Week 1 - Green Chemistry

​There are many ways to work in the field of green chemistry. Some people choose to work in the lab or factory developing safer chemicals and better processes. Other people work in the government helping the community learn about safer materials and more environmentally friendly habits. Still other people help cover the cost of all the research, development, and promotion of new green chemistry innovations. 

Before you get started, it might be helpful to answer the question: What Is Green Chemistry?
Here is a short video and a quick, elementary-level reading passage to get you started. 

What Is Green Chemistry?
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Helpful Vocabulary
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Meet Some Entrepreneurs ​

Christoph at Sironix Renewables 

Mickey at Floral Solutions

We don't have a video with Mickey but here are some cool interviews and presentations she has given.

• SLOW FLOWERS Podcast: Meet Mickey Blake, inventor of Floral Soil, the new alternative to floral foam (Ep. 160)
• ​Article: Blooming an Innovation from the Bellingham, WA newspaper.
• A joint presentation by Mickey Blake and Zach Wilkinson (another cool entrepreneur) delivered for the Northwest Green Chemistry conference. 

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Additional Resources

Here are some of of our favorite online resources

Living Walls

• https://www.ambius.com/green-walls/ultimate-guide-to-living-green-walls/ This FAQ page is a helpful background resource for teachers and students although may be best read with a study-buddy.
• https://freshome.com/living-wall-vertical-gardens/ This article has some amazing pictures of living walls.
• https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/garden-styles-and-types/how-to-create-a-living-wall A shorter article from Home and Garden TV about living walls.
• https://www.dwell.com/article/living-green-walls-101-their-benefits-and-how-theyre-made-350955f3 A short article on living walls.

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7FQd7DXdWc 4:23 min video. It contains a lot of information on the benefits of living walls and is best viewed with a study-buddy so you can discuss. The last five seconds are a promotion for a company, so you may want to stop ahead of that.
• https://www.sfmoma.org/watch/the-living-wall/ 2:45 min video. This video focuses on the living wall at the SFMOMA. The video talks a lot about the idea of using native plants.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdBDtP1mcxU (2:49 min, short ad you can skip after 5 sec) This video features a young innovator talking about the living wall he has set up in Wyoming. 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNtF_KYRtSc (3:10 min) A neat time-lapse video of grass seeds growing. Good perspective on how long things take to grow. 

​Here are some short videos about the plants in the Amazon Spheres:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=104&v=OYPvVqxNn-w
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqdwsIFjMjU

Some more cool companies using Green Chemistry and Green Engineering ideas. 
​​Pacific Northwest

• Tidal Vison uses waste salmon skin and crustacean shells (think lobsters and crabs) to make various leather alternatives and antimicrobials.
• Promus Energy is developing innovative ways to make renewable energy more cost competitive.
• Apana is developing new software to help with large scale water management.
• Aunt Fannies is developing safer chemicals for pest control.
• Diatomix is developing safer chemicals for floor coatings.
• Eco-Pro polymers  is developing safer chemicals for adhesives (industrial glue).

Southwest/California

• Living Ink makes ink algae that can be printed onto papers, greeting cards, and more.
• Ceres Imaging is helping farmers use less water.
• Ecologic Brands makes plastic bottle alternatives out of paper.

South/Southeast

• Resource-fiber is an Alabama-based company working to increase the amount of bamboo used in American manufacturing and products.
• Mobius is a Tennessee-based company creating renewable chemicals, materials, and energy from organic waste. Their first product is a biodegradable plastic made from lignin.

Northeast

• Modern Meadow uses collagen (a protein) to make leather.
• Ecovative Design makes a packaging replacement for Styrofoam out of mushroom materials.
• Ginko Bioworks is using microorganisms to grow new materials and products.

Midwest/Central

• Blue Marble Biomaterials is a Montana-based company designing new materials from plant inputs.
• Ecovia Renewables is developing new bio-based super absorbent polymers.

Week 2 - Renewable Energy

Increasing pressure to seek alternative energy sources has generated new business opportunities and scientific study. Scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs alike are interested in how to sustainably harvest our renewable resources—sun, wind, geothermal, tides, rivers, etc.

There are many types of potential alternative or renewable energy sources, but most of them have a common need for improved materials and processes to make energy capture and storage more efficient. These needs are the source of endless opportunity for new discoveries by scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. 

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Meet Some Entrepreneurs ​

Laura at WeCare Solar 

​Presentation of the CNN Hero award. The first four minutes describe We Care Solar. The final ~ two minutes are Laura’s acceptance speech.

• http://www.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2013/12/18/cnnheroes-show-stachel.cnn (5:50 min) 

Meet Some Yong Solar Entrepreneurs

Deepika Kurup

Over in Nashua, New Hampshire, 14-year-old Deepika Kurup was inspired by seeing a group of Indian children drinking from a pool of stagnant water and invented a purification system powered by solar energy. She tells her story in her TEDtalk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkUcaludrcI (~ 8 min, best watched with a study buddy).

Bishop Curry V

Bishop Curry V, a 10-year-old from McKinney, Texas, is working on an invention to help prevent the hot car deaths of babies. His invention, called Oasis, is placed on a car seat. When the car is parked, the Oasis device senses temperature and movement. If it detects something is wrong, it will blow air on the baby and call for help. There is a short video about him and his invention at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLUFS0aiaok.

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Additional Resources

Useful solar oven websites
​​Blog post on how solar ovens work

• https://www.saveonenergy.com/learning-center/post/solar-ovens/

​​Website on how to build a solar oven

• https://www.homesciencetools.com/article/how-to-build-a-solar-oven-project/

Various online resources about solar ovens.

• https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/SciRefGuides/solarovens.html

More on solar energy

• http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/solar-power Excellent solar energy video (2:36 min with a 17-sec ad at the beginning).
• http://www.neok12.com/Solar-Energy.htm Multiple videos (short) on solar energy for kids. Most geared toward grades 4–12; however, most are appropriate for grade 3. 
• http://video.pbs.org/video/2289310391/ PBS video (3:00 min) on solar energy (photovoltaic cells, concentrators, why we can’t use only this form of energy).
• http://science360.gov/obj/video/83d67b75-f6f5-43e6-bbef-8c8b9d9584c1/solar-panels-work Video (3:56 min) from the Boston Museum of Science.

Troubleshooting tips

Solar Oven Hint
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No Fuss Solar Oven Procedure
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Week 3 - Sustainable Design

When you think about sustainable design you must consider two major things:

• What am I building?
• How will what I am building fit in with everything else around it?

The first question generally falls within the realm of architecture while the second is generally addressed by urban planning.

The following video has a lot of interesting and easy-to-implement ideas on how to design neighborhoods for both people and wildlife. ​ (~7 min)

This next video discusses food deserts and how neighborhood design can help solve that problem. (~ 3:30 min)

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Meet Some Entrepreneurs ​

Jason and Jared at ZILA Works

A short interview with June

You can read a longer article about June here in the Sierra Club magazine.

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Additional Resources

Here are some of of our favorite online resources

Green Architecture

• ​http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/index.htm This website has a lot of good information on green architecture strategies and styles. It isn’t flashy but presents the information in a succinct fashion. 
• https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/slideshows/9-alternative-building-materials-to-consider-for-your-home?slide=6 Slide show of different building materials. It has good pictures.
• https://www.epa.gov/green-building-tools-tribes Additional resources for green architecture and Native American communities.
• http://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/building-hope-part-3-sustainable-and-green-architecture/ Article about green architecture practices being used at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. 

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyIOtsx3wDs (1:16 min) A video from the Green Building Council on what defines a green building. 
• https://www.ted.com/talks/bjarke_ingels_floating_cities_the_lego_house_and_other_architectural_forms_of_the_future?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-507289 A great TED talk about LEGO, floating homes, and unique green urban planning. (15 min)
• https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_mohr_builds_green?language=en (~ 3 min) A short TED Talk about building a green home, Very fast paced—best viewed with a study buddy.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESIHwiV8l6k (~5 min) Video from the US Green Building Council. It focuses on public buildings versus homes but has a lot of good information. 

Native Plants

• https://www.thespruce.com/native-plants-1403565 Easy-to-read blog post on why it is important to grow native plants
• https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/alternatives.shtml A short, fun, and informative article on native plant alternatives to nonnative, and often invasive, plants. It also lists some more subtle reasons to use native plants.
• https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/index.shtml A short, well-organized post on the advantages of using native plants. This webpage also has some great additional resources.

 
Figuring out which plants are native to your area.

• https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/about This is a cool native plant finder from the National Wildlife Foundation that specifically suggests plants that will attract various bird and insect pollinators. The flowers and grasses specified by this finder are good options if you’d like to use a native plant for the living wall experiment.
• http://www.plantnative.org/index.htm This is a helpful website for information on native plants and has a regional native plant finder to help identify plants, trees, and shrubs that are native to your area.
• https://www.audubon.org/native-plants This is another native plant database provided by the Audubon society.