“Green chemistry is the selection of less hazardous, more sustainable chemicals, and/or the design of chemical products or protocols involving chemicals that aim to reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances.” – My Green Lab
The 12 principles of Green Chemistry focus on reducing hazards (to human health and the environment), materials, and waste. There are many ways you can start to easily incorporate Green Chemistry in to your lab (even in non-chemistry labs). See below for details. For many more ways to practice Green Chemistry in your lab, check out our Green Labs Manual.
Always consult the Principal Investigator (PI) of the lab before implementing any changes.
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Utilize the Green Labs Surplus Chemical program to donate usable chemicals your lab no longer needs or request chemicals for your lab free of charge.
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When possible, use less hazardous chemicals. You can use the resources listed under Additional Resources below to help identify safer chemical alternatives.
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If you find a mercury thermometer in your lab, be sure to dispose of it properly through Environmental Health and Safety.
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If you have multiple bottles of the same chemical, use the bottle closest to expiring first.
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While it can be tempting to purchase chemicals in large quantities, buy the smallest volume of chemicals needed to help prevent unnecessary waste.
If you find a green alternative for a chemical process, tell us about it! We want to recognize your efforts and make this information available to the Green Labs community. There are likely other labs who perform the same procedure, and we want to encourage them to go green too.
Additional Resources
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General
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ACS Green Chemistry Institute- A hub for all things Green Chemistry-related. Check out their explanations of the principles of Green Chemistry.
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My Green Lab- Green Chemistry- Provides some great ways to get started on your Green Chemistry journey.
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The University of Toronto’s Green Chemistry Initiative- See their Resources page for links to helpful information.
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Green Chemistry- A peer-reviewed journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry for research on the development of sustainable technologies.
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Identifying Hazardous Chemicals and Alternatives
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ACS Green Chemistry Institute Research Tools- See their reagent guides, solvent selection tools, and process mass intensity calculator.
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Greener Solvent Guide from Beyond Benign.
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Millipore Sigma DOZN- An interactive web application that helps compare the greenness of chemicals, synthetic routes, and chemical processes.
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Greenscreen for Safer Chemicals- A tool to help identify hazardous chemicals and safer alternatives.
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Interstate Chemicals Clearing House- A fast way to search for GreenScreen and Quick Chemical Assessment Tool (QCAT) assessments.
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EPA's Safer Chemical Ingredients List- A list of safer chemicals organized by functional-use class.
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Check out these journal articles for greener chemical selection guides:
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Educational
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Beyond Benign-Provides excellent resources for Green Chemistry education.
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My Green Lab- Download their Guide to Green Chemistry Experiments for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Labs.
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Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering at Yale- Provides resources including college-level full course curriculum, modules, educational videos, and games.
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The Global Green Chemistry Initiative- A series of short, educational videos on Green Chemistry.
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St. Olaf College Green Chemistry Assistant- A tool to help analyze chemical reactions and perform simple Green Chemistry calculations
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