LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 15, 2009) — Florida Southern College's student chapter of the American Chemical Society has received an Outstanding Chapter Award and a Green Chemistry Award for its activities during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Outstanding Chapter Awards are given to recognize chapters that do an excellent job of bringing in speakers, organizing activities, and participating in outreach and service opportunities. Award-winning chapters will be recognized in the November/December issue of inChemistry magazine and at the ACS Student Affiliates Chapter Award Ceremony at the 239th ACS National Meeting in San Francisco. Reviewers cited the chapters outreach efforts with all ages, from preschool classes to high school chemistry clubs.

Green Chemistry chapters are selected by the Society Committee on Education and the ACS Green Chemistry Institute. Fifty-five student ACS chapters received that distinction this year. For Earth Day, Florida Southerns chapter led a campaign to educate the community about the "carbon footprint" left by various electronic devices. ACS chapter members made a poster that explained the amount of carbon emitted in an hour from common activities. They set up a table in the college cafeteria talked with students about using less electricity and water in the coming week and asked them to sign pledge cards to that effect.