Tackling the Problem of Plastic Waste on World Oceans Day

June 8 is World Oceans Day an opportunity to reflect on the importance of our oceans as well as solutions to the numerous threats they face. In 2017 the action focus is plastic pollution. Our oceans are indispensable to life of Earth and fate of humanity is intimately tied to their well-being. Our oceans are hotter and more acidic and they are increasingly unable to serve as carbon sinks. Coral reefs are dying and entire aquatic ecosystems are being destroyed. Norwegian billionaire and ocean advocate Kjell Inge Røkke aptly summarized situation when he said, "the oceans are also under greater pressure than ever before from overfishing, coastal pollution, habitat destruction, climate change and ocean acidification, and one of the most pressing challenges of all, plasticization of the ocean. The need for knowledge and solutions is pressing."

Infographic - Plastic and the 5 Ocean Gyres

Plastic Waste in Our Oceans: Problems and Solutions

The sheer volume of plastic and other trash that is floating in our oceans made the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 far more difficult. The search for the missing airliner has been a harrowing affair. After weeks of sifting through ocean refuse, the armada of ships combing the Indian ocean now claim to be zeroing in on pings that may be emanating from the missing airliner's black boxes. However, this search was hampered by the tons of garbage that are strewn across our oceans.

Event - Ecochem: Global Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

The Ecochem Global Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Event will take place at the Congress Center Basel, Switzerland, 11-13 November 2014 Apply here if you are interested in becoming a speaker. A vision for the future of the chemical industry. The world's most influential industry and government leaders, scientists and innovators from across the chemical industry and value chains, sharing new visions for the sustainable design, production and use of chemicals.

Companies Calling for Chemical Regulation

While some companies actively resist government regulation, others are welcoming it. A group of responsible consumer product companies is pushing for chemical safety reform legislation to better protect the public from toxins that are commonly found in consumer products.

This coalition was started by Seventh Generation along with the American Sustainable Business Council. Other members of the group include Annie's, and Stonyfield Farm. These companies are behind safer products and chemicals for decades. they are also leaders in transparency and accountability. A reform bill for the anemic 37 year old Toxic Chemical Safety Act, has been languishing in the Senate for months.

Course - Introduction to Environmental Chemistry

Two Day Workshop or 16 Hours Online. To protect human health and the environment, understanding the occurrence of different chemicals and their potential transformations, transport, and fate based on various physical and chemical processes in the environment is paramount. This course is designed as a general introduction to environmental chemistry. This two-day course provides participants with an introduction to chemistry principles and the release, transport, and fate, as well as sampling, analysis, and cleanup of contaminants of concern in soil and groundwater. This course is designed for environmental professionals who require a basic knowledge of environmental chemistry in their work.

Video - Green Chemistry and the Business of Providing Consumers with Safer Sustainable Materials

Green chemistry is growing in prominence in response to environmental concerns associated with traditional chemistry. Nowhere is this impact being felt more than in the area of finding replacements for endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). This video offers the latest science on the way forward using green chemistry's ability to create innovative, healthy and sustainable products. It specifically shows how companies can grab market share by responding to growing consumer interest in safer, sustainable materials.

Event - Sustainability Chemistry Summit

The Sustainability Chemistry Summit - Europe 2013 (SI Europe) will take place September, 18-20, 2013 in Brussels, Belgium. This event will bring together the various members of the sustainability research and analytics community and the corporate practitioners responsible for measuring, evaluating and reporting sustainability information and those leading successful strategies that have helped companies head towards more sustainable processes.

Greener Solvents on the Increase in Developed Countries

In developed countries solvent use is declining while demand for greener solvents in increasing. This trend is attributable to environmental and regulatory pressures, along with concerns about toxicity to humans.

Solvents are found in paints and coatings which together account for 40 percent of solvent use. Other places where solvents can be found include adhesives, inks, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing, metal and dry cleaning solutions and agriculture.

Solvents are one of the most comprehensively regulated classes of chemicals, and tend to be regulated collectively as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOC’s are air pollutants that contribute to low-level photochemical smog. VOCs also react with nitrogen oxides to produce ground level ozone that can damage lungs crops and natural vegetation. Solvents are also implicated in high-level ozone depletion and global warming. They are often highly flammable and can have direct health impacts by absorption through the skin.

Event - 2013 Sustainable Chemistry Summit

The 2013 Sustainable Chemistry Summit, will take place on June 5-7, 2013 in Montreal, Quebec. This event is presented by GreenCentre Canada, it will map the journey of green chemistry technologies from lab to market.

Following the path of innovation, the Summit will start with sessions on the genesis of discoveries, unfold along each step of the journey toward commercialization, and culminate with a look at real-life examples of technologies that have made it.

The Sustainable Chemistry Summit will connect you, educate you and inspire you– leaving you with the tools you need to chart your own course from lab to market.

Green Chemistry Bridging the Divide by Seetha Kammula

Green chemistry is an increasingly important player in global efforts to find more sustainable ways to minimize our impacts on the Earth. Green chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with developing processes and products to reduce or eliminate hazardous substances. One of the goals of green chemistry is to prevent pollution at its source, as opposed to dealing with pollution after it has occurred.

Here is a short essay on green chemistry written by Seetha Kammula in 2011. She is one of the founding partners of Simply Sustain LLC, has over 25 years of experience first at Royal Dutch Shell, and later at Basell, a Shell BASF Joint Venture. At Basell she was Senior VP Strategic Marketing, Innovation & Asset Management and a member of the Board of Directors of Indelpro (Mexico). At Shell she was Strategy Director (Houston), Director of Technology (Belgium)- both for Epoxy Resins, and Research Scientist (Amsterdam). She received a BS degree from Osmania University, India, a PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from Auburn University, and did post-doctorate research at Princeton University.

Chemical Regulation that is Good for Business and the Environment

The ubiquity of chemicals and our growing environmental awareness are helping to usher a new era in chemistry. Chemicals are part of modern life, yet we are increasingly aware that even tiny quantities of toxins can have harmful health effects including asthma, neuro-developmental disorders, and certain cancers. Chemicals are also being connected with a variety of distinctively modern diseases and disorders including obesity, diabetes, autism, and ADD.

Workshop on Chemistry for a Sustainable Future (Event)

The RSC sponsored International Workshop on Chemistry for a Sustainable Future will take place on December 10, 2012, starting at 14:00 and concluding on 12 December 12, 2012 at 17:00. It will take place at the Malaviya National Institute of Technology in Jaipur, India. This event will deal with the environment, sustainability and energy, it also coincides with the Celebration of Successful Completion of 10 years of Green Chemistry Networking in India.

One of the founders of Green Chemistry, Professor John Warner and world leaders in Green Chemistry like Professor James Clark , Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence at University of York will be part of this celebration. Green Chemistry Centre in York UK and its affiliates, the Bio-renewables Development Centre and the company Starbon Technologies are also presenting an exhibition at the Workshop covering green chemistry research, education, outreach and commercialization.

Koch Industries Destroys the Environment and Funds Climate Denial

Koch Industries is the second largest privately held company in America and as revealed by Greenpeace they are guilty of crimes against the environment as well as being a leading supporter of climate denial groups.

Koch industries has a dismal environmental record and to add insult to injury, they are pouring almost $50 million dollars per year into climate denial misinformation.

Koch Industries is a conglomerate of more than twenty companies with $100 billion in annual sales, operations in nearly 60 countries, and 70,000 employees. Their diversified holdings are a virtual top ten list of the most environmentally destructive sectors of the economy, they include petroleum refining, fuel pipelines, coal supply and trading, oil and gas exploration, chemicals and polymers, fertilizer production, ranching and forestry products and cattle.

In addition, Koch Industries has held multiple leases on Alberta's polluting tar sands as well as pipelines that carry tar sands crude from Canada into Minnesota and Wisconsin where Koch's Flint Hill Resources owns oil refineries.

Koch Industries work to delay policies and regulation aimed at stopping global warming. As revealed by Greenpeace's successful campaign against Trader Joe's, the public will no longer countenance environmentally insensitive businesses. Koch Industries' ownership of Lycra and Stainmaster carpets are just two of their holdings that are vulnerable to social action.

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Next: Koch Industries' Environmental Crimes / Koch Industries Financing Climate Denial

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