Green Glossary – G
- Garbage
- Animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, storage, sale, preparation, cooking, and serving of foods.
- Gasahol
- Mixture of gasoline and ethanol derived from fermented agricultural products containing at least nine percent ethanol.
- Gasification
- Conversion of solid material such as coal into a gas for use as a fuel.
- Generator
- An internal combustion unit that produces gas or steam, or that changes mechanical energy into electrical energy. As most electrical generators are gasoline-powered, they can be a source of air pollution, emitting carbon dioxide in particular.
- Geoengineering
- Also known as climate engineering, this field of study aims to come up with ways to deliberately manipulate the earth's climate to counteract global warming brought on by greenhouse gas emissions.
- Geology
- The science of the Earth as a whole--from its origin, structure, composition, processes and history.
- Geoscience
- Also known as Earth Science, geoscience covers all forms of research concerned with the earth's natural systems. This includes the study of the oceans, solid earth, biosphere and atmosphere.
- Geothermal Energy
- Geothermal energy is a form of energy produced through drilling and harvesting heat trapped deep within the earth.
- Global Carbon Budget
- The balance of the exchanges (incomes and losses) of carbon between the carbon reservoirs or between one specific loop (i.e., atmosphere to biosphere) of the carbon cycle.
- Global Dimming
- An environmental phenomena marked by darker, polluted clouds that causes more of the sun's heat and light to be reflected back into space.
- Global Energy Balance
- The balance between the energy of the sun coming into the earth and the earth's own outgoing heat.
- Global Environment Monitoring System or GEMS
- A global operation that acquires information needed to investigate environmental processes through scientific monitoring in order to understand and manage the earth's environment and prevent its degradation.
- Global Footprint Network
- A global organization that initiated a consensus, committee-based process for the development of standards governing footprint applications.
- Global Hectare or GHA
- A unit of measured productivity used to report both the biocapacity of the earth, and the demand on biocapacity or ecological footprint. The global hectare is based on the area-weighted average productivity of usable land and water in a given year.
- Global Warming
- An increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth.
- Global Warming Potential or GWP
- A system of multipliers devised to enable warming effects of different gases to be compared.
- Good Neighbor Agreement or GNA
- A useful tool for ensuring that a company practices sound environmental safety procedures, especially when it operates a facility within a community of residences and other businesses. GNAs are increasingly being used by communities to increase control over over public health and environmental safety.
- Green Building
- Green, or sustainable, building is the practice of creating and using healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance and demolition.
- Green Career
- A job that supports sustainable industry, protects biodiversity, reduces pollution and minimizes waste.
- Green Chemistry
- A philosophy in modern science that espouses chemical and engineering research to design products and processes with minimal impact to the environment, particularly minimizing the use of hazardous substances.
- Green Data Center
- Storage bank for company or business data which uses computer technology that allows minimal use of power and other resources to minimize environmental impact.
- Green Home
- A green home or building is one that shelters and functions for it's inhabitants with minimal impact to the environment.
- Green IT
- Refers to the use of computer systems in an envrionmentally-sustainable manner.
- Green Key Eco-Rating Program
- A program that rates hotels, motels and resorts based on their commitment and effort to minimize their environmental impact while reducing operating and energy costs.
- Green Roofs
- Green roofs are literally green from being covered with soil and plant life, typically grass.
- Green Schools
- Green Schools is a program of the US-based Alliance to Save Energy that equips district schools with ways to save on power costs as well as provide hands-on opportunities for students to learn about energy efficiency.
- Green Tags
- Green tags are non-tangible energy commodities traded in the United States.
- Green Washing
- The unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, industry, government, person, or a non-governmental organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or try to rehabilitate its standing with the public and decision makers.
- GREENGUARD Environmental Institute or GEI
- An industry-independent, not-for-profit organization that certifies products and building projects based on how they reduce chemical exposure and improve indoor air quality.
- Greenhouse Effect
- The warming of the Earth’s atmosphere attributed to a buildup of carbon dioxide or other gases.
- Greenhouse Gas
- A gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, which contributes to potential climate change.
- Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
- Greenhouse gases are components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect, which leads to climate change by warming global temperatures.
- Greenpeace
- A widely-recognized independent global organization of environmental activists.
- Greywater
- Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as dish washing, laundry and bathing.
- Grid
- A geographical zone for reporting and displaying air emissions information. Grid sizes vary depending on their use.
- Groundwater
- Groundwater is water that comes from rain, snow, sleet and hail that soak into the ground and is accumulated in lower layers of soil that act as a sponge that hold the water.
