Give Sharing A Try

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon via Unsplash

Laboratories can find many reasons to share cold storage space, whether it be a refrigerator in a convenient location between lab bays, an ultra-low temperature freezer in an equipment room, or even a cryo-storage unit in a cell culture facility. Given that many cold storage options consume significant energy, especially ultra-low temperature freezers and mechanical ultra-ultra-low units, considering and trying to share cold storage can be beneficial for you, the planet, and for science. 

Here are a few examples of why you might decide to share cold storage space:

• Your lab doesn't need all that much freezer space, so you decide to go in on the purchase of a freezer with another lab in your department. You both save money, save floor-space, and agree to back each other up in the event of a mechanical issue.
• You have lab space in multiple buildings at your research institute, so you co-locate most of your cold storage at the main lab space and share space with another lab for the satellite site.
• You arrange to place a few boxes of highly precious, irreplaceable samples in the freezer of a nearby lab in duplicate of what is in your lab's freezer so that a freezer failure would not be catastrophic to your research.
• Your lab is brand new to your research institute and you don't yet have enough samples to even partially fill a refrigerator or freezer. You ask another lab in your department if they will share space with you.
• Your refrigerator or freezer isn't holding temperature well, so needs to be sent away for repairs. Another lab with available cold storage space agrees to share with you until your unit returns to your campus.

The benefits to sharing cold storage space are numerous and significant, such as saving space within your lab, reducing energy consumption, increasing opportunities for collaboration with other researchers, and being more strategic with research funds. If you share cold storage space with other lab groups, be sure to record that on your Freezer Challenge scoresheet!

If you have concerns about sharing cold storage space, try starting off the arrangement by setting clear expectations with everyone involved, outlining rules and responsibilities for protecting everyone's samples, and posting important contact information on the outside of the refrigerator or freezer.

Reminder that the end of the 2020 Freezer Challenge is fast approaching! Get your scoresheets turned in before August 1st. ​