Green/Sustainable Chemistry
What
are your thoughts on green chemistry?
Green
chemistry is absolutely essential to the health of the environment. As the
movie mentioned, every single molecule of plastic ever produced is still on
Earth because it is virtually indestructible. Now it is killing our wildlife
and destroying our ecosystems. Scientists and government officials should have
had more foresight and recognized this could have been a problem back when
plastics were first developed. I guess they always say hindsight is 20/20 for a reason.
I'm glad to learn that some scientists are taking an active role to ensure less
pollution is produced in the future through the green chemistry movement.
Have
you heard of or seen any examples of green chemistry in your work or daily
life?
I
have not heard or seen any examples of green chemistry in my daily life-- at
least none that I know of. As I have mentioned previously, I work in a hospital
and feel I'm exposed to harsh cleaning products/chemicals on a regular basis.
However, I learned in one of the movies that Kaiser Permanente has banned triclosan-containing products. I would be interested to learn about what products they
are using instead and if any of these products are considered to be apart of
the green chemistry movement.
What
are your thoughts on the 12 principles of green chemistry?
I
find the 12 principles to be comprehensive and sensible. It is interesting that
we rely on products made from non-renewable resources so heavily in our
everyday lives. Examples of these resources include fossil fuel and coal.
Therefore, it is important that scientists focus on researching chemicals made
from renewable feedstocks or resources (#7). I am also greatly in support of
efforts to design chemicals that degrade after use (#10) because we produce an
extraordinary amount of waste. This concept is related to principle #1 that
calls for a prevention of waste so no chemicals are left to clean up. These
principles are important for reasons I discussed above in question #1. For the
well being of our planet, I hope that the green chemistry movement becomes
better funded and more widespread. The 12 principles of green chemistry will
help move us into a healthier future.
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that scientist and government officials could have done something for our environment much earlier. It would be more effective if we realized and intervene earlier to protect our environment. Also, it is good to be reminded that we use non-environmental friendly products a lot in our everyday lives as you mentioned. The concepts that you focused are all strong methods for green chemistry. In particular, chemicals made from renewable feedstocks or resources is associated to prevention of waste!
Hey Elena,
ReplyDeleteI assume that you must work for Kaiser Permemente as you mentioned it in this post. You also mentioned that "The Kaiser" has gotten rid of any triclosan containing products in their facilities. Although this is not an innovation, I believe that it is an adoption of a "green chemical policy", in that they are making a decision that will benefit employees, patients, and the environment, by eliminating triclosan. I would hope that more businesses and corporations would adopt similar policies, particularly those that are meant to promote health.