Enviros, Industry Seek State Leadership on Practice that Could Benefit Environment and Economy
Ever since Rachel Carson educated a nation on the hazards of relying too heavily on toxic pesticides in the 1960s, the words "green" and "chemistry" have rarely appeared in the same sentence, except as an oxymoron.
In the popular imagination, chemicals are either beasts or blessings, but almost never positively associated with the environment. But if the Ecology Center and other Michigan advocates have their way, the state could become a leader in the emerging science of green chemistry -- the search for environmentally benign substitutes for the thousands of hazardous chemicals used in everyday products and processes.
It's already starting to happen:
- Solvents and inks are being made from soybeans.
- Plastics are being made from sustainably grown corn, corn stubble, grasses, and other renewable products.
- Water purification processes have been designed that remove chlorinated pollutants, antibiotics, and other contaminants and don’t generate toxic byproducts as a result.
- Enzymatic reactions have been found that can detoxify hard-to-degrade toxic chemicals.
- There is even laundry detergent that inhibits dye transfer while cleaning clothes and reducing problematic discharges.
