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Green Chemistry

Hello!

This weeks assignment is: BLOG about your thoughts on green chemistry. Have you heard of or seen any examples of green chemistry in your work or in daily life? What are your thoughts on the 12 principles of green chemistry?

This is terrible but I think honesty is appreciated and I want to be honest with you. I had never heard about green chemistry. Being in this class has taught me so many new things. I am much more aware of the environment and my exposure to unsafe toxins. Reflecting on green chemistry I am not sure that I have seen any examples of green chemistry in my work or daily life. I work in a lab, but my position does not require me to use any lab products. I am mainly in a clinical setting so preventing pollution at the molecular level is not something I see on a regular basis.

I think that the 12 principles of green chemistry are great! I find it to be amazing that green chemistry reduces pollution at its source! I feel that we really need to focus on preventing hazardous materials from getting out into the environment. I really liked the 11th principle as it talks about analyzing in real time to prevent pollution. I think that if you can evaluate a problem in real time you are more effective in minimizing the damage. Overall, the 12 principles are something that everyone should abide and keep in mind as our environment needs to receiver better care. 

-Iliana  

Comments

  1. Navdeep BrarOctober 26, 2018 at 10:51 AM

    Hi Iliana,

    I like how truthful you were about your knowledge of green chemistry. I believe that it is not something that everyone is aware about or a topic everyone has a grasp of, even in the healthcare field. I would agree with you and state that this course has definitely opened my mind and increased my knowledge of chemicals exposure within our environment, its sources, and the impact it has on the communities as a whole. Being able to target the source of the pollution is definitely a favorable principle of green chemistry. Instead of creating more pollution and finding ways to clean up the mess they have created, they look into designing chemicals that create no waste and can be degraded while used.

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  2. UnknownOctober 28, 2018 at 7:50 PM

    Hi Iliana,

    Thanks for your comments! I find it interesting that you dont't think you've seen any usage of green chemistry? I'm interested to know more about the lab you work in, and wonder if there's any way you can talk to a supervisor or co-worker about ways in which your lab can reduce the usage/waste of toxicants? I also think green chemistry can be applied to more than just the "prevention of pollution at the chemical level" so I think your lab can really learn and utilize this practice if they tried! I think green chemistry can also be applied to law enforcement, policy reform, and just as a general principle of value and ethics. I would try thinking more on a broader scale of ways in which you've seen green chemistry at work, because I really hope we can work to use it more!

    Aveena

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