M9.3 Green Chemistry

After watching the video Digging into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch I was in disbelief in the damage we are doing to our planet. Plastic has created a lot of waste and as we have seen throughout the semester, various chemicals like those that make up plastic, are endangering animals, humans, and our planet. I have never heard about Green Chemistry or its benefits, but reading about it made me interested to see the products made by green chemistry. The goal of green chemistry is to create products that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous chemicals. With this, Green Chemistry is able to reduce pollution and provide solutions to the environmental problems we have today. The thing that I find most amazing about green chemistry is that all this occurs at the molecular levels. Scientists are creating new molecular process to create products that will not have a long-lasting effect on our planet. From the 12 principles of the Green Chemistry, the principle of creating products that can degrade after use will eliminate the amount of waste that is collected. Learning about Green Chemistry has made me more considerate about the products I purchase and I hope to be able to adapt new behaviors to decrease the waste I contribute to the earth.