The Vocabulary of a Greener Future: New Sustainability Terms You Should Know

The eco-friendly world is full of jargon. It seems like every year, there is a new trend of confusing stickers on food products that sends everyone down a research rabbit hole. Today, find out the differences between some of the most puzzling sustainability terms.

Biomimicry

Biomimetics is a field of study that develops technologies, consumer products, and other products that replicate natural processes. For example, a building may use insulating properties similar to those of a termite mound, employing strategies found in nature to help reduce carbon emissions from heating and cooling.

Carbon Footprint

Although it only says “carbon,” a carbon footprint refers to the total amount of greenhouse gases an entity produces. This can be an individual, corporation, household, and anything in between. This concept was originally designed by oil companies.

Carbon Neutrality

This is when an entity, corporation, or household can absorb as much carbon as it emits into the atmosphere. To do this, carbon sinks, offsets, and capture systems are vital.

Circular Economy

Sometimes called a closed-loop economy, circular practices produce waste and then reuse it. This reduces or eliminates many resources heading to landfills.

Conscious Consumerism

As you may have heard, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Conscious consumerism embraces a slow, intentional mindset around purchasing. Buyers vote with their dollar, divesting from exploitative corporations and supporting small, local, and ethical businesses.

Clean Tech

Technology, like data centers, is becoming a massive carbon emitter. Clean, or green, tech represents technology that is made from ethically sourced materials and produces little to no carbon emissions while it operates.

Cradle to Cradle (C2C)

C2C is a mindset that all products should be created with the intent of cycling them back to the beginning of their life cycle, whether as nutrients or as a product. This dissolves cradle-to-grave mentalities that send products to landfills.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

EPR is a strategy adopted by companies. It enforces transparency and accountability, requiring businesses to be honest about everything from their financial investments to carbon emissions and worker treatment. 

Decarbonization

This is the process of analyzing carbon emissions and implementing actions to reduce them, such as using fewer resources or eliminating carbon-intensive practices.

Decoupling

Many companies do not adopt sustainable practices because doing so might hurt their bottom line by requiring more expensive yet ethical operations. Decoupling is a mindset shift that separates economic growth from the potential of better resource utilization and reduced environmental impact.

Downcycling

This manufacturing strategy is vital for repurposing products that might otherwise be unusable. It takes materials, breaks them down, and allows them to be reused. One example is using plastic bottles to reinforce sneakers or carpet fibers.

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is when corporations use advertising and manipulation to make consumers believe they are operating sustainably. In reality, they are not.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

An LCA is a technique for assessing a product or company’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle, from creation to end-of-life disposal.

Net Zero

Similar to carbon neutrality, net zero refers to a system that can remove as much carbon as it produces. To be net zero, relying on options like offsets is not an option.

Microplastics

Microplastics are small particles of plastic that are sometimes invisible to the naked eye. These can be so tiny that they pollute soils, enter waterways, and get into food.

Regenerative Agriculture

This is a method of farming that focuses on nourishing the soil, wildlife, and habitats of the resources growing crops strips away from the land. The process is symbiotic.

Upcycling

This is when people take an item that would otherwise be recycled or sent to a landfill and transform it into a usable new product. Sometimes, it is not the same product it was before, such as an article of clothing turning into dish towels.

Zero Waste

Despite the name, zero waste is a movement that strives to be as low-waste as possible. This requires people to evaluate their trash output, compost, recycle, upcycle, and more.

Fugitive Emissions

This idea encompasses all emissions that are not tracked and that frequently escape from carbon-emitting sources. These include gas leaks from pipes or vapors from pressurized machinery.

Green Investing

It is a strategy that replaces traditional financial management and focuses on sustainable companies. Investors would remove investments from unethical corporations and finance organizations that are committed to sustainability, such as renewable energy.

Passive Building

Passive architecture leverages the sun’s natural position and fixtures like awnings and naturally heat-absorbing materials to heat and cool buildings without using utilities. 

Embodied Carbon

This number represents the greenhouse gas emissions generated by a product before it entered consumer use. The value accounts for emissions from raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and other processes.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions

Emissions come in multiple scopes:

• Scope 1 refers to direct emissions that entities have control over, such as waste generation.
• Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions from assets, such as utility providers.
• Scope 3 refers to other indirect emissions throughout a product’s value chain, such as end-of-life disposal for customers or supply chain activity.

Bioremediation

This is a process of healing materials, products, or land with biological and organic materials. One example is mycoremediation, which uses fungi to remove contaminants from the environment.

Eco-Anxiety

Many suffer from stress because they worry about the climate crisis and how it will impact their lives. This is also called climate anxiety, and typically, healing from this comes in the form of advocacy. Solastalgia is an extreme form of this, representing distress about climate change when it is close to the home.

Water Footprint

A carbon footprint refers to greenhouse gas emissions, while a water footprint represents the amount of freshwater a person, household, product, or company uses. This can be indirect and direct consumption.

Sustainability Terms

While this list covers diverse terminology, it is far from being comprehensive. New terms are emerging all the time, especially as online trends spread rapidly and legislative requirements expand. Stay up to date by referring to official sources as much as possible, especially in a world where many of these terms remain unregulated.