The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor ACS Student Chapter holds a “Highway Clean-Up” event every semester annually and has just held its first green chemistry “Tie-dye with Sigma Pi” event. The highway was adopted from the Texas Department of Transportation since 1998 by the Sigma Pi Chemistry Club. This event encourages all members of the club and other volunteers from the university or local community to participate in an important service event that aims to keep Texas beautiful. At this event, all volunteers and members of the club arrived at the university for a quick breakfast with coffee, orange juice, and donuts! Volunteers were then given a short explanation of the safety rules and received the gloves, vests, and bags necessary to pick up the trash littering the sides of the highway. Volunteers were split into two groups and each team started on the opposite end of the highway. Occasionally, we stopped to take breaks and took pictures next to the bluebonnets that grew along the highway. Once we were done, we took a picture next to our Adopt-a-Highway sign! Everyone had a great time and gained a better perspective on how their actions, and the actions of others, can affect the environment. In addition, as green chemistry has become a bigger issue of focus in our club, a hands-on event was planned and held this semester encouraging the use of alternatives that are safe for the environment. This year, the theme was alternative, biodegradable dyes using fruits, vegetables, and turmeric! We held a fifteen-minute discussion before the event to compare the use of biodegradable dyes to standard, commercial dyes for club members and advisors. Then, the attendees were able to try it out for themselves! Everyone had a great time and since this event had such a great turnout, we plan to hold it every year in the future.

Green chemistry with the Cru: Serving the community and environment

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.