‘Will we have the will to invest, the will to change?’: green chemistry 25 years on
Father of green chemistry says we’ve shown we can change, but can we transform the chemical sciences?
Twenty-five years ago, John Warner and Paul Anastas challenged the chemistry community. Their influential book, Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice contained the 12 principles of green chemistry and as Anastas says, ‘the whole purpose was to say, in a phrase, we can do better’. The last century of chemistry brought about advances to quality of life, innovations, and inventions, but not without costs to the environment and human health. For Anastas doing better meant keeping the good without all the harm.
Twenty-five years on from the publication of this green chemistry manual he believes green chemistry has been more successful than anyone thought possible. ‘In the 90s, there was a legitimate question, can we do this?’ Anastas recalls. ‘I would say that on this anniversary, the question has been asked and answered, and the answer is yes, we can.’