Tie-Dyeing with Foraged Acorns and Rust: A Workshop Connecting Green Chemistry and Environmental Science

A two-part workshop connecting environmental science topics and green chemistry principles for undergraduate students is described. Students first collect acorns and rusted metal for dye and mordant baths. After 2 weeks they are invited back to tie-dye cotton fabric using dye baths prepared from steeped acorns and modify these colors using mordant solutions. This workshop allows students to evaluate how using different renewable food or nonfood biomass feedstocks (acorn seeds vs cupules) can create different impacts across chemistry and environmental science. During the workshop, students examine the role of acorns as part of local food systems, and the impacts iron mordants have on fabric dyed with natural tannins, and they design a tie-dye pattern. This activity is well-suited for the fall, when acorns drop from oak trees, and it invites students to come together for interdisciplinary hands-on activities. It serves to highlight green chemistry through the use of renewable and waste feedstocks and uses systems thinking activities to address the potential impacts of selecting different biomass feedstocks. By exploring connections between science and our local environments and the relevance, beauty, and utility of natural renewable chemicals, students from different backgrounds are better able to discuss important connections between green chemistry and environmental science.