Earth Day - 3 Ways To Make Your Laboratory Less Wasteful & More Efficient

Friday April 22 is Earth Day 2016 – a day on which we’re all encouraged to “join the fight for the future of our planet.

On Earth Day 2016, over 195 countries will sign the Paris Agreement. This is a pledge to “take measurable action, make binding commitments, and work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

You can sign the Paris Agreement yourself here

No matter who you are or what you do, you’re in a position to make some real changes. And no matter how small the changes feel, if we all do our bit, the cumulative effect will be magnificent.

At Radleys, we specialise in scientific glassware and laboratory equipment. So as part of our commitment to making the Earth a greener and cleaner place, we've developed a range of products that will enable you to significantly reduce waste and energy usage in your laboratory – while also improving your productivity and safety.

Greener Laboratory Equipment from Radleys

Heat-On blocks are designed to replace oil baths.

Oil baths – those expensive fire hazards that were prone to spit, spill and smell. Disposing of all that used oil was costly and environmentally unfriendly too.

What’s that? You still use oil baths? They’re a pain, aren't they?

Well, we share your pain. Which is exactly why we developed Heat-On aluminium heating blocks. With no oil, there’s no risk of burns, no risk of fires, no spillages, and no waste.

Heat-On will work with your existing hotplate, and it uses up to 30% less energy heating than other aluminium heating blocks. What’s more, by combining our Heat-On blocks with PTFE insulation and you can reduce energy consumption by a further 15%.

Compared to an oil bath, one of our Heat-On Blocks could save you more than £1000 over your first 3 years of ownership (Click table for full size):

It’s not just heating that we've perfected. We’ve also revolutionised the way you cool things in your laboratory.

Just as Heat-On was designed to replace oil baths, our Cool-It bowls were designed to replace glass Dewars and plastic bowls.

If you've ever used a Dewar or a plastic bowl for your cooling mixture, you’ll be familiar with the headaches they can cause. Glass Dewars are very fragile, and because of their lack of insulation, plastic bowls are criminally inefficient. This traditional kit can also be unstable, difficult to empty, and carry a risk of painful frost burns.

But Cool-It is the next generation. Its insulation means it’s more efficient – Cool-It can keep your sample below -70°C for up to five times longer than an uninsulated plastic bowl, and for twice as long as a glass Dewar. This means you’ll get through far less dry ice.

This lid also increases cooling time by 20%, while minimising condensation and ice formation, and preventing spitting from your cooling mixture. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a simple lid, isn’t it?

Also, it’s virtually unbreakable. It’s has a chemically resistant HDPE casing, so it’s truly built to last.

It works with your existing hotplate for stirring and has a spout for easy pouring.

And finally, our world-renowned alternative to water condensers. The Findenser super air condenser saves water and prevents laboratory flooding, and it can replace a water-cooled condenser in over 95% of common chemistry applications.

Let’s talk about water-cooled condensers, shall we? They’re not the best bits of kit. Say you leave one running for 4 hours – which isn’t exactly uncommon for many laboratory applications.

This could use up 600 litres of water.

Let’s see how that adds up:

Ouch.

But how does a Findenser compare?

Well, let’s see. It uses 0 litres of water per hour. So it will cost you … nothing. At the same time, because it doesn’t require a constant feed of running water, there’s no risk of flooding, no dripping, and no hoses to connect. You can set these things up in a matter of seconds, anywhere in your lab.

It also requires no electricity to run – all while performing every bit as well as a water condenser, if not better, with most solvents:

So there you have it. Just by switching three common bits of laboratory equipment, you can do your bit in the fight for the future of our planet.

Article courtesy of www.radleys.com