Green Chemistry and Sustainability Education in the

U.S.

George M. BodnerArthur E. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Education and Engineering

Purdue University(gmbodner@purdue.edu)

Past Chair ACS Division of Chemical Education

ACS Board of DirectorsAmerican Association of

Chemistry Teachers (AACT)

Bodner, G. M. Green Chemistry and sustainability in the U.S., in Science Education Research and Education for Sustainable Development, Eilks, I. Markic, S. and Ralle, B., Eds., 2014, pp. 113-123, Shaker Verlag: Aachen, Germany.

Bodner, G. M. Understanding the change toward a greener chemistry by those who do chemistry and those who teach chemistry, in Relevant Chemistry Education - From Theory to Practice, Eilks, I. and Hofstein, A., Eds., in press, Sense Publishers: Rotterdam.

What is Green Chemistry?

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): “The design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances.”Many seem to conflate the terms

Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development.

I won’t.

What is Sustainable Development?World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future:Sustainable Development contains two key concepts:

• the concept of needs, in particular the … needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given.

• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

Green Chemistry is one of many paths toward Sustainable Development.

Why was it called “green” chemistry?

• “Green is the colour of nature,

• but in the United States it is also the colour of our money.”

Triple-bottom line:

• Economic,

• social,

• and environmental benefits

Genesis of the Green Chemistry Movement:• The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.• Mandated a national policy of preventing

pollution rather than treating it once it is formed.

PaulAnastas

John Warner

Anastas, P. A. & Warner, J. C. (1998). Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice.Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

Principles of Green Chemistry:1. Prevent waste. (E.g., Ibuprofen)2. Maximize atom economy. 3. Design less hazardous ... syntheses. 4. Design safer ... products.5. Use safer solvents and reaction conditions.6. Increase energy efficiency.7. Use renewable feedstocks.8. Avoid chemical derivatives.9. Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents.10. Design ... products to degrade after use.11. Analyze in real time to prevent pollution.12. Minimize the potential for accidents.

Example of Green Chemistry in industry:

Initially: 1350 L of solvent/kg

Now: 6 L of solvent/kg

O

OH

OHO

O

OH

OH

N

N

O

S

O

O

N

HNN

N

OSildenafil citrate

Martyn PoliakofEditor of RSC

Green Chemistry

Green Chemistry in the classroom:

• Green Chemistry doesn’t change the facts or principles of chemistry that need to betaught.

• It adds a new dimension to our thought process in which chemistry is integrated into the world around us. • Minimize negative effects to the

environment.• Actively think about safe practices.• Make minimizing waste and maximizing

atom-economy more important than percent yield.

Why differentiate between Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development?

• Green Chemistry can — and should — be incorporated into any existing chemistry course, from K-12 through graduate school.

• Some of the courses described at the Bremen conference last summer have become courses on Sustainable Development into which chemistry is embedded, rather than chemistry courses built around sustainability.

• Research has shown that embedding chemistry into a course oriented toward Sustainable Development can lead to a feeling of “getting lost in the context.”

Sustainable Development in the classroom:• Gallagher (1971): Relationships among

science, technology, and society are as important as understanding the concepts of science.

• NSTA (1982): Goal is scientifically literate individuals who understand how science, technology, and society influence each other.

• ACS ChemComm: By 2005, 500,000 copies had been used by 2 million high-school students.

“[to] provoke student interest ... by embedding chemistry within society, where chemistry daily impacts human lives, rather than … confining …[it] to laboratory flasks, well plates, and brown bottles.”

ChemComm(1988-2011)

Non-traditionalhigh-school students

(32% 1982, 70% 2009)

CiC(1993-2014)

Non-science majorscollege/university

students

A Step Toward Sustainability Education:

Assumptions behind ACS Chemistry in Context• Non-science majors were poorly served by

existing college-level texts.• Knowledge of chemistry “is important for

anyone who hopes to function effectively and vote intelligently in the 21st century.”

• “Broader chemical literacy is bound to benefit American society and, not so incidentally, the American Chemical Society.”

• The chief impediment to learning chemistry is not a deficit of intellect, but lack of motivation.

• A major goal of CiC was therefore to motivate students to want to learn chemistry.

IJSE,2006,28 Context-Based Chemical Education

• Schwartz: ChemCom & Chemistry in Context as examples of attempts to motivate students.

• Bennett & Lubben: The Salters Advanced Chemistry Approach.

• Hofstein & Kessner: Teach concepts within the context of industrial chemistry.

• Parchmann, et al: Chemie im Kontext units embed chemistry within the context of the real world.

• Bulte, et al: Using authentic practices as context for teaching chemistry.

Bennett & Lubben: Goals of Salters Adv. Chem.

• To show the ways chemistry is used in the world and in the work that chemists do;

• to broaden the appeal of chemistry by showing how it relates to people’s lives;

• to broaden the range of teaching and learning activities used; and

• to provide a rigorous treatment of chemistry to stimulate & challenge a wider range of students, laying the foundations for future studies yet providing a satisfying course for those who will take the study of chemistry no further.

ACS GREEN CHEMISTRY INSTITUTE®

• Goal: To be the premier agent of change to catalyze the movement of the chemical enterprise toward sustainability through the application of Green Chemistry principles.

• Green Chemistry: • is not politics,• is not a public relation ploy,• is not a pipe dream.

• Green Chemistry is the future of chemistry.

Assertions:• There is a fundamental difference between

innovation and change.• Innovation occurs when one or more

individuals try something to solve a local problem.

• Change occurs when this innovation is picked up (adopted) and transformed (adapted) to solving similar problems at a host of other institutions.

• Far more money is still being spent on developing new curricula than is spent on evaluating their effect on students.

Dissemination of Best Practices of Teaching Green Chemistry (University of Oregon)

• 1997: Recognized limits of space and human resources for teaching organic chemistry.

• Adopted the values and beliefs of green chemistry and applied them to overcoming these limits.

Became passionate advocates of GC.• Workshops on implementing

GC• Archived symposia on GC• Created Green Education

Materials (GEMs)Fundamental goal: Dissemination of “best practices.”

Reflections on the Green Chemistry Movement• 2007 NRC report: “Green islands” exist that

are “relatively small pockets of activity in green chemistry education.”

• 2014 ACS GCI report: Additional “green islands” have appeared and they include research-intensive institutions (ASU, Berkeley, MIT, ...)

• The absence of green chemis-try outside the “green islands” is NOT the result of the lack of examples of “best practice.”

• Unfortunately, there are voluminous examples of institution-wide commitments to the green movement that do not involve the Chemistry Department.

Reflections on the Green Chemistry Movement• Green Chemistry is a “bottom-up” (rather

than “top-down”) phenomenon.• Green Chemistry is introduced by instructors

who are passionate about the topic.• Students who work with these instructors are

often equally passionate about Green Chemistry.

• Green Chemistry is introduced by incorporating it into existing courses, not a new course.

• But, unfortunately, far more effort still goes into developing and disseminating materials than evaluating their effect on students.

Reflections on the Green Chemistry Movement

Question: What is the essential metric that will define “success” for the green chemistry movement?Answer:The point at which the term green chemistry disappears because it has been fully integrated into the practice of both “doing chemistry” and “teaching chemistry.”

10% of current technologies are environmentally benign; 25% could be made benign relatively easily.

But that means there is a great deal of room (65%) for further innovation.

John Warner &

Amy Canon

http://www.greenchemistrycommitment.org/

The Green Chemistry Commitment empowers colleges and universities to commit to changing the education of tomorrow’s scientists. 

Green chemistry student learning objectives:Theory: Have a working knowledge of the twelve principles of green chemistry.Toxicology: Have an understanding of the principles of toxicology, the molecular mechanisms of how chemicals affect human health and the environment, and the resources to identify and assess molecular hazards.

Laboratory Skills: Possess the ability to assess chemical products and processes and design greener alternatives when appropriate.Application: Be prepared to serve society in their professional capacity as scientists and professionals through the articulation, evaluation, and employment of methods and chemicals that are benign for human health and the environment.