Green Glossary

BIODEGRADABLE
A product or material made from plant or animal material that, after usage, is broken down quickly by other living organisms and absorbed back into the ecosystem. Wood, for example, is biodegradable, while plastics are not.

CADMIUM
A heavy metal used primarily for metal plating and as a pigment in coatings. It is also found in cigarette smoke and is an important hazardous air pollutant. Its use is declining due to its high toxicity and carcinogenicity and the associated health and environmental concerns. Currently there are no limits on the cadmium content in playground equipment, but Playworld Systems has chosen to eliminate cadmium or limit cadmium content to trace levels.

CARBON FOOTPRINT
The impact that human activities have on the environment—specifically the climate—in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced through energy use, travel, food choices, etc. Measured in tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

CARBON OFFSET
A carbon offset is a financial “credit” that can be bought to finance a greenhouse gas reduction project such as planting trees. An offset does not directly eliminate a greenhouse gas emission. A company may buy a carbon offset in lieu of taking active steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that they produce.

CRADLE-TO-GATE
The product life cycle from raw materials mining (cradle) to the finished product (the factory gate). Playworld Systems measures its entire cradle-to-gate carbon footprint.

DIOXIN
A known human carcinogen, and the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals. Dioxin causes damage to development, reproduction, and the immune and endocrine systems at infinitesimally low doses (in the low parts per trillion). Toxicological studies have not been able to establish a “threshold” dose below which dioxin does not cause biological impacts.

GLOBAL WARMING
The documented historical warming of the Earth’s surface based upon worldwide temperature records that have been maintained by humans since the 1880s. Global warming is the combined result of anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions of greenhouse gases and changes in solar irradiance, while climate change refers to any change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the average and/or the variability of its properties.

GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG)
Gases in the Earth's atmosphere that trap energy from the sun, making the earth warm enough for human life (also known as the greenhouse effect). Changes in the concentration of certain greenhouse gases due to human activity such as fossil fuel burning, increase the risk of global warming. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, halogenated fluorocarbons, ozone, perfluorinated carbons, and hydro fluorocarbons.
 
GREENWASHING
Greenwashing is the practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology or company practice.

HEAVY METALS
Metallic elements with high atomic weights, e.g., mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, and lead, that can damage living things at low concentrations and tend to accumulate in the food chain.

ISO 14001
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards.  ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 157 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO14001 is the standard which gives the requirements for environmental management systems, confirms its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.

LEAN MANUFACTURING
A business philosophy and/or strategy that focuses on eliminating waste, which includes all steps or processes that do not add value to the final product or service. It is usually employed along with the concept of kaizen, or continuous improvement.

LEED RATING SYSTEM
A third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Established by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

PERSISTENCE
A substance’s ability to resist natural degradation and build up over time in the environment Persistent substances can also be capable of being transported long distances by wind or water.

PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (POPs)
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, POPs are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. Global efforts to reduce and eliminate releases of POPs culminated in the Stockholm Convention, a global treaty on POPs, which entered into force in May, 2004.

PHTHALATE
Plasticizers, which are known carcinogens in laboratory animals, and are moderately bioaccumulative and moderately persistent in the environment. Phthalates have been known to damage the reproductive system, causing infertility, testicular damage, reduced sperm count, suppressed ovulation, and abnormal development and function of the testes and male reproductive tract in laboratory animals.

POST-CONSUMER CONTENT
Material that has served its intended use and instead of being disposed of, can be reused in a different product. If a product is labeled “recycled content,” the material might have come from excess or damaged items generated during normal manufacturing processes–not collected through a local recycling program.

POLYETHYLENE (PE)
A thermoplastic polymer that is capable of remelting and reuse. It is an environmentally friendly alternative to PVC coatings. Playworld Systems’ Eco-Armor, a polyethylene coating, averages a 38% lower carbon footprint than an equivalent PVC coating, without the dioxin concerns associated with PVC production and disposal.

POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC)
PVC—commonly referred to as vinyl—is the most widely used chlorinated plastic polymer in the United States. To make PVC flexible and versatile, the plastics industry can add chemicals to PVC, many of which raise concerns for human health and the environment. The release of dioxins are of particular concern during PVC manufacturing and incineration.

RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS
Products that can be collected and remanufactured into new products after they’ve been used. These products do not necessarily contain recycled material and only benefit the environment if people recycle them after use.

RECYCLING
Process by which materials that would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated or processed and returned to the economic mainstream to be reused in the form of raw materials or finished goods.  

RECYCLED-CONTENT PRODUCTS
Products totally or partially made from material that would otherwise have been discarded, like aluminum cans or newspaper. Recycled-content products can also be rebuilt or manufactured from used products such as toner cartridges or computers.

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
Energy sources that replenish themselves naturally within a short period of time and generally have a minimal impact on the natural environment. Sources of renewable energy include solar energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, wind power, ocean thermal energy, wave power, wind power and fuel wood.

REUSE
Using a product, byproduct, or scrap waste in its original form more than once. Conventional reuse is where an item is used again for the same function, like when you refill a coffee cup instead of throwing it in the trash. It is also reuse when an item is reused for a different purpose, like when you use a 2-liter soda bottle as a seed-starter greenhouse.

SUSTAINABILITY
An approach to progress that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Also referred to as "sustainable development."