Reuse

Often, the most sustainable option is to reuse materials and objects already manufactured, either for their original or new purposes, rather than recycle them into other products. This decreases further energy and materials use in recreating them into a new form.  Read More

Reduce

One of the most sustainable strategies is simply to reduce the amount of energy and materials we use and, thus, are required to be manufactured. This reduction has an exponential effect as it further reduces packaging, recycling, transportation, cleaning, disposal, and a host of other costs.  Read More

Recycle

Recycling is the process of reclaiming materials from used products or materials from their manufacturing and using them in the manufacturing of new products. It is different from Reuse, where products are not destroyed and remanufactured but cleaned and repaired to be used again, also known as remanufacturing. Another strategy to use resources more efficiently includes reducing the use of materials needed for product and process manufacturing, also... Read More

Productivity

The output created (products and services) created by use of energy, work, capital, materials, or resources. Often, traditional productivity does not measure use of external resources (such as natural resources like air or water) or adverse effects of internal resources (such as corporate culture or employee stamina) and does not calculate costs required to correct the degradation of these resources. Therefore, companies, economies, and societies... Read More

Privatization (of natural resources)

An approach to conservation that brings the environment into our economic sphere, therefore giving them economic value.  Read More

Private Placement

A type of corporate investment offered directly to institutional investments (such as pension funds, mutual funds, equity funds, trusts, etc.). These investments can be in debt, equity, or a combination of both and are exempt from public (SEC) registration.  Read More

Precautionary Principle

An approach to determining whether a given process or policy should be pursued or continued based on an analysis of the social, economic, or environmental risks associated with that activity. Not all risks are known when a new practice is introduced or a current one is re-examined, and the ethical approach in light of implied or expected (but not confirmed) negative impacts is to stop such practices as a precaution until more is known about the impacts. The... Read More

Positioning

A business activity that looks for opportunities (or “holes”) in a market in which to offer a viable product, service, or message. Positioning takes advantage of Environmental Modeling and Competitive Analysis (often using a SWOT Analysis) in order to compare the offerings of competing products, services, messages, and organizations in order to find opportunities not yet offered by others.  Read More

Pollution Offset

The attempt to offset the results of pollution from some activity of process by improving the environment in an equal benefit. Carbon trading, for example, allows carbon polluters to offset the effect of excess carbon in the environment by trading credits with those whose activities reduce an equal amount of carbon. Pollution offsets can exist for any kind of polluting materials as long as an equal and direct benefit can be established.  Read More

Pollution Prevention

Any activity to reduce or eliminate any number of pollution types or quantities from personal, corporate, or governmental activities. Also called source reduction, these activities seek to create more efficient procedures or practices that reduce pollution or use it in the manufacturing process of some other activity. Often, practices such as changes in manufacturing or other activities, redefined product, service, or corporate strategy, dematerialization,... Read More