ENVIRONMENTAL WORK. Do you have a PCR machine sitting in a corner, gathering dust? Do you have a set of functioning pipettes about to be thrown out? The Re-use Service can give these things new life.
The Re-use Service (Återbruket) has just opened its doors at Sahlgrenska Academy. As yet, the shelves are empty, but if Rita Grandér, Environmental Coordinator, is right, the room will soon begin to be filled.
“There’s surely some equipment that’s just sitting in the lab although nobody uses it any more, or that’s at risk of ending up in the dump although it can still be used. Overconsumption drains the world’s resources and the Re-use Service is the Environmental Council’s contribution to saving them. There’s also a financial benefit for the individual researcher who might not need to buy expensive equipment. The idea originally comes from outside the operations,” explains Rita Grandér as she shows the room assigned to the Re-use Service in the cellar of Medicinaregatan 5.
Anyone who has equipment that is no longer used can now contact Rita Grandér, and then turn in the used equipment at the Re-use Service’s room. The Re-use Service can only be used for smaller equipment – larger instruments are too difficult to move. In order to keep the Re-use Service from becoming just a collection point for things, the items can only stay in the room for six months, then the person who turned them in has to pick them up again. The Environmental Council will have an updated equipment list on its website, where anyone looking for equipment can see what is available.
“Our goal is to make it as easy as possible to be environmentally aware when equipping the lab, and we want to avoid unnecessary paperwork. Things that are to be moved or written off may, however, entail some administrative work,” says Rita Grandér.
You can find the Re-use Service here: http://sahlgrenska.gu.se/internt/miljo/aterbruket
