Green Chemistry Education
Green chemistry is of growing importance at CU Boulder. Numerous initiatives benefiting green chemistry are in place on campus including those at links above and listed below.
- The CU Boulder's EH&S department takes select hazardous waste streams and, using chemical reactions, transforms them to create non-hazardous waste.
- This fall 2023 poster summarizes sustainability and green chemistry efforts in place in the Chemistry Department at CU Boulder including solvent recycling and green chemistry modifications to teaching lab experiments.
- CU Green Labs promotes a green chemistry culture on campus and works in partnership with colleagues in EH&S and the Chemistry Department to implement efforts increasing green chemistry education opportunities, chemical reuse, and reduction of hazardous waste generation.
Actions for green chemistry and green chemistry education are not only being taken at an increasing number of universities across the nation, but also through organizations such as Beyond Benign and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Even companies are stepping up and asking for a workforce trained in green chemsitry; this policy statement put out by the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council signed by companies such Johnson and Johnson, Dow Chemical and 31 other companies, is calling on “institutions of higher education to integrate green chemistry and sustainability principles into chemistry, engineering, science and business curricula.”
Online Green Chemistry Fellowship Certificate Program
CU Green Labs and CHEMunity created the Green Chemistry Certificate Fellowship Program in 2018 enabling a small number of CU Boulder students to participate each year in an online green chemistry certificate program at the University of Washington.
Green Chemistry Education Survey
In collaboration with the CU Boulder Chemistry Department, CU Green Labs has been conducting surveys gauging undergraduate student interest in learning green chemistry. Students in CU Boulder chemistry courses were invited to take the survey in Fall of 2018, Spring of 2019, Fall of 2021 and Fall of 2022. Each time, results show strong student interest in learning green chemistry topics with 92% expressing interest in the most recent survey conducted. Below is a graphic showing the results of one survey question and a link to a page with much more information on the survey results.
Green Chemistry Education Curriculum Pilot
In 2022 in response to the interest shown in the survey results, a student-led curriculum development pilot was conducted to create 10 green chemistry focused modules that were integrated into the introductory chemistry (CHEM 1021) course curriculum. In addition to effectively teaching green chemistry topics, this effort has proven to be a successful example of a method that is cost-effective, time-efficient for instructors, and that bolsters student opportunity for leadership. After taking CHEM 1021, student interest in green chemistry education was surveyed as part of the Fall 2022 survey described above. The survey data below shows that 78% of students in CHEM 1021 are still interested in learning more about green chemistry despite 91% reporting they have been exposed to green chemistry in the CHEM 1021 course. More information on this effort can be found on this poster board.
Promoting Green Chemistry Education at CU Boulder
In 2020 to encourage green chemistry education to be added to the CU Boulder curriculum, CU Green Labs wrote a paper making the case for green chemistry education at CU Boulder. The paper documents actions already taken at that time, shares links to resources to help with further implementation, discusses benefits, and provides recommendations. Below are links to a 2-page flyer summarizing the paper, a video presentation on the paper, and the complete white paper.