I am delighted to announce the newly established ARCS Sustainability Sub-committee of which I am very honoured to be the first Chair. Personally, I feel this is a great opportunity to work with ARCS to help encourage, educate and ultimately introduce changes to establish more sustainable practices across all IVF clinics in the UK. As reproductive scientists helping to create future generations, I believe it is our fundamental duty to ensure not only welfare of the child but also the health of our planet and environment they live in for the generations to come.

Over the next 3 years we will be looking to determine variations in routine laboratory practices, level of environmental awareness and access to recycling waste facilities between clinics. With that knowledge we hope to identify the easiest and best ways to introduce sustainable practices in all clinics and ultimately reduce our environmental impact.

we hope to identify the easiest and best ways to introduce sustainable practices in all clinics and ultimately reduce our environmental impact.

We will also work closely with our main suppliers to see what efforts they can make to reduce excessive packaging and their carbon footprint. I am already very happy to see introduction of a new biodegradable packaging and I do hope it’s only a beginning and other companies will follow suit in introducing more sustainable practices.

From my pilot surveys on environmental awareness it is clear that routine practices and level of recycling and access to recycling can vary drastically. Therefore, we will be looking to recruit more members to our Sub-committee to have a representation from different sectors and also geographical areas.

We are looking for new members to join our Sub-committee, to represent different geographical areas and sectors (private and NHS). If you are interested in joining the committee please complete an ARCS Expression of interest form here and I will be in touch.

Even after my recent holidays to a popular destination abroad, I was shocked to see the volume of plastic waste on otherwise beautiful beach. We may not feel plastic waste is an issue when visiting local beaches across the UK, but it is certainly the case in more popular tourist destinations abroad. If anything, it proves how important it is to reduce plastic waste, and makes me even more determined to encourage and educate others to start making positive changes in our daily lives.

If you are interested and/or you want to learn more about why sustainability is so important, please watch the ARCS365 recording  ‘Sustainability in IVF labs’ here.

We can all make a difference, however small!