The “Greening” of Chemistry Labs at SCU – by Anne FarrellTraditionally, chemistry labs have been a source of large volumes of toxic waste. The waste generated by chemistry students must be disposed of properly, which can be expensive, and, even when the wastes are handled properly, there is lingering potential for lasting damage to air and water resources. As part of Santa Clara University’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the SCU Chemistry Department has made dramatic changes to its undergraduate laboratory exercises. The result is a series of high quality educational experiences with improved student safety, reduced waste production, and a transition to reagents and wastes that are less toxic to people and the environment. These changes have also involved significant cost savings - using less solvents and producing less wastes is good for the environment AND the pocketbook!
General Chemistry Lab Sequence (Chem 11, 12 and 13). For several years, the Chemistry Department has been substituting “greener” reagents whenever possible. In 2000, the department started to write its own lab manual for Chem 11. This was followed by a Chem 12 lab manual, and, in the Spring of 2004, the Chem 13 lab manual. This has made it much easier to change experiments to make them greener because the department is not attached to a publisher's lab manual. Most lab manuals on the market do little to decrease waste. Organic Chemistry. In the early 1990’s, the organic chemistry labs were converted to microscale experiments. Today, students typically use just a milliliter or less of reagents, instead of 50 or 100 milliliters. This has dramatically reduced the amount of waste generated. The glassware to make this change was rather expensive, but the University gave the Chemistry Department a grant to make the transition possible. Upper Division Inorganic Labs. In some of the upper division inorganic labs, wet chemical experiments have been replaced with computer modeling. In addition, new instruments that require much smaller amounts of chemicals have been incorporated into the labs. |
