Gambatte!

The Japanese have a wonderful word, “Gambatte”, which has no equivalent in English. It means something like a mixture of “Do your best/keep your spirits up/don't give up/go for it!”. When you see someone striving for a worthy goal but facing adversity, it's the perfect expression of encouragement.

All of us in the green and sustainable chemistry community are striving for a worthy goal, but facing adversity. The pandemic has made everything more difficult, added stress to our lives, and distracted everyone from the environmental cause. When masks and vaccinations are the focus of attention, it is harder to see the value in protecting the environment. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. New reports of promising vaccinations suggest that an end to the pandemic crisis might be in sight, probably not in time to save the first half of 2021, but at least the pandemic will fade away. But then what? Will we have lost two years of effort towards saving the environment, reducing global warming, and moving to a more sustainable society? I hope not! I am not sure we can afford to lose two years. That means that your research efforts in green and sustainable chemistry ARE very much worthwhile, even during a pandemic. At the end of this trying time, society will once again pay attention to the environment and will appreciate the advances in sustainable science and technology that we have managed to achieve in the interim.

So now is the best time for every one of us to turn to our colleagues in the green and sustainable community, and offer each other encouragement. A kind word means so much when someone is feeling down!

We at the journal Green Chemistry, appreciate all of your efforts, hope you are in good health and send you a hearty “Gambatte!”

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