist teaching within my labs have taken our efforts on board and are now seeking to implement them within their research groups, so we are able to act as a staging ground for a more grass-roots approach to sustainability within the department. Hopefully, with effort from both the lab managers and junior members of the research groups accross the department we will be able to progress quickly towards Silver and Gold across the board.
Cameron Clark
Assistant Lab Manager for the Geoffrey Pope Teaching Labs
The MRC Centre for Medical Mycology is a large modern laboratory space in the Geoffrey Pope building. Our Bronze application was submitted in May 2021 and during the summer we consulted the LEAF framework while revising our core standard operating procures and general lab guidance. We were happily awarded Silver LEAF status in October 2021.
The MRC CMM Laboratory operations work on a communal approach. The shared use of equipment, communal items and regents means that our labs work in an efficient manner. Equipment usage is managed via the Clustermarket platform and commonly agreed consumable are brought in bulk. This communal ethos alongside a supportive, collaborative environment means that recourses are always shared and any concerns can be addressed in a positive way.
The MRC CMM had 63 lab users at the time of our Silver submission. With such a large number on occupants it is important to make sure that sustainable practices are highlighted during the induction schedule. All of this information is assessable to MRC CMM members and can be referred to when needed via the use of SharePoint sites and poster memos in key lab locations.
We know that research laboratories are responsible for the generating around 2% of plastic waste worldwide. MRC CMM have minimised this in places by choosing multiuse glassware items, however plastic cannot always be substituted. Therefore CMM have put effort into their sustainable practices to try and offset this impact, we are also mindful when selecting our suppliers making sure that their core values match ours.
I highly recommend the LEAF workshops, from each session I have been able to pick up on an idea that can give you a quick win in the laboratory. These small changes really add up and can be used as examples to complete the LEAF criteria. The LEAF framework enhances Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), these together are a good starting point for organising any laboratory, action planning against failures, reduce carbon emissions and support quality research.
Sara Honey
Technical Services Manager, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology
Poor sustainability practices in laboratory spaces have been an ongoing issue for us and finding the time and resources to tackle it has often felt daunting. When LEAF was introduced and Technical Services set themselves the goal of getting every lab accredited, we were very excited. The Teams page, resources, webinars and general advice from colleagues provided a wealth of ideas to kick start changes towards a more sustainable set of labs. We also received some very encouraging responses from our suppliers about their sustainability projects based around take-back schemes and improving packaging which has helped us take a further step forward.
The EMS labs were quickly able to achieve Bronze by increasing our signage and updating our induction process to include sustainability. With a few more changes and some much-appreciated engagement from our researchers we got our Silver award. We are constantly taking small steps to reduce our carbon footprint and waste production from turning unused equipment off to changing ULT freezer temperatures to recycling gel packs. We hope that LEAF is just the start of a future where we always work with sustainability on our mind.
Next stop Gold!
Read more from Dr Annie Knight & Chantelle Davies
Dr Annie Knight & Chantelle Davies
Assistant Laboratory Managers
My journey with LEAF started with helping many of the Physics and Engineering research labs gain the first level of LEAF accreditation: bronze. Most of the bronze criteria are part of standard good lab practice principles, such as labelling samples and sharing equipment.
In reality, Physics and Engineering labs typically produce little waste and require less energy compared to many wet labs. This meant that the LEAF changes were quite straightforward to implement. Although the changes I introduced to each lab were not extensive, applying them in around 50 rooms across two buildings made a meaningful contribution overall. It was interesting to meet with a wide variety of research groups and discuss how the LEAF criteria could be implemented in their unique working spaces.
LEAF has paved the way to a cultural shift and highlighted the value of sharing resources and communal working, but the benefits of LEAF are not limited to sustainability. Sharing equipment and chemicals can also lower costs and the action of calibrating our measuring equipment increases confidence in results and improves the quality of our research overall. Good maintenance of freezers and adequate breakdown procedures help protect against sample loss, and I have helped labs with defrosting and cold storage inspections. I also ordered timer switches for labs, which can be used to plan out work and, in some cases, minimise fire risk, as well as saving energy.
I attended the LEAF seminars and workshops that were run by guest speakers on topics such as Green Chemistry and reducing lab plastic usage. These have provided me with some great ideas and food for thought. I am hoping to use these, along with everything else I have learned so far, to obtain silver LEAF accreditation for the Geoffrey Pope labs I help to manage in my new role.
Jade Furmston
Assistant Laboratory Manager Geoffrey Pope
