At U-M, labs and clinical spaces account for 59% of energy use and 63% of emissions. Labs can also produce an estimated 5.5 million tons of plastic waste per year (~2% of all plastic waste produced globally). This means there are big upsides in making your lab and clinical spaces more sustainable!

We will begin by talking about the impacts of labs and clinical spaces, particularly surrounding environmental justice concerns with procurement and usage. Ever worried about those pesky nitrile gloves - we’ll be talking about those and even more. Often these are difficult and complex conversations so we will transition into discussing climate anxiety and action. People often associate climate anxiety as being an affluent and white concern, but the reality is that historically marginalized communities are impacted disproportionately by climate change and do experience climate anxiety. How might we take care of ourselves and our communities? Well, with nature! Nature is an impactful, mostly accessible, and free healthcare intervention. We’ll dive into this and then experience some green time in the beautiful CVC Atrium.