 In a time where “green” and “eco-friendly” are applied to practically every facet of our lives, it’s important to understand what some of these terms really mean. A recent study showed that almost half of recent college graduates were unable to explain the true causes of global warming. Here are the definitions of a few of the most relevant and misunderstood green terms.
Green is widely used to describe a building, site, lifestyle, or action that is done in an environmentally sensitive manner.
Greenhouse gases are any gases that absorb infrared radiation, thus affecting how the solar radiation is absorbed within our atmosphere. The heat island effect is a phenomenon that occurs in highly populated, highly developed cities where pavement, roads, parking lots, and buildings increase outdoor temperatures.
The greenhouse effect is the effect on our atmosphere caused by increased levels of greenhouses gases, in which solar radiation passes through infrared radiation, affecting the ambient temperature of the planet.
Global warming is an increase in the global mean temperature of our planet as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases that are then trapped within our atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is naturally occurring. The combustion of fossil fuels is the major source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide contributes to global warming, and atmospheric concentrations of the gas have been increasing approximately a half of 1% each year and have risen more than 30% since the pre-Industrial era.
Carbon neutral means that a certain thing (such as an individual, family, or business) consumes as much carbon as it produces. A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by an individual, family, or business, and is usually calculated in terms of pounds of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere annually.
Eco-friendly is defined as having little or no impact on the native eco-system. Fossil fuels are forms of energy found in the earth’s strata that are derived from decomposed remains of animals and plants from millions of years ago; they are considered non-renewable since human consumption exceeds natural production levels.
LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and is the U.S. Green Building Council’s system for rating the environmental performance of a whole building, including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. Buildings are rated as certified, silver, gold, or platinum.
Finally, sustainability is a concept that is attributed to Theodore Roosevelt; it’s an idea that acknowledges the need to use natural resources without wasting or exploiting the resources, so that future generations may use the same resources. See Green Glossary for more links.
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