Environmental Justice

A term referring to inequalities in use and access to environmental resources, such as clean air and water and healthy living conditions. Economic disparities or geographic access often reserve clean and healthy environments for wealthier peoples, giving poorer people less access to clean resources or healthy living conditions. Environmental Justice proponents seek to create more equal access or distribution of resources or halt or lower the impact... Read More

Environmental Audit

An examination (sometimes independent, sometimes internal) of an individual, corporation, organization, product, service, process or government’s impact on the environment. Currently, there are few standards for conducting environmental assessments but there are emerging audit protocols, such as the ISO 14000 and 14001 tools. At the very least, an audit can assess compliance with environmental regulation. However, more sophisticated audits focus... Read More

Environmental Accounting

An emerging field that aims to rebalance the treatment of environmental costs and benefits in traditional accounting practice. Separate environmentally-related costs and revenues are identified and new forms of valuation are created which encourage better management decisions and an increased investment in environmental protection and improvement.  Read More

Environment

A term loosely used to refer to the total of the Earth’s ecosystems. In an even larger sense, it includes not only the natural environment of ecological, biological, and climate conditions (the biosphere), but also the (human) social conditions that support (or not) various forms of life on the Earth. Some schools of thought cast the environmental as “uncontrollable” by individuals, organizations, governments, and societies and, therefore, ignorable.... Read More

Ecosystem Services

A collection of services provided by the Earth’s ecosystem that are usually not a part of economic analyses but that are indispensable for any human endeavors. These include: clean air and water, plant pollination, climate regulation, soil regeneration, ozone protection, shade and shelter, etc. These services offer incalculable benefits to markets, economies, and societies but neoclassical economics do not account for these benefits (or the costs... Read More

Ecology

Derived from the Greek words oikos, and logos meaning “study of home.” Preceding the 1935 introduction of the term “ecosystem” by Sir Arthur Tansley, Vladimir I. Vernadsky used it to define the science of the biosphere. Ecology studies the Earth and its systems, including the interrelationships of all living things and all elements of their environmen. The science was further developed from the work of Ernest Haeckel when investigating... Read More

Basic Browns

A selection of consumers defined by the Roper ASW Green Gauge Report as the least interested in “green” or environmental issues. In 2007, this category was renamed “apathetics” and has exhibited a sharp decline (from 33% in 2005 to 18% in 2007). These customers have lower incomes, and believe that their disinterest is common.  Read More

Grousers

A selection of consumers defined by the Roper ASW Green Gauge Report as disinterested in “green” or environmental issues. In 2007, these customers represent 19% of the total American consumer population. They tend to view environmental issues as too big and complicated to address.  Read More

Sprouts

A selection of consumers defined by the Roper ASW Green Gauge Report as consumers undecided about environmental issues when it comes to buying and using products and services. In 2007, these customers represent 26% of the total American consumer population and often evaluate environmental issues one at a time, comparing each to their personal benefits or costs.  Read More

Greenback Greens

A sector of the market defined by the Roper ASW Green Gauge Report as interested in “green” or environmental issues but not always willing to spend extra to support their ideals. In 2007, these customers represent only 10% of the total American consumer population (up from 6% two years earlier) but are still more educated and dedicated than average consumers.  Read More