In 2012, a group of students in the department of chemistry started the Green Chemistry Initiative. Seven years later they’re now recognized as a leading Canadian green chemistry organization.
In Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, they have outlined their contributions to green chemistry, showcasing some of their successful projects and events.
Abstract:
The Green Chemistry Initiative (GCI) is a student-led group founded in 2012 with the primary mission of promoting green chemistry education at the University of Toronto.
In order to achieve this, the GCI’s activities have included undergraduate curriculum development, arrangement of an external speaker seminar series, and organization of an annual three-day symposium along with biweekly trivia challenges.
To broaden education beyond the Department of Chemistry, a successful YouTube video campaign articulating the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry in an accessible manner has also been undertaken (acquiring over 40,000 views), in addition to monthly blog posts and conference/outreach presentations.
Descriptions of these activities are discussed in this paper, along with the resulting impact they have had. Through such efforts, undergraduate and graduate students are showing a growing understanding of the relevance of green chemistry in today’s world, with the GCI serving as a platform for similar groups to build upon across Canada.