In 1994 the first edition of Chemistry in Context (a project of the ACS) was published. This work, for non-science majors, was a groundbreaking book in that it taught chemistry in the context of major social, political, economic and ethical issues on a “need to know” basis. Another groundbreaking event for this book occurred in the 3rd edition (2000) with the infusion of modest amounts of green chemistry. For the 7th edition, the editor–in-chief (Catherine Middlecamp) has set a goal of having sustainability and green chemistry as major theme throughout the text. This goal is in harmony with the ACS mission statement1 “To advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people” and a 2005 ACS report2 that concluded “By 2015, the chemistry enterprise will be judged under a new paradigm of sustainability. Sustainable operations will become both economically and ethically essential.” This presentation will highlight some of the issues and examples of sustainability and green chemistry that relate to the content of this text.

1. http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1390&content_id=WPCP_007471&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1

2. http://chemistry.org/chemistryenterprise2015.html