Greenhood Glossary

Below is a glossary GreenPosting has put together.
PPassive Solar 1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08The processes of using or capturing energy from the sun to heat water, or for other heating purposes.
Pastured or Pasture-Raised 2Introduction to Sustainability: Sustainable Dictionary "sustainable table" Retrieved 4/11/08Indicates the animal was raised on a pasture and that it ate grasses and food found in a pasture, rather than being fattened on grain in a feedlot or barn. Pasturing livestock and poultry is a traditional farming technique that allows animals to be raised in a humane, ecologically sustainable manner. This is basically the same as grass-fed, though the term pasture-raised indicates more clearly that the animal was raised outdoors on pasture. (See Grass-Fed)
Perchloroethylene (perc)
1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08A toxic substance used in conventional dry cleaning. Perc for short, it’s a chlorinated solvent that accumulates in body fat and has been listed as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Permaculture 1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08The adoption of methods and practices from ecology, appropriate technology, and sustainable agriculture providing the techniques to establish productive environments to supply food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs.
PET
(Polyethylene Terepthalate) 1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08A type of plastic used to make soft drink bottles and other kinds of food containers. PET is also used to make fabric.
Petroleum Distillates 1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08Toxin and possible human carcinogen found in some mascara, perfume, foundation, lipstick, and lip balm. Considered one of the 10 most unsafe substances found in beauty products.
Photvoltaic (PV)
1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08The process of using technology to convert sunlight into electricity. Often referred to solar electric.
Pollution Offset 3"The Dictionary of Sustainable Management." Presidio School of Management. Retrieved 4/18/08The attempt to offset the results of pollution from some activity of process by improving the environment in an equal benefit. Carbon trading, for example, allows carbon polluters to offset the effect of excess carbon in the environment by trading credits with those whose activities reduce an equal amount of carbon. Pollution offsets can exist for any kind of polluting materials as long as an equal and direct benefit can be established.
Pollution Prevention 3"The Dictionary of Sustainable Management." Presidio School of Management. Retrieved 4/18/08Any activity to reduce or eliminate any number of pollution types or quantities from personal, corporate, or governmental activities. Also called source reduction, these activities seek to create more efficient procedures or practices that reduce pollution or use it in the manufacturing process of some other activity. Often, practices such as changes in manufacturing or other activities, redefined product, service, or corporate strategy, dematerialization, transmaterialization, or substitution of materials can eliminate less desirable practices (along with the pollution associated with these practices) without adversely effecting productivity or, in some cases, increasing efficiency or effectiveness.
Post-Consumer 1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08A term used to describe material that is being reused/recycled after it has been in the consumer's hands (e.g., a newspaper going back to the paper mill to be recycled into new recycled content paper products). Material or product used by the consumer for its original purpose and then discarded.
Potassium Dichromate 1Greenopia.com glossary Retrieved 4/11/08Toxic chemical used in pain and wound treatments. A known carcinogen, and studies show it can be an immune system and reproductive system hazard. Considered one of the 10 most unsafe substances found in beauty products.