Chemistry senior advocates going green in blog post

Posted on September 05, 2014 by Jennifer McManamay

Ashley Baker ’15 has published a post on Green Chemistry: The Nexus Blog on the ACS Network, a social platform of the American Chemical Society.


Ashley Baker Ashley Baker ’15


Baker, who is studying for her Bachelor of Science in chemistry, writes about the role of the ACS Green Chemistry Student Chapter Award in propagating “green” chapters and provides a how-to guide for chapters seeking the designation. It’s a small part of a global effort to make the application of chemistry using “environmentally benign techniques” the norm throughout the chemistry community, Baker says.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm and buzz among college students about sustainability initiatives,” she writes. “Activities like recycling programs are necessary and great to do, but the focus of green chemistry is often lost in a broader movement. What’s awesome about green chemistry — but is sometimes overlooked — is that waste can be prevented before it’s even made and chemicals that were never used don’t need to be recycled.”

Baker’s full blog, ‘How To’ Green Chemistry: New Guidelines for ACS Green Student Chapters, is available online. However, those interested in using the guide are encouraged to revisit the site in a few weeks as some of the resources are under development.