[Enesta Jones] 
Hello and welcome 
to Green Scene.
I'm Enesta Jones of the 
Office of Public Affairs.
Green chemistry encourages 
innovation and promotes products
that are both environmentally 
and economically sustainable.
To tell us more about 
green chemistry,
the benefits, and how 
you can get involved
is Rich Engler of EPA's Office 
of Pollution Prevention
and Toxics.
Welcome to the
show, Rich.
[Rich Engler] 
It's a real pleasure 
to be here.
Thank you.
[Enesta Jones] 
There's such variation 
on green chemistry.
What exactly is it, 
in laymen's terms?
[Rich Engler] 
Well, in a nutshell, 
green chemistry is
cleaner, cheaper, 
smarter chemistry.
It's pollution prevention 
at the molecular level.
The design of environmentally 
preferable products
and processes can reduce waste, 
eliminate costly end-of-pipe
treatments, lead to 
safer products,
and save resources such 
as energy and water.
And these things 
benefit everybody;
they benefit the companies, 
they benefit workers,
the general public, 
and the environment.
[Enesta Jones] 
And how does it differ 
from traditional methods
to reduce pollution?
Is it cheaper,
for instance?
[Rich Engler] 
Well, in traditional chemistry 
you would mix your ingredients
together and isolate your 
product, but you might use
a dangerous process, you might 
make hazardous waste,
or the product that you're 
making might actually
be hazardous.
And anytime you have those sorts 
of hazards you need to manage
exposures to them.
So, for instance, you might 
need worker protections
or waste treatment.
With green chemistry, 
hazard is considered
up front during the design, 
and you look to use less
hazardous ingredients, 
make safer products,
and make a lot
less waste.
Of course that means it's 
a lot cheaper as well.
You can make your materials much 
more efficiently and save money
on the back end without the 
end-of-pipe treatments.
[Enesta Jones] 
Let's talk about 
EPA's involvement.
How does the agency promote and 
support green chemistry?
[Rich Engler] 
Well, we have a number of 
activities that promote
green chemistry.
We do outreach where we'll 
go out and speak at
scientific meetings, 
trade associations,
at universities,
and companies.
We'll also enter into 
partnerships with
organizations such as the 
American Chemical Society
to develop educational materials 
so that the next generation of
chemists have the tools that 
they need to develop --
to be green chemists.
We've also got recognition and 
we have an awards program called
the Presidential Green 
Chemistry Challenge Awards,
and this prestigious award is 
a voluntary partnership with
a number of organizations, 
other federal agencies,
industry, academia, and 
scientific societies,
and it's an opportunity 
to recognize outstanding
innovations that prevent 
pollution at the source.
Nominations -- we receive 
nominations, and they're judged
by a panel of technical 
experts convened by the
American Chemical Society, 
and typically five awards
are given to industry, 
to a small business,
and to an academic 
investigator.
[Enesta Jones] 
Are there any fruits 
of our labor?
For instance, are there results 
from our hard work?
[Rich Engler] 
Actually, in fact there are, 
and the results are impressive.
Through 2009, in the 14 years 
of the Challenge,
the award-winning technologies 
are preventing 193 million
pounds -- the user generation 
of 193 million pounds of
hazardous substances.
That's enough to fill 900 
railroad tank cars,
or a train 11 miles long.
In addition, award-winning 
technologies are saving
21 billion gallons of water, 
or enough for a city
of 820,000 people.
Also, there's 57 million pounds 
of CO2 emissions are prevented,
which is roughly the equivalent 
of taking 6,000 cars off
the road.
And that's on top of the tens 
of millions of dollars that
the companies and their 
customers are saving.
And this is just the 
tip of the iceberg.
All the nominated technologies, 
when you add up the benefits of
all the nominated technologies, 
it's very much more.
[Enesta Jones] 
Wow, that's impressive and both 
beneficial for our environment
and for people.
Rich, can you give us some 
examples of green chemistry
in the lives of people 
like you and I?
[Rich Engler] 
Sure, let's take paint.
We're all familiar with that 
new paint smell when you go
into a freshly
painted room.
That odor is the result of 
volatile organic compounds
that are added 
to the paint.
And there are paints right now 
on the market that have
essentially no volatile 
component.
And in 2005 we gave an award 
to a bio-based additive
for water-based
latex paints.
These paints have better scrub 
resistance, better opacity,
and essentially
no odor.
In 2009, this year, we're giving 
an award for a breakthrough for
oil-based paints.
Another example
is carpet tile.
This is carpet that you might 
typically find in an office
or a commercial setting.
We gave an award in 2003 to a 
carpet tile that's made from
less hazardous substances and 
is completely recyclable,
and this is also commercially 
available right now.
And these are just two of the 
many, many examples that
we have on our 
Web site.
[Enesta Jones] 
Thank you for being 
here today, Rich.
[Rich Engler] 
It's been a real pleasure.
Thank you very much.
[Enesta Jones] 
For more information on the 2009 
Presidential Green Chemistry
Challenge Award winners and 
EPA's green chemistry program,
visit 
www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
See you next time 
on Green Scene.