Best Practices
A set of learned practices and procedures an organization finds successful in accomplishing its goals. Best practices are most successful when clearly described or codified, part of employee training, and shared throughout an organization. These are sometimes shared with partners and competitors in order to set standards for an industry. (4)

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BioFuel
Biofuel is any fuel derived from an organic material that is not fossilized like coal or petroleum. Common sources of biofuel grown for the U.S and European markets are corn, soybeans, flaxseed and rapeseed. Biofuel can appear in solid, liquid, or gas form. It is used to produce heat or electricity, or to power machinery using burners, broilers, generators, internal combustion engines, turbines or fuel cells. Biofuel is a renewable energy, but there is some controversy that it is not sustainable due to the harvesting of biomass and the byproducts produced during the burning of biofuels. (4)

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Corporate Citizenship
The expectation that drives companies to interact with their wider communities in an ethical and socially responsible manner. Many companies view themselves as other than citizens of the places they do business or define business as having no social or ethical responsibilities. Increasingly, however, organizations are reconciling their corporate goals with those of their stakeholders, including local communities and their customers' values. Good corporate citizenship involves: legal compliance, employee relations, environmental performance, transparency, human rights, product stewardship, stakeholder communication, profitability, strategy integration, and community involvement. (4)

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Emissions Trading / Carbon Credits
An approach used by governmental regulatory agencies, private trading systems (such as the CCX), and private companies to reduce air pollution by providing economic incentives to reduce net emissions. Limits or "caps" are set and groups that foresee exceeding these caps may purchase credits from groups that have not the exceeded their emissions levels. (4)

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Fair Trade
A system of trade in which workers receive living wages and employment opportunities for the goods they produce. This system serves as an alternative approach to conventional international trade for producers who are typically economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers from developing countries. The producers partner with international organizations that help them build their skills to market and sell goods such as crafts, and agricultural products such as coffee and chocolate.

For commodities, farmers receive a stable, minimum price. In addition, there are several other criteria to satisfy:

• Forced labor and exploitative child labor are not allowed
• Buyers and producers trade under direct long-term relationships
• Producers have access to financial and technical assistance
• Sustainable production techniques are encouraged
• Working conditions are healthy and safe
• Equal employment opportunities are provided for all
• All aspects of trade and production are open to public accountability

Goods can be certified as Fair Trade by organizations like the Fair Trade Labelling Organization (FLO) which has affiliates in seventeen countries. (www.fairtrade.net) (4)

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Green
A common metaphor referring to environmental association based on the shared secondary color of many plants. It is often used to associate products, organizations, political parties, or policies with environmentally sensitivity. (4)

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Green Design
The design of products, services, buildings, or experiences that are sensitive to environmental issues and achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in terms of energy and materials. (4)

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Greenwashing
"Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government or even a non-government organisation to sell a product, a policy or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy." (3)

"A term merging the concepts of "green" (environmentally sound) and "whitewashing" (to conceal or gloss over wrongdoing). Greenwashing is any form of marketing or public relations that links a corporate, political, religious or nonprofit organization to a positive association with environmental issues for an unsustainable product, service, or practice.

In some cases, an organization may truly offer a "green" product, service or practice. However, through marketing and public relations, one is wrongly led to believe this "green" value system is ubiquitous throughout the entire organization" (4)

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LOHAS
A term used to describe the market and lifestyle of consumers interested in issues of health, wellness, ecology, sustainability, and the environment. It is also a publicly held company of the same name. (4)

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Organic
In regards to food (both plant and animal) and other agricultural products (such as cotton), a term describing the absence of pesticides, hormones, synthetic fertilizers and other toxic materials in cultivation. In some countries, "organic" has a legal definition. For example, in the USA, it is defined in the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 and refers to food and products that are at least 95% free of toxic and synthetic materials as described in the USDA National Organic Program. (4)

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Permaculture
A contraction of "permanent agriculture," coined in 1978 by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Permaculture is an approach to developing ecological human habitats and food production systems that use land sustainable and build communities that harmonious integrate dwellings and agriculture in regard to climate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, and water use. Permaculture focuses not on the separate elements, but on their relationships and how they are placed in the landscape. (4)

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Regenerative
'Regenerative' refers to "systems that restore and revitalize themselves, ensuring a sustainable future... healthy, functioning natural systems that are improved, rather than degraded by our presence." (2)

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Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)
Making investments with an eye towards social, environmental and financial returns. Investors and funds that "screen" companies that violate environmental, social, or other values (across a wide variety of issues, such as: worker's rights, child labor, minority hiring practices, gender equality, environmental practices, animal rights, foreign investment, charitable giving, etc.) refuse to invest in companies whose behaviors don't pass the screens. There can be as many interpretations and prioritizations of issue screens as there are individuals. (4)

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Sustainability
Sustainability is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This definition was created in 1987 at the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission). It is enshrined in the Swiss federal constitution. It is similar to the "seventh generation" philosophy of the Native American Iroquois Confederacy, mandating that chiefs always consider the effects of their actions on their descendants seven generations in the future. (4)

"Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future." (1)

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Transparency
A self-regulatory tool to expose ethics and real time results of a business entity's performance through accessible publication of the entity's practices and behavior. Transparency often leads to greater accountability and fewer opportunities for corruption or abuse. There is a strong movement to increase the transparency of business processes in service of corporate responsibility reporting. (4)

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Venture Philanthropy
Philanthropy that draws upon the traditional venture capital model to invest in nonprofits and socially entrepreneurial organizations to build their capacity, rather than to support discrete programs. Venture philanthropists typically assess progress and track the outcomes of their investments in terms of the social value produced. They often maintain a close and active relationship with fundees, providing ongoing strategic guidance in addition to financial capital. (4)

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Zero Waste
The goal of developing products and services, managing their use and deployment, and creating recycling systems and markets in order to eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials and conserve and recover all resources. Implementing zero waste eliminates all discharges to land, water, or air that may be a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health. Many cities and states already have set zero-waste goals. For example, San Francisco and other cities have set a goal to create zero waste by 2020. More information: www.zerowaste.ca.gov (4)

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Sources:
(1) wikipedia: sustainability - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
(2) John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies
(3) SourceWatch: A Project of the Center for Media and Democracy - www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greenwashing
(4) Dictionary of Sustainable Management - www.sustainabilitydictionary.com