Our Partnership with Mother Earth
GREEN GLOSSARY
“Wisdom is the capacity to know what
we don’t know.” – Paul Hawken
A - C |
D - F
| G - I
| J - L
| M - P
| Q - S
| T - Z
> Biobased Product – A commercial
or industrial product (other than food or
feed) that utilizes biological, agricultural
or forestry materials. • Biodegradable –
Exhibiting the capability of being broken
down, decomposed or metabolized by
microorganisms and reduced to organic or
inorganic molecules that can be further
utilized by living systems.
> Biomimicry – The study of nature
and imitation of nature’s forms; the process
of learning from and then emulating nature.
> Building Related Illness (BRI)
– Diagnosable illness whose symptoms can be
identified and whose cause can be directly
attributed to airborne building pollutants.
(Contrast with “Sick Building Syndrome.”)
> Cap and Trade System – A
strategy to reduce carbon emissions via
financial incentives; ‘caps’ establish
emissions limits and fines for exceeding
those limits, while companies operating
below their carbon limits can sell or
‘trade’ their offsets to companies that are
operating above their limits.
> Carbon Footprint – The
total amount of greenhouse gases emitted
directly or indirectly through any human
activity, typically expressed in equivalent
tons of either carbon or carbon dioxide.
> Clean Air Act – The
Federal statute that regulates air emissions
from area, stationary and mobile sources.
This law authorizes the U.S. EPA to
establish National Ambient Air Quality
Standards to protect public health and the
environment.
> Clean Water Act – The
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
Amendments of 1972, as amended in 1977,
became commonly known as the Clean Water
Act. The Act established the basic structure
for regulating discharges of pollutants into
the waters of the U.S.
> Climate Change – Changes
in global climate patterns (such as
temperature, precipitation or wind) that
last for extended periods of time as a
result of either natural processes or human
activity. The contemporary concern is that
human activity is now transcending natural
processes in causing the most prevalent
climate changes of our time.
> Closed Loop – A type of
manufacturing process that utilizes a
cyclical material flow in order to minimize
waste (see also “Cradle to Cradle”).
> Compostable – Possessing
the ability to break down into or otherwise
become part of useable compost (soil
conditioning material or mulch) in a safe
and timely manner.
> Cradle-To-Cradle – The
opposite of “cradle-to-grave;” designing a
product with reuse in mind rather than
disposal. At the fundamental level, it
proposes modeling human industry and design
on nature, in which materials are viewed as
nutrients circulating in healthy ecosystems.
> Cradle-To-Cradle Design
Protocol - A scientifically based,
peer-reviewed process used to assess and
optimize materials used in products and
processes in order to maximize health,
safety, effectiveness, and reutilization,
conducted by McDonough Braungart Design
Chemistry (MBDC) of Charlottesville, VA.
MTS Seating makes every effort to avoid
“greenwashing” by complying with the Federal
Trade Commission’s Part 260 Guides for the
Use of Environmental Marketing Claims.
Please feel free to contact
Jennifer White, Sustainability
Coordinator, or
Dave Dimmer, Marketing Manager, with any
questions or feedback. |