Green Design Glossary

This glossary is a work in progress. I’ll continuously update it with new terminology and information.

Carbon Neutral – above are two marks claiming carbon neutrality, or “net zero carbon footprint”. This is achieved by sequestering or offsetting the same amount of carbon that is released. “Carbon neutral” may also include greenhouse gases such as methane, which would be expressed as a CO2 equivalent. The less-commonly used term “climate neutral” can be used interchangeably with “carbon neutral”, but specifically includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. – carbonneutral.

ECF: Elemental Chlorine Free – www.aet.org
“Elemental Chlorine Free. These papers are made from virgin fiber that is bleached using alternative chlorine compounds as a substitute for elemental chlorine, which serves to reduce harmful byproducts.”

The alternative chlorine compound is chlorine dioxide, very different from elemental chlorine gas used to bleach recycled papers back to their purest blank state. Chlorine dioxide replaces elemental chlorine which is dioxin-producing, bio-accumulative, toxic for mill waste water. It combines with lingin (substance which binds wood fibers) and creates toxins. Chlorine dioxide breaks up the binding substance, leaving water-soluble organic compounds similar to those found in the natural environment. They degrade naturally and are not long-lasting. Dioxin pollution in mill waste water is “virutally eliminated” (ecfpaper.org), significantly improving aquatic ecosystems.

FSC: Forest Stewardship Council Certification – www.fsc.org
“FSC is the strictest of the forest harvesting certification processes. The FSC was created in the 1990s by environmental and social groups, foresters and landowners to provide consumers with a rigorous, independent system for identifying products from ecologically, socially, and economically well-managed forests.”-from www.fsc.org

SFI: Sustainable Forestry Initiative – www.sfiprogram.org
The SFI promotes sustainable forest management by protecting water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, plants, soil, and certain forests. They do this by overseeing logging practices and banning illegal logging. “Harvested areas must be reforested promptly” (sfiprogram.org), and if forested land is not reforested but converted to other uses, the lumber will not be SFI certified. If you see their logo, it means the product’s material was gathered from well-managed forests.

PCW: Post Consumer Waste, Pre-Consumer Waste, Mill Broke
Often in recycled papers you’ll see post-consumer waste described as a percentage. This means that a certain amount of this paper is material discarded after it’s already been used at least once (from magazines, phone books, etc). Pre-Consumer Waste is material that never made it to the “consumer use” stage, and was discarded beforehand. Mill Broke is paper scrap from the manufacturing of paper.

PCF: Process Chlorine Free – www.chlorinefreeproducts.org

“Process Chlorine Free. These papers contain postconsumer recycled fiber that was processed without the use of any additional chlorine or chlorine compounds. If these papers also contain virgin fiber, the virgin fiber must have been processed without the use of any chlorine or chlorine compounds.”

TCF: Totally Chlorine Free
This pulp and paper is processed without any chlorine compounds of any kind. Sometimes paper will be whitened with Hydrogen Peroxide.