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going green has its own language girlawhirl tries to make sense of the new terms
May 15, 2008
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There's so much “green-speak” going on in Girlawhirl's world that every now and then she needs to take a deep breath and make sure she understands what's being said. And today is one of those days. She's checking in with the new terminology, making sure she's on top of the latest green phrases… ‘washing: when used by her mother and grandmother, washing surely had something to do with clothing. Today it's slang for “greenwashing,” a term applied to products, companies and even individuals who are making themselves out to be far greener than they are. For example, a laundry detergent that advertises its concentrated formula by pointing out that the bottle is smaller and therefore uses less plastic, but doesn't mention that the formulation contains non-biodegradable ingredients. That's all about ‘washing.
Eco-anxiety: this is the feeling that comes over Girlawhirl when she just can't bear to wash out a jar filled with moldy jam to recycle it, so she throws it in the regular trash, or when she's at a function where they're handing out bottles of water, yet haven't thought to have a separate bin for collecting the empties so they can be recycled. Being green can get overwhelming, and can result in something far greater than plain old anxiety, eco-anxiety. Because what if those bottles were the ones that got dumped in the ocean that killed the fish that resulted in the demise of other marine life, which caused the polar ice caps to melt, which caused all the worst-case scenarios that she's seen on film to actually play out? Girlawhirl's eco-anxiety can certainly get the best of her sometimes.
Neutralization: a few years ago, neutralization was a word Girlawhirl and her Super Pals most often used when they were getting chemical peels. “I'm being neutralized right now,” one might say to another as they gathered at their dermatological nurse friend's apartment for professional quality peels at best-bud prices. Now it's used to pretend that greenhouse gasses aren't going to hurt the Earth because they're being offset or neutralized. And while it's certainly a good idea to negate carbon emissions created over the course of a year, or for a specific event like air travel, Girlawhirl thinks it's important to remember that reducing – and then neutralizing – emissions is key.
Footprint: as with all things fashionable, a dainty footprint is favorable. But when it comes to saving the earth it's Girlawhirl's carbon footprint that she's more concerned with.
In terms of going green, it's become such a well used phrase that Girlawhirl's pretty used to hearing it. A Super Pal might ask her what she's wearing to go out that night, and then say “I'm going green,” only to show up wearing black. But it's not the color of the clothes that she's referring to, it's the fact that it's all eco-friendly, from the 100% organic cotton jeans to the hemp/silk blend top and the recycled leather handbag.
Add these words to all the acronyms – VOC, CFL, LEED and more – that Girlawhirl's learned, and she certainly feels as if she's speaking a new language.
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Lucky for her, city dwellers tend to have smaller footprints – short for carbon footprints, which are the total amounts of greenhouse gasses that they produce – than their suburban counterparts, because cars contribute quite a bit to all the carbon dioxide emissions
