Chemists Celebrate Earth Week 2021: ‘Reducing our footprint with chemistry’ digital campaign and virtual events

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2021 — The American Chemical Society (ACS) invites all to take part in a digital Chemists Celebrate Earth Week (CCEW) campaign from Sunday, April 18, to Saturday, April 24, with the theme “Reducing Our Footprint with Chemistry.”

Chemistry helps promote a more sustainable world through recyclable plastics, cleaner-burning fuels, environmental monitoring, green chemistry initiatives and other advances. Each year, the CCEW environmental awareness campaign provides an opportunity to cherish the Earth and recognize how we can reduce our impact on it every day. This year, the virtual CCEW campaign will be celebrated during the week of Earth Day. ACS and earthday.org have a three-year agreement to work together to advance their shared goals.

Given recent federal, state and local governmental and world health authority directives and guidelines on social distance and limitations on gatherings, ACS encourages celebrating the campaign by sharing digital resources and planning virtual events. Here are some simple ways to get involved:

• Coordinate – Contact the nearest CCEW coordinator to help plan exciting virtual activities.
• Discover – Use digital educational resources from CCEW. Check out the web version of Celebrating Chemistry in English and Spanish, ACS’ publication for kids.
• Illustrate – Encourage participation in a digital illustrated poem contest, in which local winners advance to a national contest to compete for cash prizes.
• Advocate – Take action by writing to your local leaders to ask them to support science education, sustainable chemistry and solar, wind and fossil energy research and development.
• Share – Join the online celebration with the CCEW design toolkit. Post using #CCEW, #GreenChemistry and #EarthDay2021 to help spread the word about the campaign. RSVP for and share the CCEW event on Facebook.

Attend and share these virtual ACS events happening on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22:

• ACS Kids Zone – Co-sponsored by the ACS Committee on Community Activities and ACS President H. N. Cheng, the #ACSKidsZone virtual science event for families, students and classes takes place 1-2 p.m. EDT. The interactive educational event aimed at children ages 10-13 celebrates #CCEW and #EarthDay2021. It explores how the chemistry of very big molecules can help us understand, solve and prevent environmental problems. Two lucky attendees will receive $25 ACS Bucks for use in the ACS Spring 2021 Store. RSVP for and share on the Kids Zone event on Facebook. Registration, educational materials and more information can be found at www.acs.org/kidszone.
• ACS Webinar – Co-produced by the ACS Green Chemistry Institute and the ACS Committee on Community Activities, this webinar explores the question, “Do we have a method to holistically consider the impacts of our decisions on the planet?” During this free interactive broadcast from 2-3 p.m. EDT, join Global Expertise Principal Rich Helling of Dow and discover how life cycle thinking can help us understand the compromises and trade-offs we all make in working toward a more sustainable world. Registration and more information are at www.acs.org/webinars.

Since 2003, CCEW has united ACS members with schools, businesses and individuals in communicating the importance of green chemistry in everyday life. CCEW occurs annually during the week of Earth Day, April 22. Learn more at www.acs.org/ccew.