Ways to Make Your Medical Lab More Sustainable

Updated on August 4, 2020
Ways to Make Your Medical Lab More Sustainable

In a medical laboratory, sustainability probably isn’t at the top of one’s priority list. However, creating a more sustainable medical lab environment has multiple benefits that may entice you to give it a bit more consideration. In addition to the obvious advantage of preserving the environment, enhancing your medical lab’s sustainability may also save a significant amount of money by reducing energy bills and increasing the life span of expensive medical equipment. To learn about some of the most effective ways to make your medical lab more sustainable, continue reading.

Properly maintain equipment

Properly maintaining your equipment will allow it to run more efficiently. In addition, practicing regular maintenance will also reduce waste by increasing the life span of the equipment so that you don’t have to purchase replacement devices as frequently. Simply completing basic maintenance practices such as wiping down your equipment each day and conducting weekly deep-cleans can extend your equipment’s functional life. Another important lab equipment maintenance practice is to regularly calibrate your equipment to identify potential issues before they get worse. Aside from improving the sustainability of your lab, calibrating medical equipment on a regular basis is essential to ensuring accurate test results.

Invest in energy-efficient equipment

A more obvious way to create a more sustainable medical laboratory is to invest in energy-efficient equipment. Unfortunately, because lab equipment is incredibly expensive, replacing all your existing equipment with more energy-efficient models is likely not an option. However, when it comes time to replace a piece of equipment, consider purchasing an energy-efficient model. By slowly transitioning to equipment designed to use less energy while maintaining effective operation, you can greatly reduce the amount of energy your lab consumes.

Increase cold storage temperatures

Another way to make your medical lab more sustainable is by slightly increasing storage temperatures when possible. Certain samples require extremely cold environments in order to be preserved properly, but others may be largely unaffected by a slight temperature increase. If possible, consider increasing the temperature on your ultra-low freezers from -80 to -70 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the substantial amount of energy that ultra-low temperature freezers consume, this 10-degree change has the potential to reduce your lab’s energy consumption by up to 40 percent.

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