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The 2020-2021 school year was not an easy one by any means! However, many ACS Student Chapters were able to find ways to continue their activities—and 27 succeeded in still meeting the criteria to receive a Green Chemistry Award. Winning chapters included 21 chapters from the U.S. and Puerto Rico and 6 international student chapters from Nigeria, the U.K., Mexico, India and Costa Rica.
To qualify for an award, a chapter must organize three or more eligible green chemistry activities during the school year. Many of the activities this year had to be held virtually—and several chapters took advantage of ACS GCI’s virtual green chemistry activities.
For example, Norwich University watched a short video and presentation on the EPA’s Safer Choice Program and then discussed Safer Choice and Green Chemistry. After the discussion, they examined the ingredients in their own shampoo or body wash and evaluated whether their product would have been approved by Safer Choice.
Temple University watched an ACS webinar with Prof. Marc Hillmyer (Center for Sustainable Polymers) about converting renewable materials into innovative polymers. After the video, the chapter discussed the key points of the webinar and how they relate to the principles of green chemistry—particularly #1 – Prevent Waste and #10 Design for Degradation.
Thanks for all your hard work and we hope to see more of you in 2022! And remember, make sure your activities reflect the principles of green chemistry—which is more specific than general sustainability or environmental chemistry (learn more on how to differentiate between these topics).
