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New life for lab equipment: Reuse list launches

2 min read

Incorporating sustainable practices into Harvard’s most energy and resource intensive spaces may seem like a daunting task, but for the laboratories on Harvard’s Cambridge and Longwood campus, green and labs are synonymous terms. For researchers, students, faculty, and staff at both campuses, sustainable lab practices just got even easier, thanks to the launch of the Harvard Labs Reuse List.

Because of frequent personnel turnover, lab moves, and changing research needs, equipment is often left discarded and unused. The Harvard Labs Reuse List, designed to connect Harvard’s campuses and expand sustainable practices through collaboration, encourages and enables trade, reuse, and sharing of working laboratory equipment and supplies.

Alicia Murchie, Longwood Sustainability Program Manager, and Jamie Bemis, FAS Green Program Coordinator, spearheaded the effort, collaborating with groups such as Harvard’s Environmental Health and Safety Program and the FAS Division of Science. “The creation of this list is a direct result of popular demand. The Harvard research community wanted a place to trade and share lab equipment, but also recognized a gap where sustainable practice made sense,” said Bemis.

Harvard affiliates may submit their unused items or find wanted items by visiting the Harvard Labs Reuse List at green.harvard.edu/labs-reuse-list.