Introduction to Green Chemistry
Course Summary
Over the past 150 years the field of chemistry has fostered almost no formal training in toxicity or ecotoxicity. We continue to produce chemists endowed with the great power to create new products and processes who do not have the education they need to protect themselves, other people or the ecosphere from the fruits of their labor.
Green chemistry offers an alternative. This relatively new field of research and practice was defined by Paul Anastas as "the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous compounds."
Stated broadly, this course helps students understand the notion of sustainability and how it applies to chemistry, the history of and critical need for green chemistry, and the principles that guide the practice of green chemistry.
Instructions
This online courseware provides a demonstration of what a full online course will be like when it is deployed, but it is only a demonstration. To explore selected lessons, click on the links below. To read a more detailed summary of the course and what it offers, explore the syllabus by clicking on that icon to the left. The links along the left side of this page will always be available while you are taking the course and will provide you with a course-level view of lectures, exercises, quizzes and other content.
Lessons
Lesson One: The Essentials of Green Chemistry
In this lesson, the definition of green chemistry is presented. Barriers and pathways forward are considered. The grand technological challenges of sustainability and green chemistry's critical role for developing the technical dimension of a sustainable civilization are discussed. The need for sustainability ethics to be taught in chemistry and across disciplines is introduced.
Lesson Two: Sustainability Ethics
This lesson examines the claims of Hans Jonas that science and technology have confronted humanity with "a whole new dimension of ethical relevance for which there is no precedent in the standards and canons of traditional ethics" and explores Jonas' "theory of responsibility" in the context of how the chemistry needs to change to build a sustainable future.