FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 21, 2016

‘Chemists Celebrate Earth Day’: Shining a spotlight on the great indoors that we call home

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2016 — Building a better planet can begin right at home. And to celebrate what is possible within those walls on Earth Day, the American Chemical Society (ACS) is shining a spotlight on “The Great Indoors — Your Home’s Ecosystem.” Geared toward elementary and middle school students, the Society’s “Chemists Celebrate Earth Day” (CCED) activities and demonstrations highlight the important work that chemists and chemical engineers do every day. A full listing of activities and educational resources is available at http://bit.ly/CCED2016.

Earth Day, which is April 22, not only celebrates the magnificence of our planet, but also challenges us to solve the many global issues confronting us. ACS members are at the forefront of these efforts and are striving to ensure the availability of clean, safe drinking water and abundant food supplies, as well as developing cleaner and greener approaches to manufacturing for the benefit of Earth and its people.

The CCED website features a 12-page booklet that explains how plants clean air inside our homes, how to use chemistry to eliminate odors, how scents and smells travel from room to room, and how “hard” water can harm household plumbing. The website also features videos on common household chemistry, including:

Keeping Cool without Killing the Planet”: This video examines the history of refrigeration, as well as the pros and cons of new refrigerants recently approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Why Don’t We Recycle Styrofoam?” Surprisingly, it actually can be recycled, but the prohibitive costs have prompted cities to ban the product instead.

Chemistry and the Flint Water Crisis”: Virginia Tech researchers helped prove that lead levels were dangerously high in Flint’s tap water, even when government officials denied the problem.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With nearly 157,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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