Patrick Reany
Last update: April, 2024
Green Chemistry is that division of actual chemistry that can contribute to cheaper, less toxic means of producing the chemicals we need for coverings, bottles, containers, food additives, and much more. We've only just begun to explore what green chemistry can do for us and for all of God's green earth.
So this is what I say:
Put your thinking cap on, gin-up a positive attitude about a needed solution, study some chemistry, and go work the problem, people!(Perhaps there's a fungus or bacteria or algae out there that will gladly reduce plastics for us, free of charge. Even better, there's probably some half-educated person in a third-world country with a positive attitude about it and some mental moxie to figure out how to do it.)
Recycle, reuse, repurpose, use less, keep longer, find less harmful substitutes. It matters because it's your future you have to live within.
Disclaimer: I cannot independently vet the claims made in the following videos or websites.
Some of what follows is about recycling, but mostly this page is for presenting the advances we have from green chemistry toward fixing the problems of our world we are contaminating with garbage, toxins, and climate-changing heat and chemicals. We'd better attend to this problem right away because it's our own futures that are at stake.
Links provided "as is," but not vetted by me. Follow safety precautions if the device has a lithium battery in it.
Fact: The world currently creates about 2 billion tons of trash every year, and that is projected to go even higher if we don't do something about it.
Fact: One person's trash is another person's valuable raw material.
Fact: Polyester is a non-natural material made primarily from petroleum-based raw materials.
Fact: By the year 2000, polyester was used in fabrics more than was cotton, and it has grown in percentage ever since.
Definition: Biowaste -- waste in the form of organic matter, such as manure, wood cuttings, etc..
Definition: Bio-plastics -- plastics made more of biological materials, than of petroleum.
Definition: Upcycling -- making use of a waste product that would otherwise be taken to a landfill, converting it into a product of higher value than the original.
Definition: Greenwashing -- According to Wikipedia, Greenwashing (a compound word modeled on "whitewash"), also called green sheen, is a form of advertising or marketing spin in which green PR and green marketing are deceptively used to persuade the public that an organization's products, aims, and policies are environmentally friendly.
Definition: Reduce -- this is a term I'm stipulating to mean 'to break down into simpler components'.
Definition: Recyc -- a recyclable material or object.
Definition: E-waste -- electronic waste.
Definition: Green chemistry -- similar to sustainable chemistry or circular chemistry,[1] is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances -- electronic waste. [Source: Wikipedia]
And on the sixth day God made man and He placed him in the Garden to be a caretaker for the earth [Genesis 2:15]. Mankind is still burdened with being God's caretakers over His earth. But in the end, He will hold us responsible for that oversight responsibiblity, and He declared to us in the last book of the Bible.
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. -- Revelation 11:18When I realized just how destructive global warming is to every major lifeform on this earth, I thought that I finally have an interpretation of this verse that makes sense.
The Beauty of Green Chemistry | Heidi Bialk | TEDxBoston TEDx Talks [5:29 min]. Intro talk on the subject.
There are journals dedicated to green chemistry.
What is Green Chemistry? Michigan EGLE [1:45 min]. Intro talk on the subject.
The Green Chemistry Revolution | Volvo Environment Prize 2021 Volvo Environment [10:32 min]. Intro talk on the subject.
The promise of green chemistry | Amy Cannon TEDx Talks [16:38 min]. Benign by design! Smart molecular design.
M1A MoDRN Introduction: "Why Green Chemistry?" Yale Courses [7:31 min] Intro to the series. There are follow-up YouTube videos expanding on this topic, if you're interested. See the description.
EPA Green Chemistry US Environment [6:21 min] Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances.
Green Chemistry - Principle 1 | Environmental Chemistry | Chemistry | FuseSchool US Environment [2:23 min] This first video of a multipart series.
Green chemistry | Sustainable Energy CNBC International Chemistry [24:51 min] Business and science. Green stands for eco-friendly, the US dollar, and a new and fresh approach to industrial chemistry. Microbes make gold from waste e-boards. Urban mining. Paul Anastas, Yale University, Center for Green Chemistry.
Why This Ultra Dense Battery Breakthrough Matters Undecided with Mike Fareell [16:07 min] DAC = Direct air capture. Switchgrass. Pyrolysis. Biochar.
Green Chemistry: In conversation with Professor John Warner on creating a sustainable future. Monash Univerity Faculty of Science[17:49 min]
The Reality of Carbon Capture Yale Center for Green Chemistry [2:07 min] Main idea: Solvents dissolve things to be taken away or to allow for even mixing. Safer green solvents, and some processes can be reconstructed to do without the need for solvents.
French startup uses plastic-chewing enzymes in 'closed-loop' recycling FRANCE 24 English [6:54 min]
Making a Nylon Precursor using Green Chemistry Nile Red [18:02 min] Better method of production. Use hydrogen peroxide rather than nitric acid as an oxidizer.
Preventing Waste - Green Chemistry Principle #1 GreenChemUofT [3:50 min] First part of a twelve part series of videos.
Green Chemistry nottinghamscience [2:30 min] Martyn Poliakoff.
Enzyme Chemistry Researchers precisely characterize styrene oxide isomerase, which could help yield 'green' chemicals and drug precursors.
Green Chemistry: The Missing Elements with John Warner CP Lab Safety [1:01:57 min] .
Making Cyrene: the Next Common Solvent? Chemiolis [10:20 min]
Dissolving cotton, paper and wood cellulose with a green solvent Sasarello [4:55 min] The Lyocell Process. Journal BioResources.
Green Solvents | Icon SN Icon - The Institute of Conservation [55:54 min] The Lyocell Process. Journal BioResources.
Making Polymers and Materials From Waste Biomass and Carbon Dioxide Green chemistry. [1:04:26 time]. Brandon University Science Seminar. A lot of information in the description. (Quite recent.)