In the Sigma Pi Chemistry club, we believe that as chemists, we have a duty to do our part to serve the community and protect the environment. One of the ways that our ACS chapter does this is through a bi-annual “Highway Clean-Up” event. In 1998, Sigma Pi adopted a section of a local highway from the Texas Department of Transportation and has since gone back every semester with a group of our members to clean up the litter and other discarded items in the area. This event typically starts with the volunteers arriving at the university for a light breakfast, during which the organization officers give a safety briefing and hand out gloves, vests, and trash bags to all of the participants. Next, the group is divided into teams and we begin cleaning the highway. The event usually ends with a group picture and everyone going about the rest of the day. This event gives individuals a better perspective on the environmental impact one’s actions can have— even with something as seemingly meaningless as littering. <br/>For Earth Day 2021, our student chapter celebrated Earth Day with our annual  “Tie-Dye with Sigma Pi” event. During this event, our members were given a brief lecture on different dyes and pigments that occur in nature and are also given the opportunity to use various dyes prepared by the organization’s officers to tie-dye anything ranging from t-shirts to socks and even lab coats. These dyes were made from various fruits, vegetables, and spices. Much of the produce used to make the dyes had anthocyanin pigments, which change color depending on the pH. So we used baking soda and vinegar to achieve the colors that we wanted. Members usually enjoy this activity because it presents “green chemistry” in a way that is very tangible to them. It is typically a really popular event, and as such it has become one of the main events in our chapter. For the next Earth Day, our chapter will be setting up a booth at our campus’ student union building from about 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. We plan to educate the students on campus on how they can efficiently recycle through a demonstration. We also plan to pass out liquid nitrogen soda slushies while people are watching our green-living demonstration.

Sigma Pi goes green: The UMHB chemistry club protects the environment

ACS Spring 2022

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