As always, with news trends come new terminology. When researching products and companies its important to understand the meaning of common green phrases.  From Green Living Tips, here are a few words and acronyms used within the industry that will help broaden our vocabulary.

• The 3R’s -Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

• Carbon Footprint - This measures your impact on the environment based on how much carbon dioxide you produce to support your daily activities.

• Alternative Energy- Energy that is considered clean because it isn’t taken from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.  Wind is an alternative energy.

• Renewable Energy-Energy that is generated from resources that are naturally renewed.  Common examples of these are wind and solar.

• Greenhouse Effect-Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun resulting in warmer global temperatures.

• Greenhouse Gas- Any gas that contributes the the greenhouse effect of our atmosphere.

• LEED- This acronym stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  This is a green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.  Buildings can be varying levels of LEED certified.  The levels from most efficient to least are platinum, gold, silver, and certified.

These are some of the common terms and phrases but there are many more out there.  If you are interested in further familiarizing yourself with these terms visit:

USGBC

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