Glossary

Acupuncture
A procedure used in or adapted from Chinese medical practice in which specific body areas are pierced with fine needles for therapeutic purposes or to relieve pain or produce regional anesthesia.

Agro biodiversity
The exploitation of biological diversity to produce and manage crops, land, water, insects and biota.

Agroecology
The incorporation of ideas about a more environmentally and socially sensitive approach to agriculture, focusing on production and the ecological sustainability of the productive system.

Alternative Farming
Farming methods that are considered different from prevailing or conventional agricultural activities.

Anaerobic Lagoon
A holding pond for livestock manure that is designed to anaerobically stabilize manure, and may be designed to capture biogas, with the use of an impermeable, floating cover.

Anhydrous Ethanol
One hundred percent alcohol; neat ethanol.

BHA
A phenolic compound that is used to preserve fats in certain foods. While an excellent preservative, some studies have shown that BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

BHT
A phenolic compound that is used to preserve fats in certain foods. While an excellent preservative, some studies have shown that BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

Bio-control
The use of a specially chosen living organism to control a particular pest.

Biodiesel
An alternative to petroleum-based diesel fuel and is made from renewable resources such as vegetable oils or animal fats.

Biodiversity
The sum total of all the plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms in the world, or in a particular area; all of their individual variation; and all the interactions between them.

Biodynamic Farming
A system of farming based on the teachings of the German philosopher, Rudolph Steiner. The aim of biodynamics is to enhance the action of the forces controlling natural processes.

Biointensive Gardening
A production system whereby it is possible for one person to grow all of his or her family’s food using truly sustainable methods

Biointensive IPM
A range of preventive tactics and biological controls to keep pest population within acceptable limits.

Biological Farming
A system of crop production in which the producer tries to minimize the use of 'chemicals' for control of crop pests.

Biological productivity
Nature's ability to reproduce and regenerate living matter.

Biologically productive land
Land that is fertile enough to support forests, agriculture and / or animal life. All of the biologically productive land of a country comprises its biological capacity.

Biomass
The amount of living organic matter of an ecosystem - usually measured in dry weight.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
An infectious degenerative brain disease occurring in cattle.

Carrying Capacity
The theoretical equilibrium population size at which a particular population in a particular environment will stabilize when its supply of resources remains constant.

Certified Organic Food
Organic food that must comply with stringent international standards.

Complementary medicine
A method of health care that combines the therapies and philosophies of conventional medicine with those of alternative medicines

Composting
The biological decomposition of organic materials such as leaves, grass clippings, brush, and food waste into a soil amendment.

Conservation Buffer Strips
Conservation Buffer Strips are areas or strips of land maintained in permanent vegetation, designed to intercept pollutants and erosion.

Conservation Tillage
A broad range of soil tillage systems that leave residue cover on the soil surface, substantially reducing the effects of soil erosion from wind and water.

Cultural Creatives
To describe a large segment in Western society that has recently developed beyond the standard paradigm of modernists vs. traditionalists.

Eco-business
A business strategy that harnesses the economic power- the strength of investors, consumers, business and the market place, to create an environmentally responsible and socially just society.

Eco-tourism
Ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation.

Ecological Footprint
The land and water area that is required to support a defined human population and material standard indefinitely, using prevailing technology.

Ecological deficit
The amount by which a region’s Ecological Footprint exceeds the ecological capacity of that region.

Electric Utility
An electric power company that operates a power transmission system and has the legal right to produce and sell electric power in a given geographic area.

Environmental management
The planning and implementation of actions geared to improve the quality of the human environment.

Fossil fuels
Coal, natural gas and fuels made from crude oil (such as petrol and diesel).

Fuel Cell Technology
High efficiency electrochemical energy conversion systems that generate electricity to produce heat with the help of a catalyst.

GE food
(Genetically Engineered Food) – Foods in which the genetic code is scientifically altered to produce foods with a desired trait. This process is also known as bioengineering.

GMOs
(Genetically Modified Organism) – An organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there.

Geothermal
Energy derived from the heat in the interior of the earth.

Global acres
Acres that have been adjusted according to world average biomass productivity so that they can be compared meaningfully across regions.

Grasscycling
The practice of leaving clippings on the lawn while mowing.

Green building
The practice of creating buildings that are designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner.

Greenwash
Is defined in the 10th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as the "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.

Hectare
One hectare (ha) is 10,000 square meters (100 x 100 meters). One hectare is equal to 2.47 acres.

Holistic Management (HM)
Decision-making procedures that satisfy the immediate needs of an individual without jeopardizing his/her future well-being, or the well-being of future generations.

Holistic medicine
An approach to medical care that emphasizes the study of all aspects of a person's health, including physical, psychological, social, economic, and cultural factors.

Homeopathy
A system of alternative medicine where a disease is treated by prescribing small doses of drugs which produce symptoms similar to those of the disease itself.

Hybrid electric vehicle
A vehicle with at least two sources of motive energy.

Hydrological cycle
The natural cycle of water from evaporation, transpiration in the atmosphere, condensation (rain and snow), and flows back to the ocean (e.g. rivers).

Independent Power
Electric power produced by an entity other than the electric utility in the area.

Integrated Farming Systems (IFS)
Resource-efficient crop and livestock systems that maintain productivity, that are profitable, and that protect the environment and the personal health of farmers and their families.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
An ecologically based approach to pest (animal and weed) control that utilizes a multi-disciplinary knowledge of crop/pest relationships

Intensive/controlled Grazing systems
Livestock and grass management practices that focus on increased levels of manager involvement, leading to increased productivity and the sustainability of the land.

LOHAS
An acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability.

Life support systems
According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), refer to the biophysical processes "that sustain the productivity, adaptability and capacity for renewal of lands, waters, and / or the biosphere as a whole.”

Low entropy energy
High-quality energy or energy that is concentrated and "available."

Low-input Agriculture
Agricultural systems that seek to optimize the management and use of internal production inputs (i.e. on-farm resources).

NUG
Non-utility generation (or generator) -- synonymous with independent power.

Natural Farming
A farming methodology that involves no tillage, no fertilizer, no pesticides, no weeding, no pruning, and remarkably little labor.

Natural Food
Food that does not contain any additives, such as preservatives or artificial coloring.

Natural capital
Refers to the existing air, water, land and energy resources from which all resources derive.

Nature Farming
A farming methodology grown out of an Asian philosophy that rests on a belief in the universal life-giving powers that the elements of fire, water and earth confer on the soil.

Naturopathy
A drug less system of therapy, making use of physical forces such as air, light, water, heat, massage, etc.

Net Primary Production
The energy or biomass content of plant material that has accumulated in an ecosystem over a period of time through photosynthesis.

Nutrient Management
The management of source, placement, form, amount and timing of the application of nutrients and soil amendments to ensure adequate soil fertility

OTA
Organic Trade Association

Open access
A system where electricity producers are allowed to interconnect to the transmission system (the wires) and transmit their power to buyers.

Organic Farming
A production system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock feed additives.

Organic Food
Food grown, cultivated and processed without the use of synthetic chemicals such as insecticides, herbicides and fumigants.

Overshoot
Or ecological deficit, occurs when human consumption and waste production exceed the capacity of the Earth to create new resources and absorb waste.

Parallel Generation
Synonymous with independent power and NUG.

Permaculture
An alternative, sustainable agriculture system that is unique in its emphasis on design; that is, the location of each element in a landscape, and the evolution of landscape over time.

Photovoltaics (PV)
Semiconductor technology that silently converts light energy into direct-current (dc) electricity, with no moving parts, burning no fuel, and creating no pollution.

Postconsumer Content
Also know as post consumer waste, any product which has served its intended use by a business or a consumer, which has been disposed and subsequently separated from solid waste for use as a constituent in a new product.

Postmanufacture Content
Also known as postmanufacture waste, waste that is created by a manufacturing process, and that is subsequently only used as a constituent in another manufacturing process.

Precision Farming
A management strategy that employs detailed, site-specific information to precisely manage production inputs.

Precycling
It refers to actions such as making purchasing decisions that will reduce waste such as buying goods with less packaging (e.g., goods in bulk or concentrated form), choosing products that will last longer, and avoiding single-use or disposable products.

Private Utility
An electric utility that is privately owned, regardless of whether its shares are publicly traded or privately held.

Private power
Power produced from privately-owned generation facilities. (Most independent power in Canada is also private power).

RET
Renewable Energy Technology

Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF)
A solid fuel produced by shredding municipal solid waste (MSW).

Regenerative Cooling
A type of cooling system that uses a charging and discharging cycle with a thermal or latent heat storage subsystem.

Regenerative Heating
The process of using heat that is rejected in one part of a cycle for another function or in another part of the cycle.

Renewable energy sources (RES)
Energy sources that capture their energy from existing flows of energy, from on-going natural processes, such as sunshine, wind, flowing water, biological processes and geothermal heat flows.

Resource Recovery
The process of converting municipal solid waste to energy and/or recovering materials for recycling.

Retrofit
The process of modifying a building's structure.

Ribbon (Photovoltaic) Cells
A type of solar photovoltaic device made in a continuous process of pulling material from a molten bath of photovoltaic material, such as silicon, to form a thin sheet of material.

Rigid Insulation Board
An insulation product made of a fibrous material or plastic foams, pressed or extruded into board-like forms.

Rock Bin
A container that holds rock used as the thermal mass to store solar energy in a solar heating system

Roof Pond
A solar energy collection device consisting of containers of water located on a roof that absorb solar energy during the day so that the heat can be used at night or that cools a building by evaporation at night.

Salt Gradient Solar Ponds
Consist of three main layers. The top layer is near ambient and has low salt content.

Secondary Material
This term traditionally refers to industrial byproducts of a manufacturing process that are used as an ingredient of another manufacturing process to create another product.

Socially responsible investing
An investment process that considers the social and environmental consequences of investments, both positive and negative, within the context of rigorous financial analysis.

Solar energy
Energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy.

Solid Waste
In general terms, solid waste refers to garbage, refuse, sludges, and other discarded solid materials resulting from residential activities, and industrial and commercial operations.

Source Reduction
Section 40196 of the California Public Resources Code defines source reduction as any action which causes a net reduction in the generation of solid waste.

Sustainability
Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
A program that is the U.S. department of Agriculture's primary means of studying and publicizing sustainable agriculture practices.

Sustainable Development
The maintenance of a standard of living that is socially desirable, fulfilling a population’s cultural, material and spiritual needs in equitable way;

Sustainable energy
Energy which is replenishable within a human lifetime and which causes no long-term damages to the environment

Whole Farm Planning
Strategies that share a conservation, family-oriented approach to farm management, although specific components may vary from farm to farm, and from community to community.

Wind Turbine
A wind energy conversion device that produces electricity; typically having one, two, or three blades.

Worm Composting
Worms feed on slowly decomposing materials (e.g., vegetable scraps) to produce a nutrient rich soil amendment, in a controlled environment. Also known as vermicomposting.

Xeriscaping
The practice of landscaping with slow growing, drought-tolerant plants.

Yaw
The rotation of a horizontal axis wind turbine around its tower or vertical axis.

Yield adjusted area
The biologically productive space expressed in world average productivity. It is calculated by multiplying the physically existing space by the yield factors.

Yield factor
The factor by which a country's ecosystems are more productive than the world average. A yield factor of 0.5 indicates that local productivity is only half of the global average.

Yoga
A Hindu discipline aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility.