Celebrating industry leading environmental initiatives!
5
Min Read
In this blog:
- Learn about the winning environmental initiatives recognised in the CiteAb Awards
- Discover more about other standout nominations we received
- A call to suppliers - let us know what you are doing so we can add resources to CiteAb!
It is no secret that life science is a major contributor to the climate crisis. In fact, the biotech and pharmaceutical industries are amongst the largest carbon emitters1. Today more than ever, researchers are likely thinking about sustainability in their purchasing decisions.
That’s why we feel it’s important to continue recognising initiatives that are making positive changes in this space, so we can use our platform to convey this to researchers.
It was really exciting to run the Environmental Initiative of the Year Award at the CiteAb Awards this year. We received some fantastic nominations from a range of companies, highlighting the many different ways they are tackling the sectors’ impact on the environment.
The winners:
2BScientific: Carbon neutral certification
2BScientific, a company focused on the supply of immunological reagents and kits to the European research market, are committed to sustainability. Through tree planting programmes (UK trees, Kenya trees) and a clean drinking water project (Uganda Borehole), 2BScientific achieved carbon neutral status in 2020. Their ‘free from single use’ plastic policy is also an important part of their company commitment to the environment. This includes biodegradable bubble wrap and recyclable jiffy bags replacing previous packaging.
ChromoTek: Sustainable packaging initiative
ChromoTek, a market leader for nanobody-based reagents now part of the Proteintech group, have made the switch to sustainable packaging. For refrigerated products, this includes the introduction of hemp insulated boxes. Hemp insulation is produced in a carbon-neutral way and can be composted after use. For other products, plastic boxes have been replaced with cardboard composed of recycled paper and grass.
Other stand out nominations:
As well as our award winners, we received many compelling and impactful nominations. Our judges thought many initiatives were worthy of recognition, so we’ve included some examples below.
Cell Signaling Technology: Initiatives to improve local biodiversity, promote greener transport, and a grants programme.
From onsite employee community gardens and beehives to an Alternative Transport Plan with rewards for walking, biking or carpooling into work, CST has invested in numerous initiatives to reduce their impact on the environment. We were particularly struck by their employee run grants programme which supports several nonprofits. They also match employee donations and offer employee ‘volunteer days’.
Bio-Rad: Swapping out printed datasheets
Switching to digital data sheets where possible, and introducing a new tool on the website so customer experience wasn’t sacrificed, has helped Bio-Rad save tens of thousands of sheets of paper for antibody products. On top of this, they have made commitments to no novelty items and plant-a-tree initiatives.
Calling all suppliers: let us know what changes you are making
We are sure the initiatives mentioned in this blog is just the beginning of all the exciting change in the sector! We are really keen to include more information on our search engine for researchers that will help them make informed, greener choices when buying reagents. As part of this process, we are interested to learn about initiatives going on as we consider how to get this information across on CiteAb to researchers.
Are you implementing any of your own environmental initiatives set to change your impact on the sector that you feel would be useful for CiteAb users? Please do reach out and let us know.
- Rebecca and the CiteAb team
References
