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The uptake of substances by an organism.
Acclimatization:
The physiological and behavioral adjustments of an organism to changes in its environment.
Acid Rain:
A complex chemical and atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when emissions are transformed by chemical processes in the atmosphere, often far from the original sources, and then deposited on Earth in either wet or dry form. The wet forms can fall to earth as rain, snow, or fog. The dry forms are acidic gases or particulates.
Adaptation:
Changes in an organism's physiological structure, function, or habits that allow it to survive in new surroundings.
Aerosol:
1. Small droplets or particles suspended in the atmosphere, typically containing sulfur. They are usually emitted naturally (e.g. in volcanic eruptions) and as the result of human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
2. The pressurized gas used to propel substances out of a container.
Agricultural Pollution:
Farming wastes, including runoff and leaching of pesticides and fertilizers; erosion and dust from plowing; improper disposal of animal manure and carcasses, crop residues, and debris.
Agroecosystem:
Land used for crops, pasture, and livestock, with adjacent uncultivated land that supports other vegetation and wildlife, and the associated atmosphere, underlying soils, groundwater, and drainage networks that both create.
Air Pollutant:
Any substance in air that could, in high enough concentration, harm man, other animals, vegetation, or material.
Algae:
Simple rootless plants that grow in sunlit waters in proportion to the amount of available nutrients. They can affect water quality adversely by lowering the dissolved oxygen in the water. They are food for fish and small aquatic animals.
Algal Blooms: Sudden spurts of algae growth which can affect water quality adversely.
Allergen: A substance that causes an allergic reaction in individuals sensitive to it.
Alternative Fuels:
Substitutes for traditional oil-derived motor vehicle fuels. Includes mixtures of alcohol-based fuels, methanol, ethanol, compressed natural gas, and others.
Anaerobic:
An organism, such as a bacteria, that can live in the absence of oxygen.
Aseptic Container:
A sterilized airtight container that preserves freshness for several months.
Bacteria:
Microscopic living organisms that can aid in pollution control by metabolizing organic matter in sewage, oil spills or other pollutants. However, bacteria in soil, water or air can also cause human, animal and plant health problems.
Bioconcentration:
The accumulation of a chemical in the tissues of a fish or other organism.
Biodegradable:
Capable of decomposing under natural conditions.
Biomass:
1.The total mass of living matter within a given environmental area.
2. Plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste used as a fuel or energy source.
Blackwater:
Water that contains animal, human, or food waste.
Bloom:
An increase of algae and/or aquatic plants in a body of water; often related to pollution, especially when pollutants accelerate the rate of growth.
Bottle Bill:
Legislation that requires a returnable deposit on drink containers. Such legislation is designed to discourage use of throw-away containers. F.Y.I. Pioneered by Richard Chambers, Oregon initiated the first Bottle Bill in 1971. With return rates averaging 90%, the Bottle Bill promotes waste reduction and resource conservation.
Cadmium (Cd):
A heavy metal that accumulates in the environment.
Carcinogen:
Any substance that can cause or aggravate cancer.
Chilling Effect:
The lowering of the Earth's temperature because of increased particles in the air blocking the sun's rays.
Chipboard:
A low grade of cardboard, e.g. paper egg cartons.
Chlorination:
The application of chlorine to drinking water, sewage, or industrial waste to disinfect or to oxidize undesirable compounds.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs):
A family of inert, nontoxic, and easily liquefied chemicals used in refrigeration, air conditioning, packaging, insulation, or as solvents and aerosol propellants. Because CFCs are not destroyed in the lower atmosphere they drift into the upper atmosphere where their chlorine components destroy ozone.
Clear Cut:
Harvesting large areas of trees in one area at one time, leaving room for rainfall or snowmelt runoff to erode the land, flood streams and lakes with sedimentation, and destroy vital habitat.
Climate Change:
A significant change from one climatic condition to another.
Close the Loop:
A term used to describe the last and most important step in the recycling process. It refers to the point when a consumer buys a recycled product after it has been reprocessed into a new item.
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL):
Small fluorescent lamps that are more efficient alternatives to incandescent (emitting visible light as a result of being heated) lighting. Also called PL, CFL, Twin-Tube, or BIAX lamps.
Compost:
The biological decomposition of organic material by a natural process in which the bacteria in soil, mixed with garbage and degradable trash, break down the mixture into organic fertilizer.
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG):
An alternative fuel for motor vehicles; considered one of the cleanest because of low hydrocarbon emissions and its vapors are relatively non-ozone producing. However, vehicles fueled with CNG do emit a significant quantity of nitrogen oxides.
Conservation:
The careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.
Contaminant:
Any physical, biological, chemical, or radiological substance that has an adverse effect on air, water, or soil.
Detergent:
A synthetic washing agent that helps to remove dirt and oil. Some contain compounds that kill useful bacteria and encourage algae growth when wastewater reaches receiving waters.
Disposables:
Consumer products, other items, and packaging used once or a few times and discarded.
Ecological/Environmental Sustainability:
Maintenance of ecosystem components and functions for future generations.
Ecological Impact:
The effect that a human-caused activity has on living organisms and their environment.
Ecology:
The relationship of living things to one another and their environment.
Ecosystem:
The interacting system of a biological community and its environmental surroundings.
Emission:
Pollution discharged into the atmosphere from commercial, industrial, and residential activities, and from motor vehicle, locomotive, or aircraft exhausts.
Endangered Species:
Living organisms threatened with extinction by human-caused or natural-caused changes in their environment.
Energy Recovery:
Obtaining energy from waste through a variety of processes such as combustion.
Environment:
The sum of all external conditions affecting the life, development, and survival of an organism.
Environmental/Ecological Risk:
The potential for adverse effects on living organisms associated with pollution of the environment by effluents, emissions, wastes, or accidental chemical releases, energy use, or the depletion of natural resources.
Environmental Equity/Justice:
Equal protection from environmental hazards for individuals, groups, or communities regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status. This applies to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, and implies that no population of people should be forced to shoulder disproportionate shares of negative environmental impacts due to a lack of political or economic strength levels.
Environmental Indicator:
A measurement, statistic or value that provides a proximate gauge of the state or condition of the environment.
Environmental Response Team:
EPA experts located in Edison, N.J., and Cincinnati, OH, who can provide around-the-clock technical assistance to EPA regional offices and states during all types of hazardous waste site emergencies and spills of hazardous substances.
Environmental Sustainability:
Long-term maintenance of ecosystem components and functions for future generations.
Estuary:
Region of interaction between rivers and near-shore ocean waters, where tidal action and river flow mix fresh and salt water. Such areas include bays, mouths of rivers, salt marshes, and lagoons. These brackish water ecosystems shelter and feed marine life, birds, and wildlife.
Ethanol:
An alternative automotive fuel derived from grain and corn.
Eutrophication: The slow aging process during which a lake, estuary, or bay evolves into a bog or marsh and eventually disappears.
Ferrous Metals:
Magnetic metals derived from iron or steel.
Fluorocarbons (FCs):
Any of a number of organic compounds analogous to hydrocarbons in which one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine. Once used in the United States as a propellant for domestic aerosols, they are now found mainly in coolants and some industrial processes. FCs containing chlorine are called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). They are believed to be modifying the ozone layer in the stratosphere, thereby allowing more harmful solar radiation to reach the Earth's surface.
Fossil Fuel:
Fuel derived from ancient organic remain, e.g. peat, coal, crude oil, and natural gas.
Gaia hypothesis:
An ecological theory that proposes the Earth is made of living matter and functions like a single organism.
Garbage:
Animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, storage, sale, preparation, cooking, and serving of foods.
Gasahol:
Mixture of gasoline and ethanol derived from fermented agricultural products containing at least nine percent ethanol. Gasohol emissions contain less carbon monoxide than those from gasoline.
Genetic Engineering:
A process of inserting new genetic information into existing cells in order to modify a specific organism for the purpose of changing one of its characteristics.
Global Warming:
An increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth.
Grasscycling:
Source reduction in which grass clippings are left on the lawn after mowing.
Gray Water:
Domestic wastewater composed of wash water from kitchen, bathroom, and laundry sinks, tubs, and washers.
Greenhouse Effect:
The warming of the Earth's atmosphere attributed to a buildup of carbon dioxide or other gases, allowing the sun's rays to heat the Earth, while making the infra-red radiation atmosphere opaque to infra-red radiation, thereby preventing a counterbalancing loss of heat.
Greenhouse Gas:
A gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, which contributes to potential climate change.
Ground Water:
The supply of fresh water found beneath the Earth's surface, usually in aquifers, which supply wells and springs.
Habitat:
The place and surroundings where a population of organisms live.
Halogen:
An incandescent lamp with higher energy-efficiency than incandescent lamps.
Hazardous Waste:
By-products of society that are ignitable, corrosive, reactionary, or toxic, and that can pose a substantial or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly managed.
HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene):
Plastic No.2 is a type of plastic that is commonly used in milk jugs and shampoo bottles.
Heavy Metals:
Metallic elements with high atomic weights, e.g. mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, and lead, that can damage living things at low concentrations and tend to accumulate in the food chain.
Household Waste (Domestic Waste):
Solid waste composed of garbage and rubbish that originates in a private home or apartment house.
Infectious Waste:
Hazardous waste capable of causing infections in humans, including: contaminated animal waste, blood and blood products, pathological waste, and discarded sharps (needles, scalpels or broken medical instruments).
Irradiated Food:
Food subject to brief radioactivity, usually gamma rays, to kill insects, bacteria, and mold, and to permit storage without refrigeration.
Landfills:
1. Sanitary landfills are disposal sites for non-hazardous solid wastes spread in layers, compacted to the smallest practical volume, and covered by material applied at the end of each operating day.
2. Secure chemical landfills are disposal sites for hazardous waste, selected and designed to minimize the chance of release of hazardous substances into the environment.
LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene):
Plastic No.4 is used to produce films such as grocery bags and trash can liners.
Leachate:
Water that collects contaminants as it trickles through waste, pesticide, or fertilizer. Leaching may occur resulting in hazardous substances entering surface water, ground water, or soil.
Life Cycle of a Product:
All stages of a product's development, from production, marketing, use, to disposal.
Marsh:
A type of wetland that does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits and is dominated by vegetation. Marshes may either be fresh or saltwater, tidal or non-tidal.
Materials Recovery Facility (MRF):
A facility that processes residentially collected mixed recyclables into new products available for market.
Methane:
A colorless, nonpoisonous, flammable gas created by anaerobic decomposition of organic compounds. A major component of natural gas used in the home.
Methanol:
An alcohol that can be used as an alternative fuel or as a gasoline additive. It is less volatile than gasoline; when blended with gasoline it lowers the carbon monoxide emissions but increases hydrocarbon emissions.
Microclimate:
The localized climate conditions within an urban area or neighborhood.
Mulch:
A layer of organic material placed around plants to hold moisture, prevent weed growth, and enrich or sterilize the soil.
Non-Ferrous Metals:
Nonmagnetic metals such as aluminum, lead, and copper.
Non-potable:
Water that is unsafe or unpalatable to drink because it contains pollutants, contaminants, minerals, or infective agents.
Non-Renewable Resource:
A resource that is not capable of being naturally restored or replenished. A resource that is depleted or used faster than it can be replaced.
Nutrient:
Any substance assimilated by living things that promotes growth.
Nutrient Pollution:
Contamination of water resources by excessive inputs of nutrients.
Opacity:
The amount of light obscured by particulate pollution in the air.
Organic:
Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms.
Organism:
Any form of animal or plant life.
Ozone (O3):
Found in two layers of the atmosphere, the stratosphere and the troposphere. In the stratosphere (the atmospheric layer 7 to 10 miles above the earth's surface), ozone is a natural form of oxygen that provides a protective layer shielding the earth from ultraviolet radiation. In the troposphere (the layer extending above 7 to 10 miles from the earth's surface), ozone is a chemical oxidant and major component of photochemical smog. Ozone can seriously impair the respiratory system and is one of the most wide- spread of all the criteria pollutants for which the Clean Air Act required EPA to set standards. Ozone in the troposphere is produced through complex chemical reactions of pollutants released into the atmosphere through the combustion, handling, and processing of petroleum products.
Ozone Depletion:
Destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer that shields the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Ozone Hole:
A thinning break in the stratospheric ozone layer.
Ozone Layer:
The protective layer in the atmosphere, about 15 miles above the ground, that absorbs some of the sun's ultraviolet rays, thereby reducing the amount of potentially harmful radiation that reaches the earth's surface.
Paperboard:
a thick, stiff cardboard composed of layers of paper or paper pulp compressed together, e.g. toilet paper and paper towel tubes as well as cereal boxes.
Persistence:
Refers to the length of time a compound stays in the environment, once introduced. A compound may persist for less than a second or indefinitely.
PETE/PET (Polyethylene Terepthalate):
Plastic No.1 is clear, tough, and has good gas and moisture barrier properties, and is resistance to heat. Used to make plastic soft drink and rigid plastic containers.
Petroleum:
Crude oil or any fraction thereof that is liquid under normal conditions of temperature and pressure. The term includes petroleum-based substances comprising a complex blend of hydrocarbons derived from crude oil.
Phytotoxic:
Harmful to plants.
Pollutant:
Generally, any substance introduced into the environment that adversely affects the usefulness of a resource or the health of humans, animals, or ecosystems.
Pollution:
The presence of a substance in the environment, that because of its chemical composition or quantity, prevents the functioning of natural processes and produces undesirable environmental and health effects.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC):
Plastic No.3 is a tough, environmentally indestructible plastic that releases hydrochloric acid when burned.
Post-Consumer:
A term used to describe material that is being reused or recycled after it has been in the consumer's possession.
Potable Water:
Water that is safe for drinking and cooking.
PP (Polypropylene):
Plastic No.5 has strength, toughness, and resistance to heat. It is used to make yogurt containers and plastic lids.
Pre-Consumer:
A term used to describe waste material generated during the manufacturing process that is being reused or recycled before it ever goes to market.
PS (Polystyrene):
Plastic No.6 is versatile, good insulation, and an easily formed plastic that can be rigid or foamed. Used in egg cartons and meat trays.
Radioactive Waste:
Any waste that emits energy as rays, waves, streams or energetic particles. Radioactive materials are often mixed with hazardous waste from nuclear reactors, research institutions, or hospitals.
Raw Sewage:
Untreated wastewater and its contents.
Reclamation:
Reprocessing waste materials to a beneficial use.
Recovery Rate:
Percentage of usable recycled materials that have been removed from the total amount of municipal solid waste generated in a specific area.
Recycle/Reuse:
Minimizing waste generation by recovering and reprocessing usable products that might otherwise become waste.
Recycle Symbol:
The chasing arrow symbol used to show that a product or package may be recycled. The three arrows on the symbol represent different components of the recycling process. The top arrow represents the collection of recyclable materials for processing, the second arrow represents the recyclables being processed into recycled products, the third arrow represents when the consumer actually buys a product with recycled content.
Recycled Content:
The amount of pre-used or recovered material introduced in a production process. The content is usually expressed as a percentage.
Renewable Resource:
A resource that is capable of being naturally restored or replenished.
Reuse:
Using a product or component of municipal solid waste in its original form more than once.
Riparian Habitat:
Areas bordering rivers and streams with a differing density, diversity, and productivity of plant and animal species.
Rubbish:
Solid waste, excluding food waste and ashes.
Run-Off:
Precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that runs off the land into streams or other surface-water.
Running Losses:
Evaporation of motor vehicle fuel from the fuel tank while the vehicle is in use.
Salvage:
The utilization of waste materials.
Sanitary Landfill:
A landfill designed to accept municipal waste while ensuring minimal negative impact upon the environment.
Sharps:
Hypodermic needles, syringes, Pasteur pipettes, scalpel blades, blood vials, needles with attached tubing, and culture dishes used in animal or human patient care or treatment, or in medical, research or industrial laboratories. Also included are other types of broken or unbroken glassware that were in contact with infectious agents, such as used slides and cover slips, and unused hypodermic and suture needles, syringes, and scalpel blades.
Sick Building Syndrome:
Building whose occupants experience acute health and/or discomfort that appear to be linked to time spent therein, but where no specific illness or cause can be identified.
Soft Detergents:
Cleaning agents that break down in nature.
Soil and Water Conservation Practices:
Control measures and practices to reduce the loss of soil and water.
Solid Waste:
Non-liquid, non-soluble materials ranging from municipal garbage to industrial wastes that contain complex and sometimes hazardous substances. Solid wastes also include sewage sludge, agricultural refuse, demolition wastes, and mining residues.
Solid Waste Disposal:
The final placement of refuse that is not salvaged or recycled.
Solid Waste Management:
Supervised handling of waste materials from their source through recovery processes to disposal.
Source Reduction:
Reducing the impact of an item before it is ever generated, e.g. buying an item with less packaging or using a non-toxic alternative to clean with.
Surfactant:
A detergent compound that promotes lathering.
Swamp:
A type of wetland dominated by woody vegetation but without appreciable peat deposits. Swamps may be fresh or salt water and tidal or non-tidal.
Thermal Pollution:
Discharge of heated water from industrial processes that can kill or injure aquatic organisms.
Thermal Stratification:
The formation of layers of different temperatures in a lake or reservoir.
Toxic Waste:
A waste that can produce injury if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin.
Toxicity:
The degree to which a substance or mixture of substances can harm humans or animals.
Trash:
Material considered worthless or offensive that is thrown away.
Trash-to-Energy Plan:
Burning trash to produce energy.
Tundra:
A type of treeless ecosystem found at high latitudes and altitudes, that is dominated by lichens, mosses, grasses, and woody plants.
Turbidity:
1. Haziness in air caused by the presence of particles and pollutants.
2. A cloudy condition in water due to suspended silt or organic matter.
Ultraviolet Rays:
Radiation from the sun that can be useful or potentially harmful. UV-A rays enhance plant life. UV-B rays can cause skin cancer or other tissue damage.
Used Oil:
Spent motor oil from passenger cars and trucks collected at specified locations for recycling.
Utility Load:
The total electricity demand for a utility district.
Vermicomposting:
Using worms to decompose materials in a controlled environment, producing a nutrient-rich soil amendment.
Virgin Materials:
Resources extracted from nature in their raw form such as timber or metal ore.
Virgin Product:
Products that are made with 100 percent new raw materials and contain no recycled materials.
VOCs (Volatile organic compounds):
VOCs are emitted as chemical gases from a wide array of products. VOCs have the potential to cause adverse health effects. Examples include: cleaning supplies, paints and lacquers, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, glues and adhesives, permanent markers.
Volatile:
Any substance that evaporates readily.
Waste:
1. Unwanted materials left over from a manufacturing process.
2. Refuse from places of human or animal habitation.
Waste Generation:
The weight or volume of materials and products that enter the waste stream.
Waste Reduction:
Using source reduction, recycling, or composting to prevent or reduce waste generation.
Waste-to-Energy Facility/Municipal-Waste Combustor:
Facility where recovered municipal solid waste is converted into a usable form of energy, usually via combustion.
Water Table:
The level of groundwater.
Watershed:
The land area that drains into a stream.
Wetlands:
An area that is saturated by surface or ground water with vegetation adapted for life under those soil conditions, as swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, and estuaries.
Wildlife Refuge:
An area designated for the protection of wild animals, within which hunting and fishing are either prohibited or strictly controlled.
Yard Waste:
The part of solid waste composed of grass clippings, leaves, twigs, branches, and other garden refuse.
For an in depth list of the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental terms, please visit their website.
http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/aterms.html
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