Reutilisation of EPS boxes gives Tina Holm Svenstrup the Inspiration Award
Tina Holm Svenstrup is the first employee to receive the new Inspiration Award at the Faculty of Science. The award is given for a special effort in working with the Sustainable Development Goals.
– I always thought it was a pity that we just discarded the many EPS boxes, says Tina Holm Svenstrup, who works as a laboratory technician at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at SDU.
Tina Holm Svenstrup is a member of the Sustainability Committee at the Faculty of Science. The committee, which consists of the dean along with staff and student representatives from the Faculty of Science, are working with ideas that can contribute to increased sustainability at the faculty.
How to reutilise the hundreds of EPS boxes that Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology receives annually was one of the ideas Tina Holm Svenstrup brought up in the group – and which she has now implemented.
Excerpt from the recommendation by Head of Department Jakob Møller-Jensen
If we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals together, it will require extensive structural change in society and companies leading the green transition – but also small-scale initiatives that can be implemented by individuals. People who thus go ahead and inspire others.
Tina's efforts to recycle EPS boxes now inspire colleagues to find sustainable solutions in the Green Lab initiative, and it deserves our recognition. It is thus with great pleasure that I recommend Tina Holm Svenstrup for the Inspiration Award at SDU.
– A colleague helped me get in touch with a local biotech company, PentaBase, and they are happy to pick up the EPS boxes that we receive with enzymes and cells for our laboratories.. PentaBase are using the boxes for shipping items that require chilling. Therefore, the company saves the expense of buying new EPS-boxes, says Tina Holm Svenstrup.
The idea has already caused a ripple effect at SDU. The Department of Biology has been inspired to be part of the PentaBase agreement and to find more companies for the used EPS boxes.
– I am really pleased that the head of my department, Jakob Møller-Jensen, has seen my idea and recommended me. It gives me motivation to work on new initiatives, says the award winner.
One of the initiatives that Tina Holm Svenstrup and her colleagues have now launched is to obtain a certification from My Green Lab. The certification sets requirements for, among other things, sorting out waste and reducing power consumption in laboratories.
”Working with increased sustainability in my workplace adds an extra dimension to my daily life. It makes sense to me personally - and it's just really exciting
In addition to receiving the Inspiration Award from the Faculty of Science, Tina Holm Svenstrup has also been recommended for SDU's Inspiration Award, which will be handed out at the Annual University Celebration in October.