Question

-Pick two of the principles of green chemistry, state which 2 you chose and show how they connect to your life or intended profession. Please be very clear (as in overtly) as to which two you are selecting so that I am sure to recognize the connections you are making.

-How has the Tragedy of the Commons affected you or your family? For example, when one of the creators of this course (Ted Picciotto) was younger, he and his father would see quail frequently in the state park near their home. Since then they have all but disappeared. Only recently has the population begin to rebound very slightly. If you are not old enough to remember a change in the environment, interview a parent or grandparent if possible.

-How have your studies to date prepared you for the future world in which you live? In what ways do you think your study of chemistry will prepare you?

Answer 1

Paul Anastas and John Warner desinged the term green chemistry and outlined 12 principles in the year 1998. I pick two principles of green chemistry which can be closely related to day to day application.

Principle 1: Prevention of waste

​It is better to prevent waste than to treat it after it is formed. Waste is not only that which is generated from the industries, it also includes the domestic waste, waste water  generated from the houses. Waste is defined as an excessive use of materials, energy, human resources, which is a burden to the present or future generations. For a day to day example excessive use of water globally. Today the availabilty of clean, safe drinking water globally is scarce. Mostly water scarcity is encountered during the summer season. Industries pollute the fresh water bodies with untreated waste effluents, instead if they treat the effluents by removing the toxic substances the effect will be less. The waste minimisation heiarchy involves reduce, reuse, recycle, energy recovery and disposal.Similarly the waste produced from the houses can be recycled, used to generate energy, in this way the waste prevention is minimised. Using paper bags instead of polythenes to reduce accumulation of plastic which is non degradable. Recently its in news a whale has come to the water surfaces for breathing but when people tried it to send back to the deep waters it was not willing to go. It was shot later and then its intestine is cut open for research purpose and to their surprise there tons of plastic bags wraaped and entangled around intestines because of which the whale had severe breathing problem. Anthropogenic activities effect all the living beings.

Principle 7: Use of renewable feedstocks:

​A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting. Renewable feed stocks are often made from agricultural products or from wastes of other processes and depleting feedstocks are made from fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, natural gas. We have to recognise the sources of renewable energies around us such as sun, wind etc., For example solar income for one hour equals total energy used in one year on earth. Setting up biorefinaries which integrates biomass conversion process to produce fuels, heat, power.

Coming to day to day example which we can do it in our house is setting up a solar panel to generate power for household electricity. The feedstock such as corn, soyabean, forest waste are used in biorefinaries to produce various end products and the interesting concept is all the reactions which are carried synthetically in labs,   are carried out by microbes without much complexity. Plastics again come under the discussion here also. Plastics shoud be recylced/ usage of biodegradable plastics/ less pastics usage.

The knowledge of chemistry should be used to increase and use wisely the available resources without creating harm to the environment therby keeping the planet safe for the present and future generations