Green Glossary

Acid Gas- Acidic liquid or solid particles small enough to become airborne. High concentrations can irritate the lungs and have been associated with respiratory diseases like asthma. www.epa.com

Aqueous Pigment- a substance that imparts black or white or a color to other materials; especially : a powdered substance that is mixed with water in which it is relatively insoluble and used especially to impart color to coating materials (as paints) or to inks, plastics, and rubber. www.meriam-webster.com

ASTM 1991- defined as a degradable plastic. This is a plastic that is designed to undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties that may vary as measured by standard test methods appropriate to the application in a period of time that determines its classification. www.astm.org

ASTM 5511- Standard Test Method for Determining Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under High-Solids Anaerobic-Digestion Conditions. www.astm.org

ASTM D5209-91- Standard Test Method for Determining the Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials in the Presence of Municipal Sewage Sludge www.astm.org

ASTM D5338.95- Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under Controlled Composting Conditions. www.astm.org

Biodegradable- means that the product is capable of being decomposed by biological agents, especially bacteria. However, even though a product is technically “biodegradable” it does not necessarily biodegrade in a landfill it refers to a material that breaks down relatively quickly under natural conditions or in a commercial landfill. www.kcda.org

Chlorine- a halogen element that is isolated as a heavy greenish-yellow diatomic gas of pungent odor and is used especially as a bleach, oxidizing agent, and disinfectant in water purification. www.meriam-webster.com

Eco-Sol- an ink that features several new enhancements including faster drying time, higher density, wider color gamut, improved scratch resistance. It is virtually odorless and does not require any special ventilation or environmental equipment. ECO-SOL graphics are water, scratch and UV resistant up to 3 years outdoors. www.rolanddga.com

Environmentally Safe and Environmentally Responsible- mean that the products or materials do not harm the environment. www.kcda.org

Formaldehyde- A colorless, pungent, and irritating gas, CH20, used chiefly as a disinfectant and preservative and in synthesizing other compounds like resins. www.epa.gov

FSC Certified- Forest Stewardship Council is an international, non-profit association founded in 1993 with the intent “to shift the marketing to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous people and violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging.” FSC Certification means that an independent third party has established a chain of custody to verify that the paper originates in an FSC-certified sustainable, well-managed forest. For a print product to carry the FSC logo, the chain of custody must have flowed from forest, to paper manufacturer, merchant and printer, all of whom have been FSC-certified. www.fsc.org

Green House Gas- a gas, such as carbon dioxide or methane, which contributes to potential climate change. www.epa.gov

Green Seal- is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to safe guarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and services. Green Seal follows the Guiding Principles and Procedures for the Type I Environmental Labeling adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14024). Papers contain at least 30 percent post-consumer material and are manufactured without chlorine or chlorine derivatives. www.greenseal.org

Heavy Metal- A metal with a specific gravity greater than about 5.0, especially one that is poisonous, such as lead or mercury. www.bartleby.com

Hydropower- Energy in water (in the form of motive energy or temperature differences) can be harnessed and used. Since water is about 800 times denser than air, even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy. www.wikipedia.org; www.nrel.gov

ISO 9001- specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products that meet customer and applicable regulatory requirements, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable regulatory requirements. www.iso.org

ISO 13641- specifies a screening method for assessing the potential toxicity of substances, mixtures, surface waters, groundwaters and wastewaters, effluents, sludges, or other environmental samples by determining the production of biogas (carbon dioxide and methane) from muds, sediments and other anaerobic environments with low biomass concentration. www.iso.org

ISO 14001- The number falls in the 14000 family that means “environmental management: The material minimizes harmful effects on the environment and it achieves continual improvement of its environmental performance.

ISO 14855- specifies a method for the determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastics, based on organic compounds, under controlled composting conditions by measurement of the amount of carbon dioxide evolved and the degree of disintegration of the plastic at the end of the test. www.iso.org

LED- a semiconductor diode that emits light when a voltage is applied to it and that is used especially in electronic devices (as for an indicator light) www.meriam-webster.com

Non-Toxic- means that the product is not composed of or foes not create poisonous or toxic materials that harm the environment or human health. www.kcda.org

Phthalate- are a group of chemical compounds that are mainly used as plasticizers (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility). They are chiefly used to turn polyvinyl chloride from a hard plastic into a flexible plastic. www.wikipedia.org

Post Consumer- means that the product is made from recyclable materials collected for recycling from a business or home recycling container. www.kcda.org

Pre-Consumer- the product is made from materials left over at the end of the manufacturing process, and not from materials collected for recycling from business or home recycling containers. www.kcda.org

PVC- A common thermoplastic resin, used in a wide variety of manufactured products, including rainwear, garden hoses, phonograph records, and floor tiles. www.bartleby.com

Recyclable- to reuse or make (a substance) available for reuse for biological activities through natural processes of biochemical degradation or modification. www.meriam-webster.com

Renewable Energy- energy derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources. www.iea.org

SFI Certified- Forest Certification is a market-based, non-regulatory forest conservation tool designed to recognize and promote environmentally responsible forestry and sustainability of forest resources. The forest certification process involves an evaluation of land management planning and forestry practices by a third-party according to an agreed-upon set of standards. Certification standards address social and economic welfare as well as environmental protection. www.sfiprogram.org/

Solar Power- is used synonymously with solar energy or more specifically to refer to the conversion of sunlight into electricity. This can be done either through the photovoltaic effect or by heating a transfer fluid to produce steam to run a generator. www.wikipedia.org

Sustainability- of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged. www.meriam-webster.com

Tree-Free Paper- Are papers that are alternatively made out of other materials besides wood fibers. These other materials include cotton, cork, plant fibers, grass, flowers and even vegetables. HYPERLINK "http://www.cottoninc.com" www.cottoninc.com

UV Ink- an ink that is cured by a high dose of UV-light. The advantage of UV-curable inks is that they "dry" as soon as they are cured, they can be printed on a wide range of uncoated substrates and make a very robust image. www.wikipedia.org

VOC Emission- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, which is harmful to human health and vegetation when present at high enough concentrations. The federal Clean Air Act requires each state to submit a State Implementation Plan (SIP) for achieving and maintaining federal ambient air quality standards, including the standard for ozone. www.cdpr.ca.gov