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In late July, the GC3 staff held a day long retreat to outline goals and projects for the coming year. We have established an ambitious agenda and look forward to engaging all of our current members (and hopefully new members) in these projects. Some highlights to look forward to in the coming year, include:
In recent weeks, we have worked closely with the staff of Senator Chris Coons (Delaware) in shaping the text of the Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act. This bill, which was introduced last week, builds on the earlier Green Chemistry Research and Development Act. A press release and link to bill can be found here. The GC3 was active in the drafting and outreach on the earlier bill, was instrumental in the inclusion of green chemistry language in the America COMPETES Act, and will be an important voice in raising awareness about this new draft. The GC3’s efforts to engage companies across supply chains in discussions about green chemistry is paying off. On September 4, Walmart and Target (members of the GC3 Retail Leadership Council) hosted a Health and Beauty Summit, convening other retailers, major suppliers of health and beauty products, and others in a dialogue about how to accelerate sustainability in this sector. The Summit marked an important milestone, where major retailers and suppliers came together to discuss collaborative solutions that benefit health and the bottom line. One key outcome of the meeting was recognition of the need for more collaborative green chemistry research and development efforts around key chemical challenges, such as preservatives (a discussion that occurred at the Roundtable in May). We expect the GC3 to play an active role in next steps to the Summit and thank Walmart and Target and all of those who proactively engaged (many of whom are GC3 members) for their leadership in moving this forward. Lastly, I’d like to warmly welcome our new GC3 staff member! Jennifer (Jen) Landry is the GC3’s new Business Manager. Jen has many years of experience managing international trade shows and has very strong web management, outreach, and social media skills that will be a great asset to our organization. She was also born, raised and still lives just down the road from our home – UMass Lowell. Her email is Jennifer_landry@uml.edu. We look forward to working with all of you as we move forward with our ambitious agenda. Sincerely, Joel Tickner, ScD Director
RETAIL
The RLC meets on a monthly basis via conference call to discuss different approaches retailers are using for sourcing and selling safer products. The group plans to continue the dialogue it began with chemical manufacturers in May. Some key questions that the RLC is asking chemical manufacturers include:
These topics will be discussed on a follow-up call in October. Several RLC members, including Kate Heiny from Target, Rob Kaplan from Walmart, and Roger McFadden from Staples will participate on a panel entitled “Retailer Initiatives for Sourcing & Selling Safer Products” at the RILA Sustainability Conference in Minneapolis on October 2, 2014. Sally Edwards will moderate the panel. In addition, the RLC is developing ideas for webinars that are of particular interest to retailers. One topic of interest is training and incentives for merchants to select safer products. If you have ideas for webinar speakers, please contact Sally Edwards at Sally_Edwards@uml.edu.
EDUCATION
Over the summer, the GC3 Education Project Group held an educational webinar entitled “Introduction to Green Engineering,” featuring Julie Zimmerman, Associate Professor at Yale University; Matthew Eckelman, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University; and Julie Schoenung, Professor and Vice Chair at University of California, Davis. The webinar included an overview of green engineering as well as methods for and examples of how green engineering can be applied. If you missed the webinar, the slides are available on the webinar page in the GC3 member’s area. The GC3 Green Chemistry Education group is continuing to build a GC3 Green Chemistry Education Portal that will contain edited webinars and resources for approximately 14 training modules. The next webinar being scheduled this fall will be on marketing green chemistry. We are aiming to get a version of the portal up by the end of the year. The GC3 Education group is also interested in piloting a GC3 student fellows program in the summer of 2015. Under this program, students would apply for a GC3 fellowship/coop to work with a GC3 member company during the summer. If your company is interested in learning more, please contact Saskia van Bergen. We will be holding a call on the program in early October.
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GC3 News |
GC3 Advisory Committee member Ken Zarker from the Washington Department of Ecology is seeking input the creation of Northwest Green Chemistry – an emerging non-profit with the goal of delivering green chemistry innovation. The online survey takes about 20-30 minutes and is an important analytical tool to help develop high value services and tools to support green chemistry implementation. We ask that interested companies fill out the Survey by Friday, September 26.
Items of Interest |
Cleaning up with rent-a-chemical
September 14, 2014 | ensia
US retailers engage supply chain on chemicals in products
September 11, 2014 | ChemicalWatch.com
Sustainability plans take hold in the mainstream
ICIS Chemcial Business in Association with Genomatica
Inside the Walmart-Target products summit
Greenbiz.com
On Plastics, Let's Be Perfectly Clear
September 6, 2014 | CommonDreams.org
The business benefits of EU chemical regulation
Euronews.com
Walmart, Target Push Suppliers to Embrace Green
September 4, 2014 | Chicago Tribune
Events |
10th Annual Green Chemistry & Commerce Council Innvators Roundtable
April 2015
German EPA/GC3 European Roundtable on Sustainable Chemistry
September 24-25, 2015 | Berlin Germany
Event details will be announced soon!
GreenScreen Practitioner Program
October 2014 | GreenScreen® For Safer Chemicals
5th Safer Consumer Products Summit
October 22-24, 2014 | San Francisco, CA USA
Greenbuild International Conference and Expo
Expo: October 22-23, 2014 | Conference: October 22-24, 2014
Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA USA
Catalyzing Change: Northwest Green Chemistry Roundtable 2014
October 28, 2014 | Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, Tacoma, WA USA
Ecochem, the Global Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Event
November 11-13, 2014 | Basel, Switzerland
Greenup - 2014 Michigan Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference
November 12, 2014 | Michigan State University Kellog Center, East Lansing, Michigan
2nd Annual Chemical Watch Regulatory Summit
December 2-3, 2014 | Washington DC
CSPA's 2014 Annual Meeting & 100th Anniversary Celebration
December 7-11, 2014 | Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa, Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA
BizNGO 2014 - 9th Annual Meeting
December 8-9, 2014 | San Francisco, CA USA
Contact |
We're always looking for new content! If you would like to submit an article or event that may be informative to other members of the GC3, please email it to GC3Info@greenchemistryandcommerce.org.
For more information on the work of the GC3, email us or call 978-934-2997.
© 2024 Lowell Center for Sustainable Production • University of Massachusetts Lowell
The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council is a project of The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production,
a research center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.