What IS Green?
Visit Home PageOur Definition of Green: Advocating protection of the environment.
Green has become the symbolic color of environmentalism, chosen for its association with nature, health, and growth. Here we offer definitions relating to green materials, green options, green brands, green packaging and green methods.
Additionally, for a list of ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS, click here.
Table of Contents
Definitions aggregated by Karin Bigelow
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cotton, organic cotton, hemp, flax, linen, burlap, bamboo, Hessian cloth |
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DEFINITIONS
| 100% compostable. Generally, organic material such as plant and animal matter and other substances originating from living organisms, or artificial materials that are similar enough to plant and animal matter to be put to use by microorganisms. | |
| Biophysical Environment | The physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism |
| Carbon Footprint | A measure of the impact human activities has on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced. |
| Compost | Aerobically decomposed remnants of organic matter. |
| Earth Friendly | See Eco-Friendly. |
| Eco-Friendly | A term referring to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment. Also noted without hyphen as “eco friendly.” |
| Ecology | The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their environment. |
| Ecosystem | A natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment. |
| Environment | The physical and biological factors along with chemical interactions that affect an organism. |
| Environmentally Friendly | |
| Environmental Quality: | A general term which can refer to varied characteristics such as air and water purity or pollution, noise, and the potential effects which such characteristics may have on physical and mental health caused by human activities. |
| Fair Trade | An organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. |
| Fiber Crop | Field crops grown for their fibers, which are used to make paper, cloth, or rope. These crops are generally harvestable after a single growing season. Examples: abaca, jute, cotton, organic cotton, hemp, flax, linen, burlap, bamboo, hessian cloth |
| Green Cleaning | Cleaning to protect health without harming the environment. |
| Green Packaging | Product packaging that is environmentally friendly, using recycled and/or recyclable material, or reduced excess packaging not only to reinforce environmental credentials, but also communicate the eco-friendly image of the brand. |
| Home Composting | Using organic scraps to make soil. Recycling and composting are viewed as more environmentally friendly forms of waste management than traditional burying or burning practices.
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| Integrated Pest Management | Pest control regarded as a more environmentally friendly form than traditional pesticides. Its goal is to use a combination (integration) of methods of less impactive means to reduce pesticide use to a minimum, with pesticides only as the last resort. “Biological Pest Control” is another form of control considered by many experts to be environmentally friendly. |
| Natural | Near to nature. Because there is no international standard for this concept, the International Organization for Standardization considers such a label too vague to be meaningful. |
| Natural Environment | All living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth. |
| Nature Friendly | See Eco-Friendly. |
| Organic Agriculture | Farming methods that are ecological, economical, and socially sustainable, denying the use of agrochemicals and artificial fertilizers. |
| Organic | Derived from living things or containing carbon. This term is often used to convey that a product is the result of organic agriculture. |
| Perpetual Resource: | A resource such as solar radiation, tides, winds and hydro energy that is in no danger of being used in excess of its long-term availability. |
| Recycled, Recycle, Recycling | Recycling is the reprocessing of old materials into new products. Recycling is a key concept of modern waste management and is the third component of the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” waste hierarchy. It is the third component of the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” waste hierarchy, though colloquial usage of “recycling” can also include “reuse”. |
| Reduce | A term in colloquial usage of “recycling” that can also include “reuse.” |
| Regifting | The act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. Money Management International has named the Thursday before Christmas “National Regifting Day.” One example of a formalization of this activity are the white elephant gift exchanges, in which items can be regifted from year to year. The term originated on an episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld (”The Label Maker”) although the practice pre-dates the term substantially. |
| Regiving | The practice of giving away one’s goods to others. Regiving differs from “reusing” in that reusing is usually in the context of no change of ownership. It differs from recycling in that recycling is most often associated with breaking components down and rebuilding into new products. Several rules of etiquette are proposed in popular media regarding regifting; they include rewrapping the gift, not using the gift before regifting it, and not giving the gift back to the original gift-giver. However, a consumer survey indicated that the majority of people regift because they perceive the gift will be appreciated by the receiver, they don’t find regifting rude, and a significant number do so to save money. |
| Renewable Resource | A resource replenished by natural processes at a rate comparable or faster than its rate of consumption by humans or other users. |
| Reuse | Using an item more than once. This includes conventional reuse where the item is used again for the same function and new-life reuse where it is used for a new function. |
| Sustainability | The act of being sustainable, which is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a level that doesn’t harm the environment - indefinitely. |
| Waste Hierarchy | A term that refers to the “3 Rs” reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability. |
| Waste Management | Collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials. |
Source: Wikipedia.com, unless otherwise noted. For a list of eco-friendly materials used in green products, click here.
If you have any suggestions, additions, or comments, we welcome them.
