Department of Geography receive gold LEAF accreditation

We are pleased to announce that the Department of Geography have received a gold accreditation in the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF). This accreditation recognises that our on-campus laboratories emphasise environmentally sustainable working practices where possible.

Laboratories are extremely energy and resource intensive environments, and to achieve a gold accreditation the laboratory and its users must show evidence of successfully meeting criteria covering a range areas, such as ventilation, purchasing, waste, sample and chemical management and IT. Colleagues have made great progress in the reduction of single-use, as well as employing re-use schemes wherever possible

A sustainability group was created by the geography department to communicate and collaborate on recycling schemes across departments, helping to drive change across our university community. Technicians from the School of Life Sciences and the Environment helped contribute to the production of alternatives for single-use plastics, and our audit was completed by technical colleagues from Department of Biological Sciences. The Geochronology Laboratory team would also like to thank lab users, who have been highly supportive of the changes that have taken place.

Technical Services colleagues have also been entirely responsible for the coordination and facilitation of LEAF accreditation process. Laboratory technicians understand how laboratories, and the equipment and consumables used in them, so are well placed to make suggestions around where change might be possible. 

We encourage any teams who are thinking about signing up to LEAF to contact Katy Flowers to discuss any questions that they may have.

Huge thanks to all our Technician colleagues whose hard work and commitment made this accreditation possible.