Green Lingo
Bovine growth hormone (BST, bST) is a protein hormone produced in the pituitary glands of cattle.
Carbon footprint is "the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organization, event or product". For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted.
Ecology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the interactions of these organisms with their environment.
Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.
Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
Greenhouse effect is the heating of the surface of a planet or moon due to the presence of an atmosphere containing gases that absorb and emit infrared radiation. Thus, greenhouse gases trap heat within the surface-troposphere system.
Green politics is a political ideology which places a high importance on environmental goals, and on achieving these goals through broad-based, grassroots, participatory democracy.
Growth hormone (GH) is a protein-based poly-peptide hormone. It stimulates growth and cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals.
Macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics), is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.
Natural foods are foods that are minimally processed. Natural foods do not include ingredients such as refined sugars, refined flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, sweeteners, food colors, or flavorings.
Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants.
Organic cotton is cotton that is grown without chemical fertilizers, insecticide or pesticide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20,000 deaths occur each year from pesticide poisoning in developing countries, many of these from cotton farming.
Organic clothing is clothing that is made from materials that are raised or grown without the use of chemicals in the form of pesticides - herbicides or other chemicals. Cotton covers 2.5% of the world's cultivated land yet uses 16% of the world's insecticides, more than any other single major crop.
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation etc... to maintain soil productivity and control pests, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms.
Organic foods are made according to certain production standards. Under organic production, the use of conventional non-organic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, growth hormones, and antibiotics is greatly restricted
Post-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product.
Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) - marketed it as "POSILAC", is used to increase the milk yield in lactating cows
Recycling involves processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energyusage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to virgin production.
Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.
Sustainable living refers to a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resource. Practitioners of sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption and diet.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land.
Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose
Vegetarianism is the practice of following a diet based on plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, with or without dairy products and eggs. Vegetarians do not eat meat, game, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, or products of animal slaughter such as animal-derived gelatin and rennet. A semi-vegetarian diet consists largely of vegetarian foods, but may include fish and sometimes poultry, as well as dairy products and eggs.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemical compounds that have high enough vapor pressures under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere. Volatile organic compounds are numerous and varied. Although ubiquitous in nature and modern industrial society, they may also be harmful or toxic.
Whole foods are those that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible before being consumed. They typically do not contain added ingredients, such as sugar, salt, or fat.
World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health.