Green Options » green chemistry

Companies Unite to Foster Green Chemistry

Lisa Wojnovich — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:00:20 +0000

In the January 5, 2009 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, the official trade journal of the American Chemical Society, the ACS announced the formation of the Formulated Products Roundtable. This organization, which will begin operating later this month, is an industry-financed partnership between the ACS’s Green Chemistry Institute (GCI), a not-for-profit group devoted to promoting green chemistry, and sixteen prominent companies that manufacture cosmetics, perfumes, soaps, detergents, and other household and industrial cleaning products. Its aim is to share knowledge of green chemistry among its members in order to create products that are more sustainable, more environmentally friendly, and safer – and hopefully, more profitable too.

California Passes Green Chemistry Bills

Cassie Walker — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:20:05 +0000

One of the scariest things about the world we live in, at least to me, is the amount of chemicals that we put into our bodies every day. And though most people assume that all of these chemicals are safe that may not be the case. The EPA screens new chemicals for safety, but issues that arise from long-term exposure to a multitude of chemicals won’t show up for years. Remember DDT?

Fortunately, the state of California has launched a Green Chemistry Initiative designed to reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals in products and the environment. Until now, chemicals of concern were dealt with individually – a time consuming and often litigious process.

With the passage of AB 1879, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) now has the power to address this issue by creating a process to identify and prioritize “chemicals of concern” for review. Chemicals may be banned as a result. DTSC is also tasked with developing methods for finding less hazardous alternatives.

Bio Based Lubricants: Not Just for Sex Any More

Paul Smith — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:23:00 +0000

A few years back, while I was still a student at Presidio School of Management, this vivacious, crazy eyed scientist came and told us about the biolubricants that his company WISE Solutions had been working on. My mind of course went to, shall we say, personal lubricants, and I began to tune out. But it turned out to be much different.

You see, they were working on plant based lubricants, to be used (at the time) in vehicles. He shared a story of how they were in some cases too effective at lubrication, causing engines to over perform. Now, years later, I thought I’d take a look at what direction this startup has gone. It seems they gone in many directions, and interesting ones.

But first, what’s to know about these lubricants, and beyond the “not petroleum” factor, what makes them so beneficial, and do they perform in line with their conventional counterparts? In a word, yes. And even better.