This semester, I am taking my first lab class at Penn State. As a chemical engineering major, time in the lab is very important to me, as the techniques and skills I learn there will be applied to my everyday life in the future. I am in Chem 213W, the writing-intensive organic chemistry lab here. Without a doubt, it has been one of the hardest and stressful classes I have taken here. However, spending time in a new setting that I am not used to caused my observant eyes to watch out for patterns. Science is perceived as a great thing, it is innovations for human good. For example, scientists are working on developing a cure for diseases, as well as saving the environment from what is inevitable doom.

However, I frequently observe the lab using single-use plastic and glass, overusing chemicals such as acetone, and not promoting sustainable practices. For example, students go through multiple pairs of latex gloves per lab, and all of these are thrown away, instead of finding an alternative way to recycle them. Each lab session, we are required to acetone rinse our glassware before and after using it to ensure that there are no remnants left from previous experiments. The used acetone is disposed of in a large lab waste container that is filled with a combination of used and contaminated substances. According to Princeton University’s environment safety website, these waste containers must be brought to special chemical treating facilities where they are safely altered and disposed of properly.

Chemistry lab produces several of these large containers weekly, which has the potential to be reduced if lab classes were regulated the overuse. Much of the chemicals that are disposed of were never used. Students simply collect too much of the reactant chemicals and do not use all of it in the experiment.

There is no doubt that lab classes are necessary and important. They are what teach future scientists where their home will be. They keep Penn State’s scientists and engineers competitive with all the others in the world. The lab is very important to me, but so is the environment. Environmental education on the disposal of lab wastes would be a great lesson to teach. Then, students will know what happens to the excess chemicals that are not used and raise awareness for the matter. Through education, change can occur to better the environment.

With the recent snow and ice storm that hit the Penn State area over the weekend, I have observed the over and under use of anti-slip substances on walkways and roads. I have found that Penn State uses calcium chloride as the main ice melting method. Calcium chloride is very useful for this, as its effectiveness can be explained in simple chemistry terms. The “Van’t Hoff Factor” is a measurement of how solutes impact different properties of a solution. In terms of calcium chloride’s effectiveness on melting ice, the key property that is being changed in freezing point. As the water in the ice interacts with calcium chloride, the atoms mix and reach equilibrium. Due to the fact that calcium chloride causes water to freeze at the lower temperature, the ice melts.

However, the usage of calcium chloride, and any other type of melting salts, have negative impacts on the environment. At some point, the snow will eventually melt. Unfortunately, the melting solution will not be pure water, but it will be an aqueous solution containing the salts. As this solution floods into drains, runs downstream in rivers, and gets absorbed by plants, the environment suffers from the extra solutes. According to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual, the solutes negatively impact the soil health and pollute groundwater. This is eventually shown through physical objects like trees, as seen in the image below.

Effect of chloride on roadside trees. Source

Penn State can do its part in reducing the negative impacts on the environment. The first step can be reducing the amount of salt being used. In some areas, I have observed an obscene amount of salt being spread. This is not only unnecessarily harmful to the environment, but it is a waste of money as well. As seen in the image I took below just two days after the storm, piles of salt still remain on the ground.

Excess salt use by Davey Lab. Photo taken: 1/20/20

This scenario brings about an ethical dilemma, as the caution for the environment seems to require a sacrifice for the safety of pedestrians and drivers. According to Hollis Reddington from the University Of Alaska Anchorage, states like Alaska where wild animals roam free near roads that people use, the state government has prohibited the use of salt on roads. A viable and ethically sound solution may be using sand on the roads. Sand seemingly has minimal impact on the environment, and may also be cheaper than salt. However, many articles claim that sand may have its own negatives also, such as being more harmful to the roads than salt.

There is no doubt that issues with the environment are commonly spoken of today in just about every discipline. Through politics, policy with the environment plays a huge role in attracting voters and donors. In business, ethics and regulation in regards to the environment cause companies to alter their product or packaging to better suit these rules. In science and engineering, complete disciplines are dedicated to analyzing what humans do and have done to the environment, and how that can be improved or minimized. Environmental science and engineering expose the quantitative facts of human impact on the environment and propose innovative solutions to help. As an engineering student myself, I go about my daily life seeking improvement. I seek situations that can be optimized or performed in a better way. I stay cautious about what activities cause the most impact on the environment and practice more of what does not.

Schools and colleges are guilty of contributing negatively to the environment. Excess use of bussing, paper, and poor recycling programs have taught people to be ignorant. However, the recent improvements in education in recycling efforts and environmentally friendly living as caused schools to become more sustainable. Although Penn State makes incredible efforts in minimizing its impact on the environment, I recently saw a possibility for improvement. I began cycling at the White Building during finals week last semester. These classes take place multiple time every day in a dark room with speakers and a strip of LED lights that surrounds three of the four walls.

Image 1: Representative image of a typical cycling class: Source

It is no new knowledge that exercise equipment can generate electricity. Through the number of bikes that are used per session, along with the multitude of sessions run every day, there is great potential to have the cycling room to be self-powered. Although the wiring and technological components would require an initial investment, this concept can be extrapolated to the cardio machines in both the IM and White Building. Through efficient use of human-generated electricity, entire rooms and hallways can be illuminated. Although this entire concept seems so far out of reach, it is actually being done at many gyms. For example, a gym in downtown Sacramento recuperated from its initial investment in electricity generating bikes within one year. This gym reported increased motivation in cycling classes, and people felt that pedaling harder had more benefits than just for themselves.

Image 2: Users at Sacramento Eco Fitness: Source

The future of Penn State cycling classes and cardio rooms remain slow improving. However, subtle changes in awareness and knowledge may motivate students to propose a change.