Blog | UCSB Sustainability

Biodegradable Gloves vs. Nitrile/Latex Gloves: Which is Better for Lab Sustainability?

There are many forms of gloves that are available to labs for purchase. The majority of these labs use Nitrile gloves. These gloves go directly to a landfill, they can be recycled, but it is often expensive as they have to be collected solely with gloves of the same forms and delivered to a special location where they can be processed. Another more sustainable option is biodegradable gloves.

Chest vs. Upright Freezers: Which is More Efficient in a Lab?

Within a lab, there are often two types of Ultra-Low Temperature (ULT) Freezers that can be purchased, to store materials, a chest freezer or an upright freezer. They operate in a similar fashion, however, their shape and their energy usage are different. The chest freezer is more energy efficient.

Biodegradable Gloves vs. Nitrile/Latex Gloves: Which is Better for Lab Sustainability?

Gloved hands using a pipette to pick up a single pipette tip from a standard pipette tip rack.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Solutions for Plastic Pipette Tips and Pipette Tip Racks

Pipette tips and their accompanying storage containers are undoubtedly one of the largest contributors to laboratory waste. In fact, a waste audit at MIT found that 80% of their laboratory plastic waste was from pipette tip boxes alone¹. Although different labs will have different waste stream percentages depending on the type of research being done in the building, in most biology labs, items like pipette tips/boxes and disposable gloves are top contenders for the largest contributors to laboratory waste.

Close up of a solidified agarose gel undergoing UV illumination. Ethidium-bromide-stained DNA appears on the gel as orange, glowing bars.

Ethidium Bromide: Swap or Not

Officially classified as a mutagen, Ethidium Bromide’s place as a DNA stain in the lab has been a topic of heavy discussion. Working with Ethidium Bromide not only poses a risk to the researcher but also produces hazardous waste that requires special disposal. Find out if you can swap out Ethidium bromide in your lab!

Just The Facts With Labrats

Biodegradable Gloves vs. Nitrile/Latex Gloves: Which is Better for Lab Sustainability?

Chest vs. Upright Freezers: Which is More Efficient in a Lab?

Biodegradable Gloves vs. Nitrile/Latex Gloves: Which is Better for Lab Sustainability?

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Solutions for Plastic Pipette Tips and Pipette Tip Racks

Ethidium Bromide: Swap or Not

More Just the Facts with LabRATS topics