Entry 1 – October 2025
I’ve embarked to Germany to genetically engineer Pseudomonas bacteria that degrade industrial solvents. I’m nervous; so much is expected of me. A coach here emits roughly 27g of CO₂/km, a plane 245g so at least I did my bit while travelling . SDG 13, Climate Action, isn’t a UN clause tonight, it’s the coach window fogging up beside me as I drive towards the next 10 months of my life. My whole placement year is a gamble that engineering can clean up after itself.
Entry 2 – January 2026
I’ve settled in, everyone in this lab works on sustainability somehow. I attended a PhD defence on bacteria engineered to degrade tyre rubber and ease landfill pressure. The work here is inspiring; it feels empowering to do something tangible.
My own bacteria remain stubborn. I remind myself it’s ok to fail; it doesn’t make it any easier.
After work I hung laundry to dry and took my bottles to the Pfand machine to recycle. Between the fresh-laundry scent and the €1.50 croissant I earned from my efforts, I wondered if any of it really helps.
Entry 3 – June 2026
Red weather warning, thirty-nine degrees, no way to cool the room. The climate facts I read online are now the suffocating heat keeping me from focusing. Sweat soaking my lab coat, I think about how 32 entities cause over half of all global industrial CO₂ emissions and now, we’re paying the price. SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, was taught to me as “finish your plate,” never as “ask who’s burning the planet for profit.”
I’ve learnt to stop bringing work home, but today I couldn’t help it , my bacteria finally showed successful fluorescence readings. Perhaps my work in here can help the world outside the window.
Entry 4 – note to self
Reflecting on how much I’ve grown, afraid on arrival, but I’ve learnt so much since, leaning on new resources along the way.
Omio & FlixBus for low-carbon routes;
Ecosia, a sustainable search engine, for my papers;
EcoPassenger for a route’s emissions
Too Good To Go, turning Aachen’s bakery surplus into reliable lunch.
It’s nearly time for the final genomic integration into my plastic-degrading strain ,if it works, this won’t have been for nothing.
My Final Entry – Goodbye
10 months and 120 colonies later, I’ve engineered a bacterial strain that degrades Butanediol and fluorescently tracks growth. I don’t know if it ever leaves this lab, or if it’s the first line of something bigger. But somewhere between a fogged-up coach window and a tower of agar plates, I stopped watching the planet change, and started, in some tiny way, changing it back.
References & Resources
Carbon Majors/InfluenceMap (2024, 2026): 57 producers, 80% of global emissions since Paris; 2024 update. influencemap.org
Robeco (2025) Short-haul flights and CO2. robeco.com
UN (n.d.) The 17 Goals. sdgs.un.org
EcoPassenger (UIC): ecopassenger.org | Omio: omio.co.uk | FlixBus: flixbus.co.uk | Ecosia: ecosia.org | Too Good To Go: toogoodtogo.com
