« November 2008 Table of Contents 
A guide to green terminology
November 01, 2008
Sustainability is the successful meeting of present social,
economic and environmental needs without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The
terminology associated
with sustainable development can
sometimes seem complex to those without a scientific degree.
But as we've shown in the glossary below, keeping abreast of
the terminology is important because the number
of key terms
increases along with the growing awareness of the importance of
sustainability.
Antibiotic free
Antibiotic free refers to animals raised without the use of
antibiotics. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not
allow use of the label "antibiotic free" on meat products, the
USDA does allow the claims "no antibiotics administered" or
"raised without antibiotics." Since the mid-1940s, antibiotics
have been routinely mixed into many livestock feed products to
promote growth and prevent sickness. This practice is referred
to as non-therapeutic or sub-therapeutic antibiotic use.
Best Management Practice (BMP)
BMPs are an effective, innovative solution, process or
procedure that demonstrates a business' dedication to making
progress in environmental and corporate social responsibility;
sometimes shared with collaborators and competitors to shape
standards for an industry. BMPs were developed and implemented
as a requirement of the 1977 amendments to the Clean Water
Act.
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is a measure of total environmental
impact, measured in units of carbon dioxide emitted. A person's
carbon footprint would include the amount of CO2 emissions that
result from home energy consumption and transportation, as well
as emissions generated by the production, distribution and
eventual waste breakdown of the products a person uses. In the
food industry, many businesses are using the carbon footprint
measure as a tool for understanding and maximizing the
potential for supply-chain efficiency. The Environmental
Protection Agency and similar international agencies offer
"emissions calculators" for quantifying carbon footprints.
Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)
COOL requires large food retailers to label where products
come from, including beef, lamb, pork, seafood, fresh and
frozen fruits and vegetables and peanuts. Although signed into
law several years ago, only seafood has been compliant since
2005; other proteins listed above became compliant in
September. COOL does not require that value-added and processed
foods be labeled. COOL is intended to increase food product
traceability.
Eco-labeling
Eco-labeling is a method of identifying products that cause
less damage to the environment than other products (such as
Fair Trade, organic, Food Alliance certified, raised without
antibiotics, etc.). There exists a wide selection of eco-labels
with different criteria and varying degrees of legitimacy.
While some labels indicate that food was produced according to
strict guidelines enforced and verified by third-party
food-certifying agencies, other labels are self-awarded by food
producers. For additional information about eco-labels, visit
the Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels at
www.eco-labels.org.
Eco-friendly
The term eco-friendly refers to a product, practice or
process that is "green" or good for the environment, creating
no unnecessary
or hazardous waste and minimizing use of
non-renewable, natur-al resources.
Ecological footprint
Similar to a carbon footprint, an ecological footprint is
the total amount of land, food, water and other resources used
by, or the total ecological impact of, a person's subsistence
or an organization's operations; usually measured in acres or
hectares of productive land.
Environmental impact
Environmental impact refers to any change that would affect
the environment, good or bad, wholly or partially from
industrial/manufacturing activities, products or services.
Ethical sourcing
Ethical sourcing, sometimes called ethical trade, is an
approach to food-chain management and generally refers to a
company's strategy for taking responsibility for social,
environmental and labor practices across its supply chain. Most
often, the company setting the standards implements and audits
adherences to these standards. In some cases, multiple
stakeholders work together as stewards of a company's ethical
sourcing standards.
Food miles
Food miles refers to the distance food travels from farm or
harvest to consumer. Food miles translate into carbon dioxide
emissions, but the food miles measure does not take into
account carbon emissions from food production (agricultural or
processing) or the varying amounts of carbon emissions in air
and ground transportation. There is currently no certifying or
labeling agency for food miles claims.
Green building
A comprehensive process of design and construction that
employs techniques to minimize adverse environmental impacts
and reduce the energy consumption of a building, while
contributing to the health and productivity of its occupants; a
common metric for evaluating green buildings is the LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
LEED is sponsored by the United States Green Building Council
that creates standards for developing high performance,
sustainable buildings.
Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO)
A NGO is a private, nonprofit organization independent of
business and government that works toward some specific social,
environmental or economic goal through research, activism,
training, promotion, advocacy, lobbying, community service,
etc.
Organic
A term signifying the absence of pesticides, hormones,
synthetic fertilizers and other potentially toxic materials in
the cultivation of agricultural products; 'organic' is also a
food labeling term that denotes the product was produced under
the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act.
Sustainable seafood
Sustainable seafood refers to fish or shellfish caught or
farmed in a manner that does not risk the species' future or
harm the environment. Factors that influence seafood
sustainability include overfishing, bycatch and the
environmentally destructive impacts of trawl nets, fish farming
pollution and the escape of genetically altered species from
controlled farms into the wild.
Transparency
A measure of increased accountability and decreased
corruption in which a business reports on its ethics and
performance results through accessible publication of the
business' practices and behavior; there is a strong movement to
increase the transparency of business processes via
independently verified corporate responsibility reporting.