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Green Chemistry


Green Chemistry Fact Sheet

Green Chemistry is the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical products.

Green Chemistry Initiatives

How to Make Your Chemistry Greener?

  • Participate in the MIT’s green chemistry initiatives. Contact your DLC EHS Coordinator or the EHS Office to learn more about how to implement these initiatives in your work process.
  • Prior to purchasing new chemicals, review your lab’s current chemical inventory/search the shared inventory. When purchasing new chemicals, purchase the minimum quantities of commercial chemicals necessary for your work. Offer surplus that is in good conditions to other potential users instead of disposing it.
  • Consider substituting chemicals with greener alternatives. Refer to the Resources/Tools for Green Alternatives (see below) for more information. Check with manufacturers for greener alternatives.
  • Design work process with Green Chemistry’s 12 Principles. Attain the highest level of the pollution-prevention hierarchy by reducing pollution at its source.
  • Design or modify your chemical experiment to make it more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Consider waste and hazard prevention during design, rather than disposing, treating, and handling waste after the experiments.

12 Principles of Green Chemistry

Resources/Tools for Green Alternatives

Check out the information below for examples of how to apply the 12 Principles of Green Chemicals to chemical reactions. Evaluate your experiments with Millipore-Sigma DOZNTM Tool to see how green they are.

Green Chemistry is the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical products.

Green Chemistry Initiatives

How to Make Your Chemistry Greener?

  • Participate in the MIT’s green chemistry initiatives. Contact your DLC EHS Coordinator or the EHS Office to learn more about how to implement these initiatives in your work process.
  • Prior to purchasing new chemicals, review your lab’s current chemical inventory/search the shared inventory. When purchasing new chemicals, purchase the minimum quantities of commercial chemicals necessary for your work. Offer surplus that is in good conditions to other potential users instead of disposing it.
  • Consider substituting chemicals with greener alternatives. Refer to the Resources/Tools for Green Alternatives (see below) for more information. Check with manufacturers for greener alternatives.
  • Design work process with Green Chemistry’s 12 Principles. Attain the highest level of the pollution-prevention hierarchy by reducing pollution at its source.
  • Design or modify your chemical experiment to make it more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Consider waste and hazard prevention during design, rather than disposing, treating, and handling waste after the experiments.

12 Principles of Green Chemistry

Resources/Tools for Green Alternatives

Check out the information below for examples of how to apply the 12 Principles of Green Chemicals to chemical reactions. Evaluate your experiments with Millipore-Sigma DOZNTM Tool to see how green they are.