Understanding key terms is crucial so that you can understand the greater cause! Look up terms that you've read about here, or just go through the list and learn something new!

Alternative Energy: Energy from sources that do not produce harmful emissions. For example, unconventional power from the sun, wind or running water. ([Click here] to learn more about alternative sources of energy.

Biodegradable: The ability of the material to be broken down, or decompose, by natural processes.

Biodiesel: A domestic, renewable fuel for diesel engines made from natural oils like soybean oil. Biodiesel is typically made by combining vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol in the presence of another substance that will make them react with one another.

Biodiversity: Large variety of different species represented in a certain area.

Biofuel: Fuel that is produced from renewable sources.

Biomass: Living or recently living biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production.

Chain of Custody: The process by which the source of a (forest) product is verified.

Ecosystem: The interconnectedness of organisms (plants, animals, microbes) with each other and their environment.

Emission Controls: Any measure that limits and reduces the release of emissions.

Emissions: The release of any gas, liquid or solid.

Environmental Footprint: The environmental impact of a company produced by the raw materials and nonrenewable resources/products it wastes.

Environmental Impact: Any change to the environment whether it harmful or helpful.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP): A federal-wide program that helps agencies purchase environmentally friendly products and services.

Fossil Fuel: Any fuel that was created by decomposed plants and animals. Burning fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide and is a large contributor to pollution.

Geothermal energy: Obtaining energy from the heat of the earth. Though it is considered renewable, heat can eventually be depleted at a certain point, and therefore is not entirely renewable. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

Gray Water: Any dish, shower, sink, or laundry water that has been used in the home is called gray water and may be reused for other purposes, especially landscape irrigation.

Green Design: Incorporates environmental principles into constructing a building or designing a product or communications.

Green Tags: Created when a renewable energy facility generates electricity. Each unique certificate represents all of the environmental attributes or benefits of a specific quantity of renewable generation, namely the benefits that everyone receives when conventional fuels, such as coal, nuclear, oil, or gas, are displaced. You usually buy certificates from someone other then your electricity provider. What you pay for when you buy renewable energy certificates is the benefit of displacing other non-renewable sources from the regional or national electric grid.

Green: The movement that incorporates environmental awareness, social responsibility, bioregionalism and nonviolence

Hydroelectric: Energy obtained from water, usually by damming a river or by using tidal power. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

Incandescent light bulb: a source of light that uses a thread of metal inside a glass bulb. The kind of light bulb you probably use/see the most.

Indirect Emissions: Emissions created by items such as appliances.

Nonrenewable resource: A natural resource that can’t be replenished because the rate of formation is slower than the rate of consumption. Fossil fuels, metals, other minerals and groundwater are nonrenewable.

Nuclear energy: Energy from the nucleus (core) of an atom. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

Ozone Depletion: Deconstruction of the earth’s ozone layer.

Renewable energy: Energy that we get from a source that can’t run out. The biggest source of renewable energy is solar radiation (sunlight). Also known as “green power” or “clean energy”. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

Socially Responsible Investing: Investing money in companies that abide by sustainability/citizenship guidelines.

Solar Power: The technology that we use to obtain energy from sunlight. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

Supply Chain: Network of suppliers. Now companies are asking suppliers to comply with the same sound environmental and social practices and are making compliance a condition of doing business.

Sustainability: Economic activity that meets the present needs of a company without compromising the future while serving and protecting the environment.

Sustainable Development: Meeting the needs of the present while growing without compromising the future environmental state.

Tidal Power: Power obtained by catching the energy of moving water masses due to tides. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

Total Environmental Impact: The total change on the environment resulting from humans, industry and/or natural disasters.

Volatile Organic Compound (VOC): Organic substances capable of entering the gas phase from either a liquid or solid form.

Wind Power: Converting wind into energy, usually by wind turbines, that spin as wind blows. ([Click here] to learn more about renewable energy).

<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--> <!--[endif]-->

Sources:

Wicktionary – www.wicktictionary.com
www.Dictionary.com
Wikipedia – www.wikipedia.com
Living Sustainability – www.livingsustainability.com
Energy Information Administration – www.eia.gov

There are TONS of things you can do to conserve energy and water, and decrease your pollution contribution. Doing little things can actually make a huge positive impact on the planet! Here are 27 ways you can challenge yourself to be greener.

Energy Conservation:

Every day you make tons of decisions that decide how much energy you consume. Want to consume less and reduce your carbon footprint? Try these!

• Turn the thermostat down by 2 degrees in the winter. Reduce CO2 emissions by 0.62%.
• Stay in town for the weekend. Drive 100 fewer miles per week and reduce CO2 emissions by 4.11%.
• Replace the incandescent light bulbs in your house with compact florescent ones. These use less energy and last longer and cut down on CO2 emissions. It’s a win-win-win situation.
• Dry your clothes outside on a clothesline or inside on a rack instead of putting them in the dryer.
• Only turn lights on in the evening or early morning when the sun doesn’t come in through the windows. Turn lights off as you leave rooms.
• Going on vacation? Make sure the heat or A/C is turned down, and the water heater is turned off before leaving.
• Use cold water when doing laundry whenever possible.
• Carpool next time you and your friends are going somewhere together. You’ll save gas by not driving multiple cars!
• Unplug! Unplug power strips and appliances that you don’t use that often or only at certain times of the day (chargers, cordless tools, etc). Although they may be turned off, the “standby” energy used is equal to that of a 75 watt light bulb running continuously.
• Enable the "sleep mode" feature on your computer, allowing it to use less power during periods of inactivity. In Windows, the power management settings are found on your control panel. Mac users, look for energy saving settings under system preferences in the apple menu.
• Configure your computer to "hibernate" automatically after 30 minutes or so of inactivity. The "hibernate mode" turns the computer off in a way that doesn't require you to reload everything when you switch it back on. Allowing your computer to hibernate saves energy and is more time-efficient than shutting down and restarting your computer from scratch.

Water Conservation

Though the majority of planet earth is water (look at a map and you can clearly see how many bodies of waters there are!), only 3% of it can be used as drinking water. Let’s do something now to ensure this lasts us!

• Shorten your showers to less than 10 minutes. Already doing it in less than 10 minutes? Make it 7.
• Turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your face.
• Leaky faucet or shower head? A dripping faucet can waste up to 2,000 gallons/7,600 liters of water a year. Check the plumbing in your house and repair the leaks as soon as possible.
• Ask your parents if they’d like to invest in low-flush toilets, shower heads and faucet aerators. You’ll save thousands of gallons of water each year and your parents’ water bill will be lower!
• Call your water utility company and ask for a copy of their latest water quality report. Public water utilities regularly test the quality of the drinking water they provide to customers.
• Reduce your use of pesticides and fertilizers, and look for safer alternatives to control weeds and bugs. Lawn and garden pesticides and fertilizers can pollute the water. Some alternatives are geraniums to repel Japanese beetles; garlic and mint to repel aphids; and marigolds to repel whiteflies.
• To make the most of the water you use outdoors, never water at the hottest time of day (usually in the early to mid-afternoon)or when it's windy. Turnoff your sprinklers when it’s raining. On average, 50% - 70% of household water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens.
• Have a garden? Use mulch. It helps to conserve water by holding moisture in the earth longer.

Pollution Prevention

We all know that we are supposed to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but what exactly does that mean? It’s not just putting your soda bottles out every week and using grocery bags as lunch bags. Here are some other ideas that are easy enough for you to do and encourage others to do as well.

• Reuse bags and containers. Brown paper bags are great for wrapping packages. Wash out plastic containers and glass jars you buy food in and use them as Tupperware.
• Use old newspapers as wrapping paper and jazz it up with pretty ribbon or a bow. If you’re lucky you might get Sunday’s color comic section.
• Donate old clothes and toys to a local shelter or second hand store like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Remember, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
• Organize an in-home recycling center and teach your family how to use it. Have separate bins for glass, plastics, and newspaper/cardboard. Make a deal with your family that if they put their recyclables in the bins, you’ll take them to the curb.
• Be fancy! Replace the use of paper napkins at dinnertime with cloth napkins. You can wash these a couple of times a week, or whenever they are dirty. Use dish towels to wipe up messes instead of paper towels. This too will help cut down on the amount of garbage your household produces.
• Choose paper over plastic for your party. Having people over and want to use disposable plates and cups? Skip the plastic and get paper ones. These break down easier in the environment and don’t deplete the ozone layer as much (although it’s better to nix the disposables and use washables!).
• Ask the dry cleaners if they will take back their wire hangers and use them again. Or even keep them for yourself and put them to good use.
• Grocery Store Cashier: "Paper or plastic?" You: "Neither!" When grocery shopping, take your own reusable canvas or cloth bags (or ask your parents to).