Political engagement in organic chemistry: an advocacy project utilizing green and sustainable chemistry

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the design and implementation of a political advocacy project in an Organic Chemistry II course. The advocacy project was designed to demonstrate that organic, green, and sustainable chemistry can be applied outside of laboratory and industrial settings to help solve issues related to environmental sustainability. After the instructor identified pending state legislation relating to sustainability, students read and summarized the bill. After class discussion, students did further research into questions raised in the discussion and prepared talking points. The talking points were developed into a white paper or postcard in advance of a class trip to the state capitol to share the views with legislators. Student reflections indicated a positive experience with advocacy, a greater understanding of environmental issues that affect them, and better awareness of how they can affect change.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Undergraduate organic chemistry
• political engagement
• sustainable chemistry
• green chemistry
• education

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the collaborations with Andrea Martin, Widener University Chemistry Department, Angie Corbo, Widener University Communications Studies Department, and Wes Leckrone, Widener University Political Science Department on the Sustainable Chemistry course. These collaborations inspired the project described here.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.