Green knowledge delivered to your door: Starlab is organising a series of international events to promote sustainability in laboratories

11 October 2023

Due to the increasing importance of sustainability at universities, clinics and laboratories, laboratory product manufacturer Starlab is expanding its green activities. This year, the company’s Sustainability Weeks include a total of 87 events, including 56 in the UK, 16 in France, 5 in Italy and 10 in Germany. The company is also offering 5 publicly accessible webinars in different languages. The special attraction of these events is that Starlab is taking its sustainability expertise straight to the labs. In keeping with its motto “Towards the sustainable laboratory”, the Starlab team invites you to a green dialogue across Europe for two weeks from 16 to 27 October 2023. 

195 events in four years 

“This is the fifth time we have organised this series of events. Interest has grown from year to year because laboratories are recognising the importance of the topic and there is still a need for a lot of training in this area”, says Klaus Ambos, President & CEO of Starlab International. Starlab's Sustainability Week story began in November 2018 with 34 customer events in the UK. In 2019, Starlab held 53 events at UK locations. After a year-long break in 2020 due to COVID-19, Sustainability Week returned in 2021. The format has been expanded to the entire Starlab Group, with a combination of on-site events and webinars in various countries. In October 2022, the company rolled out the series to various countries, including Germany. Klaus Ambos: “Sustainability requires a sustained approach. We want to contribute to research in this area. It's not just environmentally friendly products that make a difference. Continuous education is just as important.” 

Activities related to sustainability 

“Reduce. Reuse. Refill. Recycle.”: This Starlab mantra is the basic framework on which all activities during the events are based. The company also tries to make it a tangible experience. An integral component since the beginning: Laboratories can fill their empty TipOne racks with plants provided by Starlab free of charge. The symbolic planting of cacti in TipOne racks emphasises the concept of reuse. Empty plant pots are taken back and recycled by Starlab. In addition to the planting activities, the Starlab team presents resource-saving products and calls on laboratory employees to act more sustainably under the umbrella of the EcolutionMovement. Visitors can take EcolutionMovement stickers and place them in their laboratories as everyday reminders for themselves and others to conserve energy and protect the environment. “Sustainability requires both the will and the discipline to achieve long-term change. That isn’t easy. Gamified motivational approaches and ideas help us to promote sustainable thinking and actions”, says Ambos. 

A social media competition invites laboratories to post their pictures of their stickers with the hashtag #EcolutionMovement. This gives you the chance to win one of two Starlab minicentrifuges. A slideshow provides insights into ways to reduce plastic usage and other environmental topics. 

For further information and to register for the webinars, go to https://www.starlab.click/webinars.