By Ressano Machado

and
Kate Anderson
By Ressano Machado and Kate R. Anderson

P lanet Earth provides humans with the natural

resources we need to survive and thrive. Chemistry
is the science that has helped us use both renewable
and nonrenewable resources to transform our lives. Chemists
invent and design many of the materials that make items
In order to create a sustainable future, we must meet the
needs of the billions of people in the world right now, as well as
future generations. Chemistry has a big role to play in improving
our overall sustainability. Through scientific research and
green chemistry (also known as the science of sustainability),
we use every day, from electronics to medicine. Every day, chemists can not only help to clean up the planet, but also keep
our actions as humans have impacts on the earth and the pollution from happening in the first place.
environment. Some of these actions are beneficial, while Green chemistry technology must succeed in three areas:
others are not. cost (it must be cost effective and affordable), safety (it must
The impacts of climate change, fossil fuel use, be safe for the environment), and performance (it must work
deforestation, and water and air pollution are all well- well). As we work toward creating a sustainable future, we
established environmental problems. Chemists have always need more chemists designing materials that are affordable,
cared about the earth. Unfortunately, some materials designed safe, and effective. You can practice chemistry to be more
using chemistry have contributed to the most well-known sustainable in your own life!
challenges facing our planet. We can each do our own part to protect the planet by making
In response to the overwhelming environmental incidents small changes in our lives, like switching to biodegradable
of the time, the first Earth Day, in 1970, mobilized millions plastics and buying less one-time-use stuff. We want to show
of people to take a stand for environmental protections. One you some of the ways chemistry is contributing to cleaning our
such incident was in 1969, when the Cuyahoga River near water, reducing waste, and designing sustainable materials.
Cleveland, OH caught fire from oil and debris pollution in the We hope that you enjoy celebrating Earth Day’s 50th
water. It made national news, sparking outrage. Since then, we birthday during Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2020, with
celebrate Earth Day worldwide every year in the spring, on April the theme of “Protecting Our Planet through Chemistry.”
22. Earth Day reminds us that even though we have made great Remember that actions to protect our planet should be
progress in the past 50 years, we still need to improve our observed and celebrated all year round!
sustainability, and conserve earth’s resources.

Ressano Machado, Ph.D. is Senior Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, WI.
Kate R. Anderson is Director of K-12 Education at Beyond Benign in Wilmington, MA.

2
How the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals
Make the World a Better Place
By George Ruger

T he United Nations has developed 17 Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) to help focus global efforts
for a sustainable, healthy, and safe planet for all. These
goals range from social issues including quality education and
Over the years, more and more plastic waste has been
polluting our waters. This has been harmful to the fish and
other organisms that live in the water. Many accidentally
swallow plastic pieces when they mistake it for food. Others get
gender equality, to environmental issues such as climate action tangled in materials such as fishing line or plastic bags.
and responsible consumption and production. The chemical There are two main ways to reduce our plastic use and
industry has a significant contribution to make for many SDGs, protect “Life Below Water.” The first and most important step
but the science of chemistry helps us achieve all 17. is to cut down on all single-use plastic products. There are
Goal #14, titled Life Below Water, aims to “Conserve and many reusable alternatives to throwaway plastic products. The
sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for second method is to use products made from other materials
sustainable development.” While there are still many problems that are not petroleum-based plastics.
facing our water environments, chemists are working to make Several companies are working to address plastic pollution.
things better. They use technology to create replacements for single-use
items, such as straws, by using seaweed or other renewable
Life Below Water resources as a starting material. The straws look and feel like
Our lakes, streams, and oceans are very important to us for plastic straws, but will break down when they are exposed to
many different reasons. We can get fresh water from streams, water for a long time. Therefore, they will not be harmful to sea
and wildlife also drink from streams and lakes. Many people creatures if those items end up in our waters.
fish or get seafood from our lakes and oceans. Not only do Another technology project is called The Ocean Cleanup,
humans and wildlife benefit from water resources, but there where chemists are working to remove plastic that is already
are many plants that can survive only in and near bodies of in the ocean. Their idea is to place huge floating barriers in the
water. Water is a vital resource for a healthy planet and healthy ocean that are anchored in place so that normal ocean currents
people. We can all do our part to protect freshwater and marine will carry the waste plastics into the floats, where they can be
habitats and resources. collected and removed. It is a huge job, but the floating barriers
do not require energy to operate and can be placed in areas
where there is a lot of plastic trash.

SDG LOGO FOR NON-UN ENTITIES

LOGO 7

VERTICAL LOGO
USAGE LOGO: COLOUR VERSION

George Ruger is an Outside Instrument

Sales Specialist at PID Analyzers, LLC.

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
3
The COLOUR VERSION of the Sustainable Development Goals LIGHT GREY
logo is ONLY to be used on a white or light grey background.
PMS: Cool Gray 1C
See colour values to the right.
R 241 G 241 B 241
H2O, the Places You’ll Go!
By Susan Hershberger

W ater is a huge part of the earth, covering about This is a model of a water molecule.
The red represents one atom of
70 percent of the planet’s surface. Water is an
the element oxygen, and the white
essential part of every living thing on earth, and represents two atoms of the element
exists in three main states of matter. Solid water (ice) is in hydrogen. This is why you might hear
polar ice caps, glaciers, and snow. Liquid water is in oceans, someone call water “H2O”!

lakes, rivers, and underground. Water as a gas, also called

water vapor, is present in the air and clouds.
Heat from the sun changes solid water to liquid water (a distances. If it cools down, it condenses in the form of rain or
process called melting). Heat also changes liquid water to water snow, so maybe our water falls as snow in some mountain range,
vapor (evaporation). As it cools, water vapor becomes liquid again where it might freeze and remain for months or years. When it
(condensation). As it cools even more, liquid water becomes ice melts, it would flow into streams or rivers and might make its way
(freezing). Water molecules evaporate, condense, freeze, and back into a glass of water for someone to enjoy 50 years later!
melt — over and over. Throughout all these cycles, they are still Water in the water cycle can have millions of different stories.
water molecules. Some water could be part of a polluted pond. In other places, it
Water molecules travel around the planet. Over and over, they might be part of a glacier. Or the water could be inside a frog, a
evaporate, condense, freeze, and melt in what is called the water cloud, or a clump of soil. The water cycle helps keep us supplied
cycle. We can imagine some of the travels the water molecules with fresh, clean water. But sometimes the waste and pollution we
might have taken. produce contaminate our water sources — which is bad for all the
For example, take the water that was in a drinking fountain near plants and animals that depend on it.
one of the first Earth Day celebrations. Water flows in the fountain And this is what Earth Day is all about. Water molecules were
and most goes down the drain, where it flows through pipes to the around in 1970 during the first Earth Day, and they have had an
sewage treatment plant. After treatment, it would be released to a amazing journey ever since. Water is essential for all life on earth,
stream or river. The river could carry it to the ocean, where it might and we all need to do what we can to keep it clean.
spend years. Eventually it might evaporate in the heat of the sun.
As the water evaporates, it leaves all the salts and minerals in Susan Hershberger, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Chemistry
the ocean behind. Our water now is a gas, so it could travel great Education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

ALWAYS:
• Work with an adult. • Follow safety warnings or precautions, such as
• R ead and follow all directions for the activity. wearing gloves or tying back long hair.
• Read all warning labels on all materials being used. • Be sure to clean up and dispose of materials
• U se all materials carefully, following the directions properly when you are finished with an activity.
given. • Wash your hands well after every activity.

4
 Safety Suggestions

✓ Safety goggles required

(Re)Cycling ✓ Protective clothing suggested

✓ Caution: hot liquids!

Water
✓ D o not eat or drink any of the materials used in this activity
✓ T horoughly wash hands after this activity
✓ U se hot water from the faucet. Do not use boiling water, which is too hot
and softens some plastics. Get an adult to assist you.
Note: Follow Milli’s Safety Tips found in this issue of Celebrating Chemistry.
By Susan Hershberger

Introduction

C an you recycle water? Is it possible to separate

pure water from polluted water? Find out in the
following investigation, where you create your
very own water system!
How does it work? Where’s the chemistry?
Have you heard of the water cycle? In the water cycle, the sun heats liquid water and
turns it into a gas called water vapor. This process is called evaporation. When the
water evaporates, it leaves everything else in it behind. When the water vapor cools,
Materials it becomes liquid water again. This process is condensation. There’s another article in
• 2 different-sized transparent cups or plastic bottles this issue of Celebrating Chemistry about the water cycle. Be sure to read it!
(recycled if possible!) In your experiment, water vapor rising from the hot water in cup 2 contacted the
Note: One cup must fit on top of the other so that cold bottom of cup 1. You observed condensation on the bottom surface of cup 1 as
the top cup goes only part-way into the bottom drops of pure water.
one. You can make cups by cutting the tops off two The liquid or solid “pollutants” you added to cup 2 did not end up on the bottom of
empty plastic beverage bottles of the same shape. cup 1. Why not? The pollutants need more heat to evaporate than water needs to form
Colorless cups or bottles work best. water vapor, and so they are left behind. The water cycle recycles water around the
• hot tap water (from a faucet) earth through evaporation and condensation.
• “model pollutant” (choose one or more substances
such as food coloring, salt, cooking oil, crushed
pieces of candy, or sand)
• ice cubes or crushed ice Observations
• cold water

My model pollutant is ____________________________________________________

Procedures At the start After 10 minutes After 30 minutes
1. S
 et up your system by placing cup 1 on top of cup 2.
Make sure the bottom surface of cup 1 is well above Cup 1 (top cup)
the expected level of water in cup 2.
Cup 2 (bottom cup)

What is on the bottom of the cup 1? Is there evidence of the added “pollutant” on the bottom of
the cup? How can you tell? Can you see or feel any evidence of the pollutant on the outside of
cup 1? What if you added a different color of food coloring to the ice water in the top cup? How
might that change the experiment?

More Ideas
By testing different “pollutants,” you can investigate the claim that pure water can be separated
2. Remove cup 1. from “polluted water” by turning into water vapor and condensing as the water on the bottom
3. Add hot tap water to cup 2 to a height of about 2 cm. outside of the top bottle. Try the activity with food coloring and water, sand and water, or other
4. Add a small amount of your chosen pollutant to cup 2. combinations.
5. Place ice and cold water in cup 1.
6. Place cup 1 on top of cup 2. Adapted from: Teaching Physical Science through Children’s Literature, by Susan E. Gertz, Dwight
7. Record your observations in a table three times — Portman, and Mickey Sarquis, published by Terrific Science Press with funding from the National
at the beginning, after 10 minutes, and after 30 Science Foundation, 1996. pp 67-76.
minutes.
8. Consider repeating your experiment with another Susan Hershberger, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Chemistry Education at Miami University
“pollutant.” Predict how your results will change. in Oxford, Ohio.
What happened?
5
 Earth Day Timeline: Protecting Our
W e’ve made a lot environmental progress over the 50 years since the first Earth Day in 1970. This timeline highlights
some of the most important milestones and progress we’ve made! Can you match the signs of progress with the
environmental challenges they seek to solve? The first one has already been done for you.

Senator Gaylord Nelson saw a massive oil spill in In the 1980s, we were throwing away a lot of fast
California and came up with the idea for the first food packaging, which was made from materials
Earth Day. that do not degrade in the environment.

In the 1990s, companies that made gas-engine Scientist Rachel Carson noticed that bird
cars found it hard to meet tougher pollution goals, populations were shrinking, because pesticides
but hybrid and electric cars were still expensive and were making the shells of their eggs too thin.
hard to find. She wrote Silent Spring to tell the story.

Scientists discovered a hole growing in the earth’s Citizens grow more concerned about pollution.
protective ozone layer caused by certain chemicals Lawmakers work to better protect our air, water,
(like those in hair sprays, deodorants, and and land.
household cleaners) called chlorofluorocarbons,
or CFCs. We’ve made progress over the 50 years since
the first Earth Day — but there’s still work to be
Much of our electricity is generated by burning done to protect our planet through chemistry.
coal and oil to power the turbines. Concerns about
pollution and climate change make building new
power plants of this type unwise and unpopular.

1 1970
4 1996
Americans celebrate
Chemists help find
the first Earth Day on
safer substitutes for
April 22, 1970. Over
CFCs. Companies
20 million people from
switch to alternative
all over the country
propellant gases or
participate.
mechanical pumps.

3 1986
2 1970 Facing public pressure,
McDonalds starts using
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) biodegradable packaging.
is founded. EPA scientists research pollution, monitor the Today, some of their
environment, and set air and water standards. Later, lawmakers suppliers use trucks that
pass the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. run on biodiesel made
from their cooking oil.
6
Planet for 50 Years and Counting
6 2008
Car batteries improve, and in 1997 Toyota makes the first
reasonably priced hybrid car that uses both gas and electric
energy. Tesla Motors releases its first fully electric vehicle
in 2008, and Nissan follows a few years later with the LEAF. 7 2015
Since then, electric vehicles have grown in popularity. For the first time, more power is produced
from wind, solar, and other clean energy
sources than from coal or oil.

8 2020
More than 1 billion people
5 1999 across the world celebrate
the 50th anniversary of
A pesticide called DDT is banned in 1972. Earth Day — making it
Chemists who develop more environmentally- the largest environmental
friendly pesticides win the Presidential Green event in the world!
Chemistry Challenge Award in 1999 and 2010.

7
Earth-Friendly Plastics
By Emma Corcoran and Jane E. Wissinger

T hink about everything you have used today that contained plastic
— like your toothbrush, shoes, water bottle, snack container,
and more. Plastic is useful because it can be made to be strong
or flexible, colorful or clear, and can stand up to heat or cold. Every year,
humans make more than 300 million tons of plastic — that’s as much as
the weight of 1.5 million blue whales!
Plastic does a lot of good things for humans, but what happens when
we are done using it? Plastic can be recycled, but only 14% actually is.
If humans keep using plastics at current rates, by 2050, our oceans will Safety Suggestions
contain more plastics (by weight) than fish. This is because fossil fuel-
based plastics do not easily break down and can last for hundreds, or even ✓ Safety
 goggles required
thousands of years. ✓ Protective clothing suggested
Fortunately, chemists are finding solutions to these problems using a set ✓ Caution: hot liquids
✓ If the pods made in this activity are to be eaten, all food
of rules called the green chemistry principles. These “green chemists” are
safety rules must be followed;
inventing new earth-friendly plastics, or bioplastics, from plants — which ✓ Wash hands with soap and water before the activity
break down into harmless chemicals once they enter the environment. ✓ Clean/sanitize the work surface and where food will be
One exciting new discovery for replacing plastic water bottles is consumed
“Ooho!,” a product made by Skipping Rocks Lab. Ooho is an edible water ✓ Clean the inside and outside of all appliances
pod, made from seaweed, that you can pop in your mouth and eat to
✓ Use only food grade materials
✓ Separate food items from other reagents
quench your thirst! Or, you can just drink the water and throw the pod ✓ Adults should supervise the use of the blender
into a compost bin, where it will degrade in only six weeks. Oohos were ✓ Thoroughly wash hands after this activity
used during the 2019 London Marathon, preventing the need for 200,000 ✓ Note: The purchased sodium alginate and calcium lactate
plastic water bottles! must be fresh and food grade or better and can be found at
Do the following activity to see how you can make your own edible natural food stores or online at Amazon. The materials must
be stored away from laboratory chemicals.
water pod … and quench your thirst for learning about more earth-
friendly plastics! Note: Follow Milli’s Safety Tips found in this issue of
Celebrating Chemistry.

Materials Procedure
• e lectric blender 1. M easure 1 cup (0.24 L) of cold water and place Let the spoon of sodium alginate sit in the calcium
• 2 bowls: it in a blender. Add 1 or 2 drops of food coloring lactate solution for about 5 seconds and then
• One 1-qt. (about 1 L) if desired. Add ¼ tsp. of sodium alginate to the slowly turn the spoon over so the pod slides into
• One 2- or 3-qt. (2 or 3 L) blender and mix for about 20 seconds. Pour into a the calcium lactate solution. Pull the spoon straight
• ¼ tsp. (1.2 mL) sodium alginate 1-qt. bowl. up out of the bowl. The alginate pod should now be
• 1 tsp. (about 5 mL) calcium Note: an additional 1/8 tsp. (0.6 mL) of alginate floating in the calcium lactate bath. Repeat to make
lactate can be added if the reaction does not work well. as many as up to eight pods at a time.
• measuring spoons Different brands and grades of sodium alginate 4. Let the pods sit for 15-20 minutes. If time is an
• large spoon (for mixing) may react differently. issue, using a smaller measuring spoon will make
• paper towels 2. In the larger bowl, mix together 4 cups of cold wa- the pods form faster.
• optional: food coloring and/ ter with 1 tsp. of calcium lactate with a large spoon 5. Using the large spoon, carefully remove the pods
or pulpless juice until the calcium lactate is dissolved. from the calcium lactate liquid and set them on a
3. Fill a 1-tsp. measuring spoon with the alginate paper towel. These pods can be squished open to
mixture and carefully lower it into the calcium observe the properties of the pods or can be eaten
lactate bowl so that the solution covers the spoon. under adult supervision.

How does it work? Where’s the chemistry?

Sodium alginate is made up of long chains of repeating molecules, similar to necklaces. It comes from a
type of seaweed. When the sodium alginate is placed in the calcium lactate, a chemical reaction occurs Emma Corcoran is a Senior
where the calcium and sodium switch places. The new calcium alginate is different, because now the long Chemistry Major at the University
linked chains begin attaching to each other, a little like a chain link fence. This is called cross-linking. The of Minnesota and Jane E.
connected strands of calcium alginate form the jelly-like outside of the pod. The water is trapped inside Wissinger, Ph.D. is a Professor
the pod as the cross-linked polymer forms on the teaspoon while it is carefully dropped in the solution. of Chemistry at the University of
Minnesota.
8
Plants: Perfect Planet
Protectors!
By Neal Abrams

L ong before any animals were roaming across the earth,

trees were here helping to make our planet the green,
inhabitable place it is today.
Why do trees play such a vital role on the earth? Trees are
tall plants with wooden trunks, a canopy of leaves or needles,
and roots. Tree leaves contain an important chemical called
chlorophyll, which uses the energy in sunlight to convert carbon How do chemists play a role in the relationship between trees
dioxide and water into all the different chemical compounds trees and the earth? Almost every organic compound, from medicines
need to grow and reproduce. to plastic bags, can be made from the molecules found in trees.
Trees and plants can make their own food. Trees also produce But today most chemicals are made from fossil fuels that are
the oxygen gas that all animals need to breathe. This important found underground. Trees were once the main source of chemical
process is known as photosynthesis. Below the trunk, the root compounds before the discovery of crude oil!
system brings in nutrients and water found in the soil. This One of the oldest chemical processes that uses wood is paper
complex process allows trees to protect the planet with their own making. This process can involve harsh chemicals, and there
built-in biochemistry. But how? was a time when the paper making industry created a lot of
Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to pollution. Recently, chemists have been able to develop cleaner
lower greenhouse gas levels and slow climate change. The roots ways to make paper by using hot water, high pressure, and other
also anchor the soil and help prevent erosion during extreme chemicals that are recycled for reuse.
weather events. The roots can also remove environmental toxins Chemists are also developing technologies to replace gasoline
through a process called phytoremediation. Older trees even with new fuels made from wood. Someday soon you might
help decrease the risk of forest fires by limiting the amount of be able to say you have a tree-powered car! There are even
light that shines through the canopy, which prevents flammable industries developing new plastic materials from wood products
smaller plants from growing at all. The tree trunk is made of that are composted or recycled without polluting the planet.
wood and is also very valuable. Wood is used as a common
building material and as a fuel for heating and cooking. Trees are Neal Abrams, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Chemistry,
part of an important relationship for protecting our planet. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

9
 The Adventures of
Meg A. Mole,
Future Chemist Dr. John C. Warner
In honor of this year’s Chemists Celebrate Earth Week
theme, “Protecting Our Planet through Chemistry,” I traveled
extra careful, we always wear gloves and eye protection. If someone
came to our labs, they would find medicines and petri dishes, big
pieces of wood, and presses to make boards. We have molding
to Wilmington, Massachusetts, USA, to meet with Dr. John C.
equipment to make plastics, equipment to make and measure solar
Warner, President and Chief Technology Officer at The Warner
energy, and various devices and instruments to help us invent ways
Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry.
to clean up the oceans and help keep them clean.”
I read on the Institute’s website that their team “creates
Dr. Warner explained that children can come into contact with his
technologies and processes that are functional, cost-effective, and
work every day. “Our inventions might include the clothes kids wear,
environmentally benign.” I asked Dr. Warner if he could tell me a
the roads they drive on, and the medicines they take.” He also said,
little more about what that work involves.
“You might even know some people who color their hair using some
“We invent new products that people need, and that don’t hurt
of our inventions!” The work they do also “helps protect children
the planet,” Dr. Warner told me. “We are a chemistry laboratory,
from being exposed to dangerous things.”
so we have dozens of cool pieces of equipment that either make or
Growing up, Dr. Warner was interested in science, but he was
measure things. Most of the things we work with are safe, but to be
also very interested in music. He did some science experiments
around the house as a child. “I used to do a lot of things with
electricity,” he said. “My dad was an electrician, and I would make
electromagnets and different alarm systems.” Later he decided to
Word Search become a scientist because he “wanted to use creativity to make the
Try to find the words listed below – they can be horizontal, world a better place.”
vertical or diagonal, and read forward or backward! I asked Dr. Warner what he thought was the best thing about
being a scientist. “You can be really creative while making new
things that will help people and the environment,” he said. “I get to
invent things that will help make the world better.”
I really enjoyed my visit to Massachusetts to meet with Dr. John
C. Warner. We should all be very thankful for scientists like him who
spend every single day “Protecting Our Planet through Chemistry”!

Personal Profile
• A ccomplishment you are proud of
Helping to create the Warner Babcock Institute and Beyond
Benign, a program that makes resources for green chemistry
teachers
• Favorite pastime/hobby
Playing music
• Very interesting project you were a part of
In August 2019, I testified to the U.S. Congress on a bill called
BIODEGRADABLE MOLECULE RESOURCE
“The Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act
GREEN CHEMISTRY PLASTIC SUSTAINABILITY
of 2019”
COMPOST POLLUTION WASTE
• About your family
ENVIRONMENT RENEWABLE
They are all amazing, and I am lucky to have them! My family
For answers to the word search, please visit Celebrating Chemistry
includes my wife Amy, daughters Joanna, Libby, Amy, and
online at www.acs.org/ccew. Natalie, a son, Tom, and also my two brothers.

10
Composting Chemistry By Regina Malczewski

Safety Suggestions

✓ Safety goggles are required

✓  rotective clothing suggested or old clothing for working in a garden
P
✓  loves should be worn when working in the compost pile
G
✓  o not eat or drink any of the materials used in this activity
D
✓ T horoughly wash hands after this activity
Note: Follow Milli’s Safety Tips found in this issue of Celebrating Chemistry.

Introduction Test the samples

Y
ou may have heard people talking about composting and 1. C hoose your containers and label them with a permanent marker. Take photos
wondered what all the fuss was about … or maybe you if you like, and weigh them if you have a scale. How stiff or flexible are the
already have your own backyard compost bin! Composting materials? How strong or slimy? Record your findings.
is a way of using natural chemistry to decompose food and yard 2. Hypothesize (predict) the order in which your samples will decompose.
materials. This process breaks down the material into smaller 3. Bury your samples in the compost pile, and remember where you put them!
“building blocks” that can be used to make new plants and animals. 4. Leave the samples buried for at least 2 weeks. Do not mix or disturb them during
This process is how nature recycles! that time. You may add more waste and grounds on top.
Unfortunately, many man-made materials, like plastics, cannot 5. After two weeks, carefully dig up your samples. Remove any dirt or worms so that
be broken down in this way. Chemists are working on new kinds you can see more of the sample.
of plastics and materials that are more friendly to the environment, 6. Rinse with water and allow the samples to air-dry, especially before weighing them.
including compostable and biodegradable plastics. For a plastic 7. Make observations and take some photos if you want. Record your results and
to be called compostable, it has to break down in 90 days or less. observations. Do you notice any signs of decomposition?
Some of these new materials can actually break down in your 8. Rebury the current samples if you wish. Dig up your containers every few weeks
backyard compost pile, just like fruits and vegetables! and examine them. Notice when or if the containers fall apart or if you can’t find
This experiment tests different kinds of containers to see how them. Some containers may remain unchanged. Make observations and take
composting works. It takes a couple months, so you must be photos as you go.
patient as nature takes its course!
Observations
Materials How long do different materials take to change (if they do at all)? How did the “earth-
• C ompost pile (you can work with an adult to start one from yard friendly” plastics compare to the regular plastics? Which do you think is better for the
and plant waste) environment?
• Pitchfork or shovel
• Food containers or take-out boxes to test
• A permanent marker How does it work? / Where’s the chemistry?
• Optional materials and supplies: Living things in the soil — mainly bacteria, fungi, and worms — break down
• a kitchen scale that can measure weights as small as one gram complex materials like plants into simpler substances. These substances are
• camera or phone for taking photos made from elements like phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen, so that plants can
Note: Be sure that at least one take-out container is compostable. use them to grow and thrive. Composting is how nature recycles. By decaying
Brands include HeloGreen, Repurpose, and Eco-Products. and breaking down dead plants and animals, nature uses their “building blocks”
to help new living things grow.
Procedure This is why many chemists are thinking up new ways to make food containers.
Some are experimenting with new polymers made from plant and other materials.
Start a compost pile
These can help make the containers stronger, more microwaveable, or oil-
You will need a compost pile. It does not need to be big, or well-
resistant. and broken down by soil worms, fungi, and bacteria … so they will take
established, but you do need to have some degraded material to
up less space in the landfill!
do the test. If you are starting one, begin at least 1 month ahead of
Some of the containers in our experiment are examples of these new
trying this activity — even longer if possible! materials. They break down in the environment and add nutrients to the
Gather some yard or vegetable/plant waste in a designated spot compost. Later, you can add the compost to turn regular dirt into the kind that
and layer it with a generous amount of garden dirt (which contains plants grow best in. Now you can use what you have learned to make great soil
worms and bacteria), and coffee grounds if you have them. Meat and for your home or community garden. Happy composting!
fats can be composted, but don’t put them in your backyard compost
pile, because they could attract pests! Water your compost pile
weekly, until it is established. Each month, use a pitchfork or shovel Regina Malczewski, Ph.D. is a retired biochemist who worked at Dow Corning
to mix the compost pile. Corporation in Midland, MI.

11
 About the American Chemical Society
Words to Know The American Chemical Society (ACS)
Atom – the smallest part of an element that Molecule – the smallest unit of a chemical is the largest scientific organization
has the characteristics of the element. compound. in the world. ACS members are mostly
Biodegradable – capable of being Natural resources – materials found in chemists, chemical engineers, and other professionals who
decomposed by bacteria or other living nature that have practical use and value to work in chemistry or chemistry-related jobs. The ACS has over
organisms. people.
150,000 members. ACS members live in the United States
Bioplastics – plastics made from • Renewable – a resource that cannot be
and different countries around the world. Members of the
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PRODUCTION TEAM The activities described in this publication are intended for children under the direct supervision of adults.
Allison Tau, Editor Rhonda Saunders, Designer The American Chemical Society cannot be responsible for any accidents or injuries that may result from
Eric Stewart, Copyeditor Jim Starr, Illustrator conducting the activities without proper supervision, from not specifically following directions, or from
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The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not reflect the views
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Lynn Hogue, Consultant Ashley Neybert, Accessibility Reviewer REFERENCES

Bettyann Howson, Safety Reviewer Ingrid Montes, Translation Reviewer
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The articles and activities used in this publication were written by theme team © 2020 American Chemical Society
members of the ACS Committee on Community Activities (CCA) under the leadership Division of Education, Office of Science Outreach
of Holly Davis. Meg A. Mole’s interview was written by Kara KasaKaitas. Lastly, 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
800-227-5558 • [email protected] • www.acs.org/outreach
ACS would like to acknowledge editorial contributions from its partners at Earth Day
Network, Tracey Ritchie, and Beyond Benign, Kate R. Anderson. Want to learn more about Dr. B. Green and the other moles?
Check out www.acs.org/moles.
B. Green