Gordon College Student Chapter of the ACS: Ninth Anual Green Chemistry Lecture!

Gordon College is a very green school. I'm not just talking about the grass and trees; I'm talking about our clubs and commitments. Every trash can is adjacent to a combined materials recycle bin, and there are many recycle bins that are unaccompanied by trash cans. On top of this, a Gordon club called the Advocates for a Sustainable Future (ASF) offers composting services to students and runs a small vegetable garden on campus.

At Gordon, we drink soda so we can recycle the cans.

Recently, the Gordon College Student Chapter of the American Chemistry Society (SCACS) had the delight of receiving the Green Chapter award from the National American Chemical Society (NACS). This was awarded to us because of the large number of Green Chemistry events organized or supported by our chapter.

#OhYouFancyHuh?

One of the events we support and co-organize each year are the lectures of a lecture series on Green Chemistry given by speakers from outside of Gordon. For the past 2 speakers, the SCACS has organized a dinner with the speaker at Su Chang's Restaurant in Peabody, MA. Our most recent speaker was Dr. Michael Cann from the University of Scranton on 3/1/12. He was a very passionate and powerful speaker.

Dr. Cann and Friends prepare for the lecture. Good work team.

His talk was about the basics of Green Chemistry, made understandable to non-scientists. His talk also included some modern examples of Green Chemistry being used in research and industry.

He was a very funny speaker.

He spend a lot of time on the concept of sustainability, and ended his talk with a very emotional point. He showed the audience a picture of his grandchildren, and pointed out to us that sustainability had very little to do with him, but everything to do with these children. It was a very moving declaration; he obviously loves his grandchildren very much, and he's right: sustainability preformed by us isn't for us. It's for our children's children.

After this, two of our Chemistry faculty, Dr Cann, and a number of ACS members carpooled to Su Chang's restaurant. Among the attending students were myself, Bria P., Ruth C., Stacy S., Sophi W., Ben S., Justin A., Sarah M., and others. We enjoyed wonderful Chinese food and great conversation, discussing everything from Chemistry to farming and even deadly Japanese fish.

These events will be held every year, and the ACS hopes to be able to continue to support them. Thank you to all who came, and we welcome more to come next time!