Sorting out Environmental Terms

Written by Lauren Bell | 02 March 2010
Posted in Environment

We are fully in the sustainability age and there are terms thrown at us daily. What do all these terms mean? Who came up with them and do they affect me? These questions you may be asking yourself and getting different answers. Here is where we can sort them out together.

The most basic terms are those that refer to the whole of a situation. Eco, for instance is becoming a widely used pronoun. “Oh, buy this eco-product. It’s biodegradable!” The Greek word oikos means house. So Eco is the relationship between people and their “house” or environment where they live. It does not necessarily relate to sustainability.

Sustainable is a word that we use often when we are talking about the management of our Natural Resources. The Forest Service Council ensures that trees are harvested sustainably. Sustainable management means that the resources we use today will not interfere with their availability for future generations. The resources which can be sustainable must also be renewable. Fossil fuels are not renewable…well they are but cannot be renewed in a living lifetime. It will take millions of years to replenish the fossil fuel reserves. Sunlight and wind are renewable because the sun will always come up and will always drive the movement of air. Water, a highly controversial resource, is in fact renewable. Sustainability is one of those buzz words that is fast becoming overplayed like a song on the radio, but when we can understand what the word really means, we can appreciate the efforts made on our collective behalf that go into using our resources sustainably.

Another word that needs to be wholly understood is organic. You can walk into your supermarket and find anything that is organic. The word itself is very interesting because paired with food, the meaning changes. Originally, organic is anything derived from a living organism. Living organisms are made of carbon. The human body, a worm in the soil, a tree, these are all living organisms made of carbon. You have heard that a stand of trees or forest is a carbon sink. Forests actually pull carbon out of the air to store in its body and produces vast amounts of oxygen which is why forests are more valuable to us in tact than cut down.

When we pair the word organic with a food product the meaning changes to that which has been grown without using chemicals or pesticides. In protein products like meat, organic means that it was allowed to range in open air and fed a natural diet free of chemicals and antibiotics. The ability to use organic in marketing a product should tell you that the grower underwent vigorous testing and verification. It is a highly regulated term. The certification process to get permission to use the term on any packaging may take up to 5 years. However, if it says organic, that does not mean you don’t have to read the label.

These terms are not new. They have been talked about for millennia. In an age where we could consume without regard, these terms were forgotten. Now they are resurfacing and are becoming part of our daily conversations. So it is important that we understand their meanings. Scientists are adding more terms to our vocabulary. Try this one on for size. Eutrophication. That’s a story for another time.

Lauren Bell is a Green Consultant and the founder of GLOBellConsulting.com. She helps businesses, schools and homeowners save money and resources by transitioning to greener lifestyles.