Principles of Green Chemistry and Green Engineering

Chemists and engineers are designers who have the unique ability to affect molecules, materials, products, processes, and systems at the earliest possible stages of their development.

• What will be the human health and the environmental impacts of the chemicals we put into the marketplace?
• How efficiently will the systems be with which we manufacture products?
• What will tomorrow's innovations look like, and from what materials will they be created?

We begin answering these questions the moment we put pen to paper, and the designs we create affect the course of entire sectors of the world economy.

A different perspective – Dr. John Warner, ACS GCI Governing Board member and President & Chief Technology Officer for the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry (streaming video)

• The Power of Chemistry to Solve Problems
• What is Green Chemistry?
• The Importance of Green Chemistry

Principles

The principles of green chemistry and green engineering provide a framework for scientists and engineers to use when designing new materials, products, processes, and systems.

The principles focus on sustainable design criteria and have proven to be the source of innovative solutions to a wide range of problems. Green chemistry and green engineering embrace this power of design. If we use it wisely, we can make significant contributions in the drive toward sustainability for the simultaneous benefit of the environment, economy, and society.

Green Chemistry

12 Principles of Green Chemistry

Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances (Anastas et al. 2000).

Green Engineering

12 Principles of Green Engineering

Green Engineering is the development and commercialization of industrial processes that are economically feasible and reduce the risk to human health and the environment.