Green Glossary – R
- R-Value or Resistance Value
- Resistance value quantifies thermal resistance or resistance to heat flowing out of a house or building.
- Radioactive Waste
- Materials left over from the production of nuclear energy. It is the broader term that includes all waste types that contain radioactivity — among these is nuclear waste.
- Rainforest
- Areas lush with trees, flora and fauna and characterized by high rainfall. Rainforest are habitat to 40 to 75 percent of the Earth's living species.
- Reclamation
- In recycling, reclamation is the act of picking out objects or materials discarded so that they may be reused.
- Recycled Aggregates
- Crushed concrete or asphalt from construction and demolition debris that can be re-used for more building applications. Instead of ending up in landfills, recycled aggregates are used mainly for road base, riprap, cement concrete for other construction or infrastructure projects.
- Recycled Glass Countertops
- Recycled glass countertops are and earth-friendly alternative to traditional counter top materials such as marble or granite. As opposed to being made from materials that are mined or quarried, they are made with glass waste material.
- Recycled Hair
- Clippings from human hair and animal wool that are used to make hair booms and hair mats for soaking up coastal oil spills. Hair is very efficient at absorbing oil, as oil tends to cling to it.
- Recycled Timber
- Salvaged wood from demolitions of old houses, buildings, warehouses, bridges and wharves that can be used as timber for new construction projects or furniture.
- Recycling
- The process of turning waste into raw materials that can be used for making new products. Recycling is meant to conserve natural resources and reduce waste, pollution and energy consumption.
- Recycling Mill
- Usually located in urban areas, recycling mills recover waste to make them into reusable products.
- Recycling Rate
- Quantified percentage of how much materials used are recycled by a certain entity such as a manufacturer or company.
- Red Bag Waste
- Red bag waste is an alternative term to biological hazard or biohazard waste from hospitals that must be contained in a standard red bag to sort them for proper disposal.
- Red Tide
- A sudden surge in toxic, naturally occurring microscopic red plankton in coastal waters, often causing dead fish to wash up on beaches.
- Redemption Program
- In recycling, this is also known as the bottle bill in which consumers are paid for collecting recyclable materials.
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- The three Rs of waste management strategies in order of importance or desirability. Reduce, reuse, recycle is the guiding principle behind waste minimization.
- Reforestation
- The process of repopulating denuded forests and woodlands with trees. It is the solution to deforestation caused by logging and other human means of destroying areas once populated by tree cover.
- Refuse-Derived Fuel or RDF
- Fuel produced by separating, shredding and processing mixed wastes, typically municipal solid waste.
- Regenerative Agriculture
- Typical farming or agricultural methods lead to carbon loss from soils--decreasing soil quality, while increasing carbon emissions that pollute the air. Regenerative Agriculture addresses these problems by using organic farming methods which preserve carbon levels in the soil and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
- REGREEN
- REGREEN is a set of environmental sustainability guidelines developed for residential remodeling and renovation projects.
- Renewable Energy
- Energy resources that are sustainable and which can be used without the danger of exhaustion.
- Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
- Also known as green tags, renewable energy credits or tradable renewable certificates (TRCs).
- Renewable Fuels Standard or RFS
- Part of federal energy legislation that sets a minimum number of gallons of renewable fuels to be used in the nation’s transportation fuel supply each year.
- Renewable Resources
- Natural materials that can be replaced in a relatively short amount of time are considered sustainable. Energy resources that are grown such as biomass, certain species of wood or power derived from weather conditions are considered renewable resources.
- Repurposing
- The eco-friendly practice of finding new uses for old supplies, resources and materials, ranging from clothes to furniture and building spaces. The practice reduces waste and landfill use. It also saves money.
- Residue Ash
- Ash produced during combustion in mass burn facilities or municipal solid waste incinerators.
- Resource Depletion
- Resource depletion is the state in which natural resources in an area, both renewable and non-renewable have been exhausted.
- Restoration
- The goal of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), which involves rehabilitating, replacing, or acquiring the equivalent of injured natural resources and the services they provided.
- Restoration Ecology
- The discipline that underlies the practice of accelerating the recovery of ecosystems whose health, integrity and sustainability have been compromised.
- Revegetation
- The process of replanting and rebuilding soil in areas that have been environmentally degraded. Revegetation can occur as natural plant colonization and succession; or it can be artificially accelerated to repair soil damage due to wildfire, mining, floods or other causes.
- Reverse Osmosis
- A process often used in commercial and residential water filtration.
- Rubber Mulch
- Tire buffings or nuggets of rubber from retreaded tires or used tires that have been ground up whole after removing their steel bands.
