Reflection

I'd describe the field of Green Chemistry as finding a way to completely eliminate the chemicals or products that harm the environment or to just substitute something that doesn't have the same effect on the environment, but will produce the desired product.  In the long run Green Chemistry can also produce safer products.

The examples that struck me as the most intriguing are that computer chips are made using chemicals that are harmful to the environment, water, and energy.  Carbon dioxide is now being used instead of Benzene or Xylene, both flammable chemicals.

Three major chemical principals that I now understand that I didn't before would be the one about atom economy that basically says to design synthetic methods to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.  The second principle that I now understand would be about designing safer chemicals, which basically says to design chemical products to affect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.  The last principle that I now understand would be about designing degradation, which basically says to design chemical products so they break down into innocuous products that don't persist in the environment

http://www.globalarcade.org/sv/chemical.html