1 / 11

Green(ing) QA

Green(ing) QA. Eugenia McNaughton USEPA Region 9 San Francisco Ca. Let’s talk about “Green”. What is it? Buying and using resources with long-term consequences for the environment as primary consideration Should be a good thing Everyone scrambling to be green It may have been co-opted

brent
Download Presentation

Green(ing) QA

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Green(ing) QA Eugenia McNaughton USEPA Region 9 San Francisco Ca

  2. Let’s talk about “Green” • What is it? • Buying and using resources with long-term consequences for the environment as primary consideration • Should be a good thing • Everyone scrambling to be green • It may have been co-opted • “getting to green”

  3. Green • Applies to decisions we make at home and the workplace • Keeping environmental consequences in mind • Life Cycle Analysis – where products come from and where they go after we use them • Environmental Management System – a workplace commitment to reduce waste

  4. QA and Green • Laboratory green • Choice of method • Chemicals used in analytical work • Volumes of chemicals used • General laboratory housekeeping • Life cycle analysis for all equipment and supplies • Little work has been done to evaluate this sector

  5. QA and Green • Where does green fit into QA? • Planning is green, QA is planning, therefore QA is green • That’s properly Aristotelean, but what about QA’s ecological footprint? • What is QA work? • Document review • Training • Audits

  6. How Green is our QA Work? • Document review • Equipment • Regional decision • Up dating electronic equipment • Supplies • Regional decision • EMS in place • Paper use • Electronic copies to reduce overall use • FinePrint, double-sided printing

  7. How Green is QA? • Training • Location • Choosing sites that are committed to green • Travel • This has the greatest effect on our ecological footprint • Electronic meeting tools • Material • Minimize the paper

  8. How Green is QA? • Audits • Travel is required but desktop audits may minimize number of trips/year • Evaluate processes with green in mind • Field • Equipment and supply consideration • Minimizing disruption of environment to be sampled • Laboratory • Chemicals ordered/used/stored • Waste disposal • Safety is related to green

  9. Some Examples • Chemical Oxygen Demand • Mercury-containing reagent • Waste disposed of improperly • Test for water quality compounded the wq problem • Oil and Grease method using Freon • World-wide ban on CFCs • EPA method required Freon • For some period laboratories got Freon from non-complying sources

  10. QA can be green • Greening the workplace is a common goal • QA emphasis on planning resonates with green • Field and laboratory audits provide opportunities to talk about green • QA professionals may need training

  11. Questions?

More Related