• Introduction
• Healthy People
• Healthy Economy
  • Sustainable Bioplastics
  • Green Chemistry
  • Current Campaigns
  • Partnerships

Green Chemistry

“Green Chemistry is a revolutionary approach to the way that products are made; it is a science that aims to reduce or eliminate the use and/or generation of hazardous substances in the design phase of materials development.” 
— The Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry

We are working to ensure that all products on store shelves are safe for your family. To do that we must eliminate the use of chemicals that cause harm and support the creation and use of safer chemicals.

Green chemistry considers environmental health impacts at the earliest stage of innovation and invention and is the science being used to create safer alternatives. It provides an overarching set of principles for chemists and others to develop products, processes and services that prevent pollution, waste, and energy consumption.

To shift markets away from chemicals that we know cause harm alternatives assessments are one of the first tools companies and policy makers often turn to for guidance. Unfortunately there is a significant technology gap that limits our ability to identify safer alternatives for many applications. To fill in these technology gaps we need greater investment in green chemistry research and development.

The Environmental Health Strategy Center is working to support green chemistry research and development. We are urging Maine’s Senator Olympia Snowe to reintroduce the Green Chemistry Research and Development Act, which she originally sponsored in 2008. This bill would establish a Green Chemistry Research and Development Program to promote and coordinate federal research, development, education, and technology transfer activities related to green chemistry.

We hosted Maine’s only green chemistry summit, titled, “Growing Maine’s Green Economy; Better Living through Green Chemistry” which brought together over 170 investors, sustainable business leaders, cutting edge researchers and policy makers to explore green chemistry solutions to expand our economy and replace hazardous materials in consumer products with safer alternatives.