Click on any of the letters below to go to that section of the glossary.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Capactiy-building
Creating abilities in people, groups, towns, cities, countries, large organizations, to do things.

Community Economic Development
Using local people, businesses and resources to create relationships that connect each other's interests and values like the environment, health, housing, youth empowerment and skills development.

Consciousness
Awakeness, and also developing critical thinking about the different aspects of issues.

Democracy
A type of government where the power lies with the people, and they express their view either directly or through elected representatives.

Ecology
For people, the study of the interactions between people and their environment.

Eco-tourism
Tourism to wild or exotic places, often to support conservation projects.

Empower
Offering opportunities, power and confidence to some one, for example a child, youth, or group.

Energy Audit
An examination of the amount and types of energy consumed by a building, event or living thing. This can include a look at possible energy alternatives to the types of energy currently being used.

Environmental Racism
The unequal amounts of environmental problems and health risks that are present in communities of non-Caucasian peoples, including great exposure to toxic wastes, mining and dumping. Environmental racism often goes hand-in-hand with poorer living conditions, scarce schooling, low employment rates, and hard to find medical services.

Food Security
Having access to food that is nutritional, safe, religiously and culturally appropriate, and produced in ways that are environmentally sound.

Genetically Modified Organism
A living thing whose inherited characteristics, or genes, have been deliberately altered. For example, tomatoes have been genetically modified to ripen slower and to last longer on store shelves.

Intergenerational equity
Considering the wellbeing of future generations as much as the wellbeing of present generations. It is about passing on to future generations an environment which is not impoverished and degraded, so that we do not reduce their quality of life.

Lobbying
To research and persuade a politician to support or oppose certain changes in law and policy.

Multinational
Large corporation or company that has offices and/ or factories in several countries.

Networking
It is like the spider web of communication and exchanges of ideas.

Organic
Grown without the use of drugs, hormones or artificial chemicals and fertilizers. Fruits, vegetables and meat can all be grown organically.

Participatory Democracy
Ensuring that all citizens are involved in the decision-making processes of government.

Peaceful Protest
A way of publicly making your opinions heard on a certain issue, often using signs, slogans and many people, without violence or aggression. Peaceful or non-violent protests are also called Satyagraha, a term used by Mahatma Ghandi during his fasting and civil protests in India.

Rehabilitate
Making something good again or work again (for example, communications, ecosystems)

Resilience
The ability to recover from shock or hardship, and to endure periods of difficulty without too much stress.

Smart Growth
Developing land in towns or cities in an environmentally-sensitive way with the goals of minimizing dependence on auto transportation, reducing air pollution, and making infrastructure investments more efficient

Stewardship
Taking responsibility for the good care of something entrusted to you. Environmental stewardship means taking responsibility for the earth, its natural resources and its inhabitants by acting in a way that helps to ensure long-term good health and survival.

Sustainable
Keeping a balance when we're using resources, by using them at a current rate that won't ruin the resources for future generations.

Sustainable Forestry
Looking at the forest resource as a whole, and using or managing it in a way that includes the whole ecology of the forest. Sustainable forestry should consider animal needs, human needs, and the ability of the forest to recover from any forestry practiced in it.

Unsustainable
It is a process or lifestyle that cannot be kept up indefinitely into the future.

Vegan
A particular diet where you don't consume any animal products. This includes eggs, dairy, honey, yeast and sometimes even refined sugar (because many sugar refineries use bone meal to grind the sugar).

Vegetarian
In between a vegan and an omnivore. Vegetarians will usually eat dairy and eggs, but won't eat any animal products where an animal was killed for food.