Sustainability, greenwashing and career advice from Andy Evans, Green Light Laboratories

We spoke to Andy Evans, Managing Director of Green Light Laboratories, about sustainability, career advice and greenwashing…

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?
Being taken to one side and told by my former boss that I should do what I do now. It encouraged me to take the plunge and I’ve never looked back. Thank you, MP.

Tell us about what excites you in the industry.
I’m always thrilled to be testing new products and sharing the results with the world. Disruptive products are a particular favourite as they can offer huge savings in running costs and change the marketplace for the better.

What do you think will be the biggest challenge for labs in the next 10 years?
Finding suitable alternatives to single use plastics and product greenwashing.

What are your top three tips for lab sustainability?
1. Buy on quality not price.
2. End users, procurement and building management all need to work together to deliver long term change.
3. Attend my training course.

How do lab equipment users ensure they’re not falling for greenwashed products?
• Factsheets, unfortunately, are rarely 100% factual, look at where any ‘data’ has come from and the conditions under which ‘measurements’ were taken. Remember that you’re reading marketing literature.
• Energy efficiency is only one total life cost factor. Other, often crucial, cost factors are omitted from literature, usually, there’s a reason for that.
• Lastly, green imagery. We often associate leaves and trees with a product being sustainable, 95% of the time it probably isn’t.