This entry will have edits! Also, if you think I'm incorrect or need to explain more, don't hesitate to comment!
(note: I tried to keep this ESL-friendly)
1) Recycle -- to magically transform something old into something new. (i.e. old paper is cut up, soaked in water, and strained to make new paper; cans are melted down into sheets and re-formed into cans again, etc.)
2) Reduce -- to use less of something. So, if you cut off the lights when you aren't in the room, you're reducing your impact on the environment. (By the way, even if you leave the room for a few minutes (seconds, even!), turning off the lights will save you money-- it's been proven by the MythBusters!)
3) Reuse -- to use something over and over and over again. This includes the bring-your-own mentality, mending your old socks and clothes, using your contact solution container as a pencil holder, etc. Basically, not throwing something out after it's been used once.
4) Eat local -- to eat food that has not had to travel far to get to your mouth. The idea behind this is, importing food from around the world costs fuel, which emits greenhouse gases. If you buy brocolli that was grown in, say, Tokushima Prefecture instead of the cheaper American-grown broccoli, you're getting something that is not only fresher but also better for the environment simply because it was grown a bit closer to home.
5) Bring Your Own -- Self-explanatory, really. Japan is pretty good about bringing-your-own... for some things, like handkerchiefs and tissues. But still, millions of people buy pre-made and overly-packaged o-bento (lunchboxes) and use the disposable chopsticks. If you bring your own chopsticks, you are helping to save the planet a little bit... If you bring your own lunch, you're saving quite a bit of garbage! Other "bring-your-own" things include: plastic bags (this is a big one-- actually, in Osaka city, you can only use clear plastic bags for garbage-- hopefully this will motivate people to bring their own; and sometimes food stores require you to pay for plastic bags, another big motivator), containers (when eating out)...
6) Disposable -- something you throw away, usually after one use.
7) Ecology -- The study of the environment. In Japanese, I know it means to be "green", but in English, it's the branch of science about the environment.
According to wikipedia, "Ecology (from Greek: οίκος, oikos, "household"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge") is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as insolation (sunlight), climate, and geology, and biotic factors, which are other organisms that share its habitat.
The word "ecology" is often used more loosely in such terms as social ecology and deep ecology and in common parlance as a synonym for the natural environment or environmentalism. Likewise "ecologic" or "ecological" is often taken in the sense of environmentally friendly." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology
8) Greenhouse Gases -- common ones include Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N20) aka "Laughing Gas", Ozone (03), Chloroflorocarbons (CFCs). These gases in abundance trap the earth's heat that would ordinarily escape through the atmosphere and out into space, contributing to the greenhouse effect.
9) Greenhouse Effect -- The earth is getting hotter and hotter because Greenhouse Gases act like the walls and ceiling of a greenhouse, trapping the hot air inside.
10) Going Veg -- this means becoming a vegetarian. How in the world can not eating meat reduce your impact on the environment? Raising crops requires land and water, but raising livestock requires land and water *and* crops. Go here for more: http://www.enviroveggie.com/ , or simply google "vegetarian environment" for a slew of information. Also, think about all the terrible things that happen to animals on farms, from mis-feeding of livestock (leading to disease, as we all know) and abuse of animals.
11) Fair Trade -- Importing things made in a poorer country and ensuring that the workers get a living wage. Why is this important to us, and how does it relate to the environment? Humans, as Mr. K pointed out in the meeting, are also part of the environment. Usually fair trade also means better working conditions for the humans working as opposed to sweatshops.
12) Living Wage -- You earn enough money to survive and save a bit as well, to benefit your children's lives and your own.
13) Sustainability -- example: you cut down trees and plant new ones in their place. This gives your work a cycle so that when all the trees are cut down, you have new ones to replace the old. Thinking about sustainable practices is another way we can protect our environment.
"Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on which they depend in balance with the impacts of our unsustainable or sustainable design." -- from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability (Click on the link and read the whole article-- it's excellent!)
14) Birth Control -- Oh no, she totally went there. She meaning me. We are overpopulated. There are too many people on this small planet. One solution to our overpopulation is to colonize a new world. The other is to reduce our population (hopefully we can do this with birth control instead of war and disease!) Bringing another human into the world is one of the best ways we can negatively impact the world. More babies means more garbage, more greenhouse gases, etc. There are so many unwanted children born and put into dumpsters, raised in poverty, and abused. If you really want a baby, you can adopt! (Except, you can't adopt in Japan because... okay, I'm not going to go there.)
15) Non-disposable things that not many people know about: Menstrual products (cloth pads, silicon/rubber cups--it's really not as gross as it sounds), cloth diapers for babies, rags (instead of paper towels). Reducing usage of disposable products reduces garbage.
16) Landfill -- this is the most common method of disposing of garbage. A hole is dug, garbage placed inside, and then it's buried. Most things don't decompose, or break down and become dirt, because of lack of air and water necessary for the natural degradation process. In Japan, the most common method of garbage disposal is...
17) Incineration -- burning. The reason why this is bad? Burning anything adds to greenhouse gases. Do you want to breathe in burnt plastic? (The answer should be a resounding "NO!")
18) Pesticides -- drugs applied to plants to keep away and/or kill pests such as insects and animals. These are usually harmful to humans as well.
19) Organic -- This word is so misused. In Japanese, 有機, it means no pesticides, hormones, artificial chemicals, etc. were used in the manufacturing of this product. In American English, things can be labeled as "organic" without meeting strict regulations. (Hopefully this is changing...)
20) Composting -- This is the process of turning plant matter (生ゴミ）into mineral-rich dirt.
Last updated-- 11 April 2008 (edited links)
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