Creating a Culture of Green Chemistry and Innovation in the Organic Laboratory

Abstract This account presents a curriculum-level approach to green chemistry education. It highlights catalytic events and significant outcomes in fostering green chemistry and innovation in an undergraduate organic chemistry teaching laboratory sequence. Successful strategies have included going green from day one, greening existing experiments, adopting green chemistry experiments, developing new green chemistry experiments, and giving students choice. Instructors can promote a green chemistry mindset in their students simply by asking for every experiment: What was green? What could be greener?