Final Thoughts on Green Chemistry
I once again took my carbon footprint score. Previously, I got a score of 25 tons. Apparently, that has gone up by two tons and my new score is 27 tons. Ouch. I thought I had worked hard to unplug appliances a bit more, but I do not think this test could really capture that. After all, “I sometimes make an effort to unplug appliances” (paraphrase, not the actual wording) is still true. I think it might have hurt me that I have a more realistic estimate of the amount of miles I drive per year now. The increase also could simply have to do with some of my educated guesses being inconsistent. I do not keep close track of all of my activities.
For those keeping score at home, I would apparently be able to offset that amount of carbon with $540. That’s one less trip to the casino, I guess!
Whether I offset or not, I find it interesting that my carbon footprint is relevant to evaluating how much I learned over the course of the semester. In a philosophy course, I have read a number of arguments for why the natural sciences are value-laden. This subjectivity does not imply that sciences fail to shed understanding on the objective world. It simply means that it is futile to pretend that scientific observation is performed in a vacuum sealed away from the humans conducting the observation.
Green Chemistry is a strong example of values in science. Why do Green Chemistry? That is not a question that can be answered by empirical observation. There is nothing in nature that says human beings ought to be concerned with the environment. Someone will quickly respond: what about all of the harmony in nature that shows that there is some kind of natural tendency of every other species on the planet to live at peace with nature? I would respond by saying that if nature was so smart, why are human beings capable of such great destruction? Nature should have thought that one through before allowing human beings to naturally develop such capacities.
My point is that there is no such law of nature that dictates human action on a moral level. The decision to pursue Green Chemistry is a decision that is made based on a certain set of principles that are implicitly assumed valuable. For one, Green Chemistry assumes that human beings ought to chemistry. Why not just quit chemistry if it causes so many environmental problems? I am all for that, personally. Chemistry is such a dreadfully dull subject!
We are all very fortunate that my views of chemistry are not common. Chemistry does provide human beings with a lot advantages. But the only way we determine that chemistry is advantageous is because we hold values. These values drive us to pursue chemistry. I doubt that chemistry would have developed if it relied on people simply taking pleasure in drawing lines connecting letters.
Similarly, human value creates the concern for the environment at the foundation of Green Chemistry. I will not exit this class knowing a great deal more about chemistry. The class has instead exposed me to many of the issues that Green Chemistry finds important. The values developed during this course are not some unimportant, secondary topic behind the chemistry concepts. This is why the carbon footprint ultimately does provide an evaluation of my coursework. While it seems that I have “failed” then, I feel like the higher score on the carbon footprint simply reflects the fact that my conscience has developed over the semester. I am more aware of ways in which I do have an impact on the environment and am better able to answer the questions.
I now have an understanding of the environmental challenges faced by Green Chemistry and a number of ways people seek to solve these problems. I am more aware now when I keep my cell phone charger plugged in or if I fail to turn the water off while brushing my teeth. It will be interesting to see how my carbon footprint changes if I take it again next year. I suspect that it will decrease a bit. In a way, even though that concerns human action and not chemistry, I think that is important to Green Chemistry.
And if I ever do a chemistry experiment, I will know to avoid polluting the environment.
