The Father of Green Chemistry

Paul Anastas was designated a Heinz Distinguished Lecturer through University of Pittsburgh's Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI). Being good students and supporters of MCSI, they let us have lunch with Paul, and it was an awesome experience. He worked for the EPA and as an advisor under Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations and founded the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale University. He had a wealth of knowledge and creativity, but was also humble and instructive.

His message during his afternoon lecture? To stop thinking in the box. During lunch, Paul stated that we often approach sustainability from the completely wrong perspective- his example was a friend who was conducting Nobel Prize-caliber work on vacuum tubes when the transistor was invented and another friend who was winning accolades for his work with Polaroid film all while the digital camera was about to be unleashed to the world. Paul's own journey started with cancer research where he was trying to manufacture or change molecules in order to treat cancer. He had an epiphany in his late 20's, and it was simple: instead of trying to treat cancer, why don't we try to manufacture our chemicals and products so they don't CAUSE cancer. A simple switch, that changes the whole paradigm.