Green Glossary – C | 1-800-Recycling

Green Glossary – C

California Proposition 65: California's Proposition 65 is the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act passed by the State via voter initiative.
Can Crushers: A device that can be used to compact discarded cans to reduce waste volume before these are sent to recycling centers.
Cancer Potency Estimate: An estimate of a chemical's likelihood to cause cancer, generally derived from animal studies and extrapolated to humans.
Cancer Risk Score: How a chemical's estimated cancer risk compares with the cancer risk from other chemicals, after being converted into a common unit of comparison.
Canopy: In biology, canopy refers to the above ground portion of a plant, vegetation or crop community. The term is often identified with forests.
Carbon Capture and Storage or CCS: Carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves absorbing carbon dioxide, transporting it to a storage site, then injecting it underground so that it is not released in the atmosphere.
Carbon Credit: Carbon credits are components of a tradable permit scheme.
Carbon Dioxide: Carbon dioxide is one of the major pollutants in the atmosphere produced mainly by fuel combustion and deforestation.
Carbon Emissions: Excess carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas.
Carbon Footprint: Your carbon footprint is a measure of the exclusive total amount of carbon dioxide emissions that are directly and indirectly caused by an activity or are accumulated over the life stages of products.
Carbon Monoxide: A colorless, odorless gas that is produced when carbon-containing fuels are burned. Sometimes referred to as carbon oxide, it is made when there is not enough oxygen to produce carbon dioxide.
Carbon Neutral: An activity or product is carbon neutral if it has no net greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon Offsets: The act of compensating for greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon Sequestration: A process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a variety of means of capturing and storing carbon.
Carbon Sink: A reservoir that can accumulate and store carbon compounds, therefore being able to decrease carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration.
Carbon Tax: Companies are charged carbon tax for carbon dioxide emissions produced from their manufacturing processes.
Carcinogens: Substances and environmental factors that can cause cancer or contribute to the growth of abnormal calls in the body.
Cardiovascular Toxicants: Chemical substances that cause adverse effects on the heart and blood vessels or any part of the blood system.
Catalysis: A chemical process involved in the production of industrial chemicals. Catalysis is relevant to many aspects of environmental science--for instance, the study of the catalytic converter in cars and the catalysis involved in the ozone hole.
Catalytic Converter: A device used to reduce emissions or pollutants produced by an internal combustion engine.
Catch Limits: A fisheries management tool implemented to limit the quantity of a species of fish that fishermen are allowed to land in a specified amount of time or geographical area.
Catchment: An area of land drained by a river system also referred to as a drainage system or watershed. Identifying catchment areas is now a primary tool for environmental planning.
Cell Phone Recycling: Using old, discarded cell phones as a source of materials for new products. Currently, cell phones are usually recycled for metal components.
Cells: In solid waste disposal, holes where waste is dumped, compacted, and covered with layers of dirt on a daily basis.
Centre for Ice and Climate: Based in the University of Copenhagen, the Centre for Ice and Climate analyzes and interprets data derived from ice core samples from the earths coldest regions, particularly from Greenland.
Chemical: Any substance or material with a definite chemical composition--this can refer to a pure chemical element or a pure chemical compound.
Chemical Ripening: A controversial method of enhancing fruit shelf-life by use of the synthetic chemical 1-methylcyclopropene. The chemical is applied in storage facilities and transit containers to slow down the ripening process of produce.
Chemical Water Pollution: The presence of unwanted chemicals in bodies of water--usually as a result of the accidental spillage of substances, waste from factories or industry and through agricultural or surface runoff.
Chernobyl: The most serious environmental disaster caused by a nuclear accident which occurred in Russia in the 1986. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accidentally released massive amounts of radioactive materials resulting in a radioactive cloud that spread over a big past of Europe from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX): The world’s first and North America’s only, voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas reduction and trading system for emission sources and offset projects in North America and Brazil.
Chimneys: A building structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace. Industrial chimneys are called flue gas stacks and are usually external structures not built-into the wall of a building.
Chlordane: A chemical mixture used as a pesticide in the US from 1948 until its eventual ban in 1988. Some of its trade names are Octachlor and Velsicol 1068. Chlordane was once used on citrus and corn crops, on lawns and gardens as well as termites.
Chlordecone: Chlordecone is a synthetic chlorinated organic compound which was mainly used as an agricultural pesticide.
Chlorinated Hydrocarbon: An organic compound or chlorinated solvent containing at least one bonded chlorine atom. PVC, chloroform, certain pesticides and insulators are made up of chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Chlorine: A chemical widely-used in water purification, disinfectants, bleach and mustard gas. It is also commonly used in manufacturing various products such as paper, pesticides, paints, petroleum products, plastics and solvents.
Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs: CFCs are chemical compounds which are reportedly one of the causes of the rapid depletion of the earth's ozone layer.
Chronic Toxicity: Adverse health effects from repeated doses of a toxic chemical or other toxic substance over a relatively prolonged period of time, generally greater than one year.
Chytrid: Fungus linked to worldwide decline in worldwide amphibian populations. its devastating effects are thought to be enhanced by climate change.
Clean Air Act: The law that outlines the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) responsibilities for maintaining and improving air quality and the ozone layer above US territory.
Clean Air Watch: A non-profit watchdog organization that advocates for better air quality in the US. The group monitors clean air and climate policies representing public interest as opposed to corporations and businesses that are typically air polluters.
Clean Energy: Environmentally friendly sources of energy. Typically, this refers to renewable and nonpolluting energy sources.
Clean Fuels: Fuels such as E-10 Unleaded that burn cleaner and produce fewer harmful emissions compared to ordinary gasoline.
Clearcutting: Also known as clearfelling, clearcutting is a logging technique in which all trees are removed from an area, typically 20 acres or larger, with little regard for long-term forest health.
Clearfelling: See Clearcutting.
Climate: General prevailing weather conditions of a region including temperature, air pressure, rainfall, humidity, sunshine, cloudiness, snow and winds.
Climate Change: The term ‘climate change’ is sometimes used to refer to all forms of climatic inconsistency, but because the Earth’s climate is never static, the term is more properly used to imply a significant change from one climatic condition to another.
Climate Forcing: The propagation of a phenomena, natural or man-made, that changes global climate. The earth's climate changes when the amount of energy stored by the climate system is modified.
Climate-Dominated Building: A building where energy consumption is driven by heat loss or gain that moves across the building's envelope.
Closed-Loop Recycling: Reclaiming or reusing wastewater for non-potable purposes in an enclosed process.
Cloud Computing: When data, software applications, or computer processing power are accessed from a network of online resources it is called cloud computing.
Co-products: By-products made by ethanol plants as a result of ethanol production.
CO2 Scrubber: A machine designed to remove carbon dioxide from the air. Air polluted with carbon dioxide is pumped into the CO2 scrubber wherein an ion exchange resin attracts carbon dioxide molecules. After this, the carbon-free air is released out of the scrubber.
Coal: Sedimentary rock composed of solid organic materials combined with some mineral matter. It is a non-renewable resource that is in high demand worldwide. Coal is a combustible material that provides energy for power plants.
Coastal Erosion: The wearing-away of beach, soil, rock or dune sediments near the shore due to waves, tides or drainage which can also be exacerbated by human phenomena.
Cogeneration: Cogeneration is a process in which power is produced by a gas-fired engine and generator set. Heat produced as part of this process is used as heating and/or cooling media.
Collapsible Rain Barrels: Rain barrels that are designed to catch water runoff from gutters during a rain storm, which can then be used to water gardens.
Combined Heat and Power Plant or CHP: A power plant that generates both heat and power--creating less waste and having less environmental impact than conventional power plants.
Combustion: The process of burning fuel and oxidants to produce heat and/or work. Combustion is the main energy release mechanism in the Earth.
Commercial Extinction: A term usually referring to marine animals, commercial extinction is the depletion of a population of species to the point where fisherman cannot catch enough of them to earn profit.
Commercial Fishing: Also known as industrial fishing, commercial fishing is the capturing fish and other seafood for profit, usually form the open sea or wild fishing areas.
Commercial Waste: All solid waste emanating from business establishments such as stores, markets, office buildings, restaurants, shopping centers, and theaters.
Community Supported Agriculture Movement or CSAs: A type of community organization involving food farmers and consumers who adhere to an agreed-upon program of sustainable food cultivation practices and means of ethical food distribution.
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL): Small fluorescent lamps used as more efficient alternatives to incandescent lighting. Also called PL, CFL, Twin-Tube, or BIAX lamps.
Compost: Organic material made up of decomposing plant matter and animal manure that is used to fertilize land and improve soil structure.
Compostable Packaging: Environment-friendly alternative to traditional box packaging that are not only disposable but can be used in composting when they are discarded.
Composting: The controlled biological decomposition of organic material in the presence of air to form a humus-like material.
Composting Facilities: An offsite facility where the organic component of municipal solid waste is decomposed under controlled conditions.
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.
Computer Recycling: A prudent, environmentally-appropriate way of handling old, discarded computers. Computers are recycled to reduce environmental risks posed by disposing potential hazardous materials into landfills.
Computer Recycling: Using old, discarded computers as a source of materials for new products. Obsolete computers contain significant amounts of recoverable materials including metals from wires and circuit boards, glass from monitors, and plastics from casings.
Concentrating Collectors: Concentrating collectors are a kind of "factory" for solar power.
Conservation: The preservation and protection of the Earth's natural resources for the sake of future generations.
Conservation Biology: A branch of scientific study that focuses on nature, ecosystems and the earth's state of biodiversity with the specific aim of protecting species, resources and habitats from extinction.
Conservation Medicine: An emerging science that studies human and animal health relative to natural and environmental conditions.
Construction Waste Management: A devised set of strategies used for building construction and demolition to reduce the amount of waste and maximize reuse and recycling.
Consumption Footprint: A set of data used to define general consumption for a defined population. Consumption is the most commonly reported type of ecological footprint.
Container Gardening: An alternative to gardening in ground soil, container gardening is the the practice of growing plants exclusively in containers--typically pots and window boxes.
Contaminant: Any substance that is found in an environment where it does not belong. The term also applies to any substance that can be found naturally in a given setting, but is present at levels higher than normal--enough to cause harm to living organisms.
Contamination: The presence of an unwanted or unneeded substance in a material, mixture, metal, gas or chemical.
Contiguous Facility: In waste disposal, this would include buildings, equipment, structures and stationary items that are located on a single site, or on adjacent sites that are owned or operated by the same waste handler.
Controlled Burn: Controlled burn or prescribed burning is a method used in forest management, farming or prairie restoration. Controlled burning stimulates the germination of certain forest trees, and is therefore helpful in renewing the forest.
Convention on Biological Diversity or CBD: A global initiative that aims to protect and sustain worldwide biodiversity as the living foundation for sustainable development.
Copenhagen Agreement: A consensus document in the 2009 Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change meant to outline how the world's industrial countries will take measures to abate the effects of global warming, particularly focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Coral Reefs: A rich and diverse type of marine habitat made up by the slow accumulation of coral growths. Corals are a reef's dominant organism as it is the framework that provides the living matrix for the growing reef.
Cork Flooring: A "green" alternative floor option to wood, stone or tile.
Corrosive: Corrosive hazardous waste rusts steel at a higher than normal rate of 6.35 millimeters per year at a test temperature of 55 degrees Celsius.
Cradle to Cradle: Cradle to Cradle is the application of environmentally safe materials in the production of goods.
Cradle-to-Grave or Manifest System: A procedure in which hazardous materials are identified and followed as they are produced, treated, transported, and disposed of by a series of permanent, linkable, descriptive documents (e.g. manifests). Commonly referred to as the cradle-to-grave system.
Criteria Air Contaminants: Emissions from various pollutants that affect our health and contribute to air pollution problems such as ground level ozone, haze and acid rain.
Critical Load: The highest amount of chemical content that will not lead to long term harmful effects in sensitive ecological systems.
Crop Dusting: The process of spraying powdered crop pesticides by low-flying airplanes. The practice is also known as aerial application.
Crude Oil: See Liquid Petroleum.
Cullet: Crushed glass.
Low Carbon Building or LCB: Buildings that are designed, built or renovated and re-engineeded to release minimal carbon emissions.
The Carbon Trust: A not-for-profit company based in the United Kingdom that advocates for a move towards a low carbon economy--an economy that does not depend significantly on carbon emission producing technology and processes.

Green Glossary – C

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