Green Chemistry

"Green chemistry is replacing our industrial chemistry with natures recipe book.

 It's not easy because life only uses a subset of the elements in the periodic table. 

And we use all of them, even the toxic ones." -Janine Benyus

Green chemistry is a concept and set of principles developed to reduce the amount of toxic substances in the products we use. It includes considering the product from 'cradle to cradle', or from the choice and sourcing of ingredients and materials through the lifetime of the product, to the final recycling or reuse of them. One of the guiding principles is that it's better to not pollute in the first place than to figure out how to clean it up later!

I used to dread projects in which I had to use toxic materials. In my work I often use building materials, paints, and other volatiles. So I was amazed to learn that I don't have to poison myself. Years ago, when these products were developed, fossil petroleum oil was plentiful and cheap, so that's what they used to make these products. It's not that toxic oil was required, it was simply what they had lots of.

But now green formulations are popping up based on renewable plant oils. For example, expect to see all sorts of hemp products to come along soon, containing oil as high grade as whale oil, and even hemp fiber building materials. And they not only aren't poison, they smell good! Now it's a joy to work with them, plus I don't have to strap on all that protective gear.

Just like with organically grown food, if I pay a little extra for a new product that hasn't been scaled up to cheaper than everything else, it is an investment in the kind of world I want to live in. It's a down payment on the flower child's garden planet future.