Almost everyone wants to preserve the environment. People want their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat healthy food and enjoy the natural beauty of the earth. But people also want to make money, and developing green chemistry is a costly undertaking. With the right intellectual property protection, developers of green chemistry can save the planet and their money.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green chemistry, also known as sustainable chemistry, as the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. See www.epa.gov/greenchemistry. In essence, green chemistry seeks to reduce waste, produce safer products and reduce the use of energy and resources.
