Making Sense Of  The New Green Vernacular

Keeping track of all the new ecofriendly words being thrown around nowadays can be a daunting task.  It’s hard to keep up and it can easily make you feel left out of the loop.  Suddenly terms like carbon footprint, zero waste and sustainable development are commonly used with most corporations proudly declaring their allegiance to all three.  In our Lexicon of Ecofriendly Words series we take a more layman’s approach.  Kind of like the ecofriendly words on the street.

We decided to kick it off with an “eco” theme for our first instalment so here goes:

Eco (n.) Describes a person or group of people who are passionate about the environment.  Generally identified by their consumer choices for food and clothing and are also active within the cause. Leonardo DiCaprio has become the eco poster boy.

Eco-bling ( n.)  Jewellery that is both environmentally sound and flashy all at the same time.   With the right skill, an old watch makes a total eco-bling ring.

Eco-cred (n.) An honour one earns by behaviour that demonstrates a commitment to the environment.  Living off the grid is major eco-cred.  Walking or biking to school or work shows moderate eco-cred and recycling would be lower eco-cred.  Ed earned major eco-cred by switching to a pedal-powered toaster.

Eco-poser (n.) One who puts on the appearance of being eco-savvy purely for the aesthetics and not actually believing in or understanding what they are pretending to be.  Motivated by fashion rather than the cause.  Candice is such an eco-poser in her organic clothes carrying her Starbucks disposable cup.

Eco-sexual (n.)  Those who will only date others of the same environmental persuasion.  They are an evolving breed of urbanites who consider green equally in romance as they do in their consumer and lifestyle choices.  Eco-sexual woman seeks eco-sexual man for long walks on the beach picking up trash and vegan dinners by candlelight.

That’s it for this edition.  Check back again for future instalments of our Lexicon of Ecofriendly Words.  If you have any to add, please feel free to submit your entries to us.  Together, we can keep each other in the ecofriendly words loop.

Tags: eco definitions, Eco Friendly, eco friendly life, eco friendly living, eco glossary, eco terms, eco-friendly lifestyle, ecofriendly, ecofriendly living, green definitions green glossary, planet forward