Eco-Education

GLOSSARY

Eco 101: Terminology

So what does "eco" mean? It's a question we take very seriously. And we're committed to educating all our customers about what's what. Because in today's world of green-gone-wild hype, it's important to distinguish fact from fiction.

Here are definitions for the basic categories of eco-friendly products, and examples:

Organic. Any food or clothing made in a way that eliminates the use of artificial ingredients or added chemicals. For example, growers of conventional cotton typically use large quantities of chemical pesticides in the cultivation of this crop. Organic cotton is pesticide-free. When shopping for organic food, look for the certified "USDA Organic" label.

Examples: Organic cotton, organic milk, organic chicken

Eco benefits: Fewer chemicals are always better, whether it pertains to the food we put in our body or the clothes we put next to our skin. Fewer toxic products also mean a less toxic work environment for the men and women who harvest crops or prepare food. It also means fewer toxins that need to be disposed of in the manufacturing process.

Natural. Contains nothing synthetic or otherwise man-made. A product made from natural materials is not necessarily organic or sustainable.

Examples: Hemp, plant-oil and fruit-juice based cleaning products

Benefit: Often offers hypoallergenic benefits to the user. Every natural product consumed means one less synthetic product consumed (the manufacture of synthetics frequently means toxic by-products entering the environment).

Sustainable. Usually refers to raw materials that can be produced at a certain level indefinitely. Many sustainable woods, for example, come from trees, plants or grasses that grow at a rapid rate, making it easy to replenish the raw material.

Examples: Bamboo, Acacia Wood

Eco benefit: Does not deplete natural resources that are endangered, scarce or take a long time to renew

Recycling (Pre-Consumer). Diverting industrial materials that would otherwise become waste during the creation of a product.

Example: Sawdust or print overruns for books

Eco benefit: The fewer materials that are wasted when creating a product, the smaller the product's total environmental impact.

Recycling (Post-Consumer). The act of reprocessing old or used materials into new products.

Examples: steel, glass bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard, newspapers

Eco benefit: Recycling lessens the amount of raw materials consumed during the production of a product.

Reuse. Returning materials to use in the same, or a similar capacity that they were before.

Examples: Using a plastic bag from a store multiple times, using sealible take-out containers to store leftovers.

Eco benefit: Reusing materials keeps them from becoming waste.

Adaptive Reuse. Reusing a material, but in a way other than the intended design of the material.

Examples: Bicycle rim business card holders or street sign coasters.

Eco benefit: Reusing materials keeps them from becoming waste.

Reclaimed. Material that is saved from becoming waste and instead is set aside to be reused.

Example: Bricks or other construction debris that is saved to be used again.

Eco benefit: When you reclaim material for use in a later project, you are actually saving energy that would have been otherwise expended to create that material new again.

Fair Trade. A social movement that advocates paying a fair price to the producers of goods. Fair-trade movements are common in developing nations and seek to alleviate poverty and foster sustainability.

Example: Fair-trade coffee is common in American cafes

Eco benefit: Fair-trade producers often live on the very land they use to farm, creating a symbiotic relationship that fosters responsible land use.

Energy smart. Any product or service designed to reduce energy consumption in its operation versus traditional products. ENERGY STAR, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, has created standards for energy efficient products and practices.

Examples: ENERGY STAR computers and air conditioners, CFL light bulbs

Eco benefit: Energy-smart appliances and products use less electricity overall than conventional appliances, saving both natural resources and money. By saving electricity, you also reduce the amount of carbon emitted by power plants, many of which still run on fossil fuels such as coal.

Renewable Resource. Renewable resources are naturally replenished at a rate faster than, or comparable to, their rate of consumption.

Examples: Wind power, solar power, hemp, fresh water

Eco benefit: Using more renewable resources, as well as managing our use of those resources so that they can be renewed, reduces the amount of nonrenewable (finite) resources we consume.

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb. The compact fluorescent light (CFL) was designed to replace the incandescent lamp. CFLs operate at a much lower wattage than traditional light bulbs.

Eco benefit: Compared to an equivalent incandescent light a CFL will save 2,000 times its own weight in greenhouse gases during its lifetime.

LED. A light that uses Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). LEDs create light without producing as much excess heat.

Eco benefit: LEDs produce light without excess heat, which means that they use less energy to create light.