Global warming has harmed the planet in ways people, animals, and cities are already beginning to experience. Rising ocean temperatures, deforestation and more powerful hurricanes have caused many to think about what they can do to help to curb the negative impacts. Companies and organizations have also started to go green, and during their journey they use terms like sustainable, or organic. What do these terms mean, though? When should and shouldn’t people use them?
Bio
Bio is an excellent place to start. This word is a prefix, coming from the Greek root meaning life. Combine that with “-logy,” meaning the study of, and you get biology, the study of life. One term people may see in green lingo is biodiversity. This term refers to the variety of life inside an ecosystem. Biodiversity can include different types of plants and animals that inhabit an area.
Carbon Footprint
Carbon footprint is currently a common term as people and companies try to be more conscious of energy output. The term refers to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by a person or an organization. Experts typically use carbon dioxide (CO2) as a measurement, gauging by the ton for a numeric value.
Carbon footprint is critical because people can use it to determine what companies are the worst climate offenders. Businesses may tout their environmental initiatives in advertisements, but their CO2 emissions tell a different and fully transparent story. For example, Google and Amazon are among the top organizations that misreport their carbon footprints.
Carbon Neutral
Carbon neutral is another term people may hear touted by companies. It means that the person or organization takes measures to offset their CO2 with other sustainability efforts. Businesses may do so by planting trees, investing in renewable energy, or bringing in monitoring solutions such as BEE SENSE.
Over the years, carbon neutral is another term that companies have struggled to manage: in fact, some advocacy groups see carbon neutrality in advertisements as a form of greenwashing. Businesses like Amazon say they have plans to be carbon neutral by a particular year, but consumers should be wary of this buzzword and check the organization’s concrete goals.
Climate Change and Global Warming
Climate change and global warming are two terms that people can confuse. Though they seem similar, there are some distinctions between their definitions. Climate change refers to how weather patterns have changed over a long period, affecting the climates of areas around the planet. Earth has undergone periods of climate change in the past, with about eight cycles in the last 800,000 years.
On the other hand, global warming refers to the planet’s warming since the pre-industrial period. This period started around 1850, and since the turn of the 20th century, it has increased primarily because of humans. Among the top culprits of global warming is fossil burning, leading to greenhouse gases being trapped in the atmosphere.
Deforestation
Deforestation is a critical term because it’s one of the root causes of global warming. This practice occurs when a person or organization decides to cut down large sections of trees in a forest and convert the area into another use. They may also use the trees for lumber or other resources like their oils.
It’s common practice to see the deforested land turn into a farm or urban center. Cutting down trees is harmful because it releases heavy amounts of CO2 into the air. Deforestation contributes to about 10% of global warmingworldwide and puts ecosystems at risk by destroying the habitats of many animals.
Eco-Friendly and Sustainability
Eco-friendly is a commonly used term, especially in the marketing world, to describe products that do not harm the environment. However, there aren’t specific parameters to determine if something is eco-friendly. Typically, people will associate these products with their manufacturing process. It means they don’t rely on fossil fuels or high consumption of natural resources for their creation.
Sustainability is a term some people use interchangeably with eco-friendly, although it has a separate meaning. A sustainable item will positively affect the environment and the economy with minimal resource use — and the resources these products use won’t affect the environment. Wood is an excellent example of a sustainable material because people can replant them after cutting them down for timber.
Organic
Organic is a term people often see in grocery stores to describe many products. Shoppers can see it with produce, meat, dairy, and even health and beauty products. It means a person or company created the product without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or chemicals.
This term is one with which consumers should be careful. Some companies tout organic products free of pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Organic foods tend to cost a little more, but studies have shown the nutritional value is the same as nonorganic products.
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is a power source that people get from natural resources. It has low or zero impact on the environment. The renewability aspect means these resources don’t have an end date, and people can use them without worrying about depletion. Some examples include:
- Geothermal: This energy source comes from heat produced by the Earth’s core. It’s renewable because the Earth replenishes its reservoirs, and people will only run out if the planet ceases to exist.
- Solar: Solar refers to energy drawn from the sun. Solar panels are a popular device that captures this power, stores it and uses it for electricity. Some homeowners have replaced their roofs with solar shingles because of their positive environmental impact and tax incentives.
- Wind: Wind is another form of renewable energy. This power comes from turbines that collect energy. They’re most prevalent in areas with heavy winds. States like Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas lead the way with wind electricity production.
Achieving Accuracy with Green Terms
Going green has become a higher priority for people these days as global warming’s effects have become apparent. Companies use them to describe environmentally friendly practices, but sometimes the words feel empty. Some plans are commendable, but others are marketing ploys instead of concrete actions.
| Term | When to use it |
| Eco-friendly | A product that doesn’t harm the environment |
| Sustainable | Something that benefits the environment because of its minimal resource use |
| Organic | Products made without pesticides, chemicals or synthetic fertilizers |
| Renewable energy | Energy that uses renewable resources that will not deplete |
| Climate change | How the planet’s weather patterns have shifted over thousands of years. |
| Global warming | How the Earth has warmed since the world began industrialization in the late 19th century. |
| Carbon footprint | How much CO2 a person or organization emits |
| Carbon neutral | Efforts to balance carbon emissions, such as tree planting |
| Deforestation | Cutting down large sections of forest for agricultural or commercial use |
| Bio | Prefix meaning “life” |
| Biodiversity | The animal and plant life of an ecosystem |
