Green Tech

Alternatively referred to as environmental technology or cleantech, this term is used to describe a collection of modern technologies and approaches that maximize human, environmental, and economic benefits. Specifically, green tech utilizes advancements of modern environmental science, biotechnology and engineering to provide products and services in a way that least degrades natural resources, and in some cases, regenerates them. Common examples... Read More

Overharvest

The act of removing more than the sustainable amount of a resource that would insure its renewal for future generations. Typically related to fishing practices, the term can be applied to timber or the harvest of any natural resource.  Read More

Overconsumption

The act of consuming something in excess of its ability to be renewed.  Read More

Marketing

The process of understanding people and markets in order to provide better products and services and differentiate offerings. Marketing consists of both the “inhale” (customer and market research aimed at understanding needs, desires, and cultural contexts as well as competitors), and the “exhale” (the creating of messaging to effectively communicate offerings in appropriate ways). Too often, marketers only focus on the “exhale,”... Read More

Sustainability Marketing

The process of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service in a sustainable market in such a way as to educate customers of the multiple benefits of valuing human, economic, and natural capital.  Read More

Rot

Often called the fourth “R” (as in Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle), Rot is the process of allowing natural materials to decompose (break down) due of natural chemical reactions or be aided by fungi, bacteria and insects. Rot can be considered a natural recycling process.  Read More

Brown Power

Electricity generated from the combustion of fossil fuels, which generates significant amounts of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Brown power sources include coal, oil, and natural gas. Also, called Brown Energy.  Read More

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 green buildings is the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. See www.usgbc.org  Read More