Episode 16: One Lab’s Trash is Another Lab’s Treasure: Reducing Waste and Increasing Reuse at Northwestern University
Julie Cahillane (left) Garry Cooper (right)
Guests:
Julie Cahillane
Sustainability Associate Director
Northwestern University
Garry Cooper, PhD
Co-founder/CEO
Rheaply, Inc.
Host: Dave Karlsgodt
Principal, Fovea, LLC
Production Assistance:
Kaia Findlay and Animesh Bapat
Any kindergartener can recite the lesson that ‘sharing is caring.’ For youngsters, this just means it’s nice to let someone else play with their favorite toy. But for Garry Cooper, sharing plays a crucial role in caring for the planet and finding solutions for waste reduction and efficient resource use.
Inspired by the copious amounts of wasted lab equipment he encountered as a Ph.D. student, Cooper founded Rheaply, Inc., a startup that now helps universities and other institutions across the world reuse and recycle by sharing unused and unwanted lab equipment with other labs. From glassware to antibodies, you’ll learn some of the logistics behind trading world class research equipment all with a focus on sustainability.
The success of Rheaply, Inc.’s pilot at Northwestern University is framed by Julie Cahillane, Sustainability Associate Director at Northwestern University. Her breakdown of the waste produced by research institutions showcases the important role of sustainability in labs across the nation. She’ll go into what it takes to institutionalize sustainability at the university level and teach you how your institution can empower people like Garry Cooper on your campus.
Resources:
Rheaply:
Webite: https://www.rheaply.com/
Northwestern links:
Rheaply at Northwestern University (NU users only):
Episode Transcript:
The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:https://otter.ai/s/uqcZZPRQQF2XkmNwb1V9Fw
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