Glossary
GLOSSARY
Here are some definitions of the commonly seen phrases within sustainable and responsible fashion that we have looked up from various cited sources! We hope that by sharing this compiled finding on what we know, it can help to promote deeper thinking and understanding about sustainability in fashion.
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Carbon emissions
Emissions means the release of greenhouse gases and/or their precursors into the atmosphere over a specified area and period of time. Carbon dioxide emissions or CO2 emissions are emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement; they include carbon dioxide produced during consumption of solid, liquid, and gas fuels as well as gas flaring.
Carbon footprint
“Carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organisation, event or product. For simplicity of reporting, it is often expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent of other GHGs, emitted”
Related term: CO2 equivalent: The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission that would have an equivalent effect on a specified key measure of climate change, over a specified time horizon, as an emitted amount of another greenhouse gas (GHG) or a mixture of other GHGs
Carbon offsets
A compensation for carbon dioxide emissions resulting from industrial or other human activity; a quantifiable amount of such compensation as a tradable commodity.
Climate change
a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods
Composting
Composting is a process of reducing vegetable and animal refuse, either by natural biological decomposition of organic material in the presence of air or by controlled mechanical methods.
Deforestation
Conversion of forest to non-forest. (Definitions of what a forest is vary.)
Fair Trade
Trading where the goal is to help producers in developing countries get a fair price for their products so as to reduce poverty, provide for the ethical treatment of workers and farmers, and promote environmentally sustainable practices
Greenhouse Effect
The Sun powers Earth’s climate, radiating energy at very short wavelengths, predominately in the visible or near-visible (e.g., ultraviolet) part of the spectrum. Roughly one-third of the solar energy that reaches the top of Earth’s atmosphere is reflected directly back to space. The remaining two-thirds is absorbed by the surface and, to a lesser extent, by the atmosphere. To balance the absorbed incoming energy, the Earth must, on average, radiate the same amount of energy back to space. Because the Earth is much colder than the Sun, it radiates at much longer wavelengths, primarily in the infrared part of the spectrum (see Figure 1). Much of this thermal radiation emitted by the land and ocean is absorbed by the atmosphere, including clouds, and reradiated back to Earth. This is called the greenhouse effect. The glass walls in a greenhouse reduce airflow and increase the temperature of the air inside. Analogously, but through a different physical process, the Earth’s greenhouse effect warms the surface of the planet. Without the natural greenhouse effect, the average temperature at Earth’s surface would be below the freezing point of water. Thus, Earth’s natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it possible. However, human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have greatly intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing global warming.
Greenwashing
Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or misleading information about how a company’s products are environmentally sound. Greenwashing involves making an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly or have a greater positive environmental impact than they actually do.
Heat Island Effect
Describes built up areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. Heat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality, and water quality.
Organic
An agricultural production system that aims to utilise natural processes and cycles to limit off-farm and notably synthetic inputs, while also aiming to enhance agroecosystems and society. Organic farming is often legally defined and governed by standards, typically guided by principles outlined by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
Recycling
Recycling is a process by which a discarded material is collected, sorted, processed and converted into raw materials which are then used in the production of new products
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is a source that is, within a short time frame relative to the earth’s natural cycles; sustainable, and include non-carbon technologies such as solar energy, hydropower, and wind, as well as carbon-neutral technologies such as biomass.
Green/Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable procurement is a process that integrates environmental, governance, and social factors of corporate responsibility into procurement processes and decision-making, while ensuring they still meet the stakeholder requirements. It aims for the lowest environmental impact possible and the most positive social results.
Harmonised Standards
Harmonized standards are standards on the same subject approved by different standardizing organizations to establish inter-changeability of products, process and services, or mutual understanding of test results, or information provided according to these standards.
Life Cycle
Consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to end-of-life treatment.
Remanufacturing
Remanufacturing is a comprehensive and rigorous industrial process by which a previously sold, leased, used, worn, remanufactured, or non-functional product or part is returned to a like-new, same-as-when-new, or better-than-when-new condition from both a quality and performance perspective, through a controlled, reproducible, and sustainable process.
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management (SCM) is the monitoring and optimization of the production and distribution of a company’s products and services. It seeks to improve and make more efficient all processes involved in turning raw materials and components into final products and getting them to the ultimate customer.
Transparency
Transparency is the extent to which investors have ready access to required financial information about a company, such as price levels, market depth, and audited financial reports. Investors also require transparency with investment firms and funds surrounding the various fees that'll be charged to them. Transparency can also include clarity for consumers regarding the fees that bank charges or the rate that consumers will ultimately pay to their credit card company.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.
Cradle-to-Cradle
Cradle to cradle can be defined as the design and production of products of all types in such a way that at the end of their life, they can be truly recycled (upcycled), imitating nature’s cycle with everything either recycled or returned to the earth, directly or indirectly through food, as a completely safe, nontoxic, and biodegradable nutrient. Cradle to cradle promotes the principle that products can be designed from the outset so that, after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new. This could be either as a biological nutrient that will easily re-enter the water or soil without depositing synthetic materials and toxins or as technical nutrients that will continually circulate as pure and valuable material within a closed loop industrial cycle.
Triple Bottom Line
In economics, the triple bottom line (TBL) maintains that companies should commit to focusing as much on social and environmental concerns as they do on profits. TBL theory posits that instead of one bottom line, there should be three: profit, people, and the planet. A TBL seeks to gauge a corporation's level of commitment to corporate social responsibility and its impact on the environment over time.
Circular Economy
Circular Economy is an economy that balances economic development with environmental and resource conservation. It puts emphasis on environmental protection and the most efficient use of and recycling of resources. A Circular Economy features low consumption of energy, low emission of pollutants and high efficiency. It involves applying Cleaner Production in companies, eco-industrial park development and integrated resource-based planning for development in industry, agriculture and urban areas.
Supply chain
A supply chain is a network of individuals and companies that are involved in creating a product and delivering it to the consumer. Links on the chain begin with the producers of the raw materials and they end when the van delivers the finished product to the user.
Sustainable
of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged
Sustainability
sustainability refers to the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. In business and policy contexts, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources, so that they will remain available for the long term.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development includes economic, environmental and social sustainability, which are independent and mutually reinforcing pillars, and can be achieved by rationally managing physical, natural and human capital. Poverty eradication, changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are overarching objectives of, and essential requirements for, sustainable development
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The 17 global goals for development for all countries established by the United Nations through a participatory process and elaborated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including ending poverty and hunger; ensuring health and well-being, education, gender equality, clean water and energy, and decent work; building and ensuring resilient and sustainable infrastructure, cities and consumption; reducing inequalities; protecting land and water ecosystems; promoting peace, justice and partnerships; and taking urgent action on climate change.
Value Chain
A value chain is a series of consecutive steps that go into the creation of a finished product, from its initial design to its arrival at a customer’s door. The chain identifies each step in the process at which value is added, including the sourcing, manufacturing, and marketing stages of its production.
Waste
substances or objects which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law”. Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of final products, and other human activities.
REFERENCES
- United Nations Environment Programme, & United Nations Human Settlements Programme (2016). The ABC for Sustainable Cities: A Glossary for Policy Makers. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/32537.
- https://www.ipbes.net/glossary
- https://apps.ipcc.ch/glossary/
- https://www.investopedia.com/financial-term-dictionary-4769738
