ENVIRONMENTAL GLOSSARY

The following list has been found on the Off-Grid website. They list the following sources:

New Oxford American Dictionary, Encarta, Treehugger.com, timeforchange.org, greenwashing.net, thegreenguide.org, Stanford University School of Earth Sciences and Organic Trade Association.



CARBON FOOTPRINT, n.: the total amount of greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly to support human activities. In other words, when you drive a car, heat your house or fly in an airplane, you create a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of carbon dioxide, which were created by your activities, i.e. it is the measure of the impact human activities have on the environment

CARBON NEUTRAL, adj.: being carbon neutral involves calculating your total climate-changing carbon emissions, reducing them where possible, and then balancing your remaining emissions, often by purchasing a carbon offset.



CARBON OFFSETS, n.: funding projects that reduce our emissions of carbon, such as paying to plant new trees or investing in "green" technologies, such as solar and wind power, in order to balance or offset the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere as a result of intensive use of fossil fuels, like oir or coal.


GLOBAL WARMING, n.: an increase in the planet's temperatures, believed to be caused in part by the greenhouse effect.

GREEN LIVING, n.: a lifestyle intended to ensure that one's impact on the environment is as minimal (or as positive) as possible.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT, n.: the warming of earth's atmosphere as a result of atmospheric pollution by gases. It is now feared that the warming effects are being undesirably increased by humans, causing climate changes and melting polar icecaps.


GREENWASHING, n.: what corporations do when they try to make themselves look more environmentally friendly than they really are, like when they cover up their polluting practices with an eco-friendly marketing campaign. Sometimes companies greenwash by making misleading claims about the environmental benefits of their products and industries.


OFF THE GRID, OFF-GRID, n, adj.: living in a self-sufficient way without relying on one or more public utilities.


ORGANIC, adj.: food that is grown without the use of persistent pesticides and fertilizers. Organic foods are minimally processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation to maintain the integrity of the food.


SUSTAINABLE, adj.: meeting the needs of the present without damaging the ability of future generations to meet their needs. When a process is sustainable, it can be carried out over and over without negative environmental effects or impossibly high costs.





From "This Week's Best Invented Words", a column in Toronto Star:

CARBON HOOFPRINT, n.: the environmental impact of agriculture, including energy costs to grow feed, and greenhouse gases emitted by cattle (wsj.com)



The latest additions to Chambers Dictionary

ELECTROSMOG, n.: electromagnetic fields emitted by computers and mobile phones



ECO-VILLAGE, n.: small, ecologically sustainable communities



BIOACCUMULATION,N. (also BIOCONCENTRATION): the capacity of a substance to accumulate in the tissues of an organism, possibly reachching toxic levels over time.

BIOMARKER, n.: biological materials, enzymes, hormones and so on, that change when exposed to contaminants.

BIOMAGNIFICATION, n: pollutants biomagnify when their concentration increases as animals eat contaminated plants or other animals.

BIOMONITORING, N.: monitoring and analyzing chemicals, hormone levels or other substances in biological matters to estimate exposure or detect biological changes in the exposed subject

BODY BURDEN,N: total amount of chemicals in the body

CARCINOGEN, n.: a substance or an agent that causes cancer