So you’re green and hip, but is your language green and hip? How many of the environmental terms from ad agency Cramer-Krasselt’s Cultural Dictionary (1 MB PDF) do you know?

Whatever you don’t know, impress your eco-friends by working these terms into your language. Or see how many you could use as often as you can. And, of course, use them with style! No term is hip unless used with a little style, and it’ll only be hip if used by hip people like you!

Bootleg trail (n)
A path that has been created by its users, such as mountain bikers or ATV riders, rather than by official designers.

Carborexic (n)
A person who has an unhealthy obsession with minimizing their carbon usage. Related: Energyexia.

Carbon trading (n)
A system which provides entities with permits for how much pollution they are allowed to create. These permits can then be bought and sold amongst other entities.

Chemical equator (n)
A chemical barrier in the atmosphere which separates the polluted air of the earth’s Northern Hemisphere from that of the relatively unpolluted Southern Hemisphere.

Dinosaur wine (n)
A term to refer to oil or its derivatives.

Eco-embedded (adj)
Not relying on consumers to make eco-friendly choices, but instead removing the decision from their hands with either government or business actions. Thus, eco-consciousness is embedded in daily life.

Ecoflation (n)
The increased cost of doing business due to the rising concerns over eco-consciousness.

Ecomodding (v)
Modifying, or modding, one’s car to make it more fuel efficient.

Ecosexual (n)
One who chooses their partner based upon a shared interest in eco-conscious causes.

Edible estates (n) Coined by U.S. campaigner Fritz Haeg, it refers to the practice of digging up front lawns and replacing them with edible plants and greens.

Energyexia (n)
The strict following of a regime to reduce one’s own carbon footprint. Related: Carborexic.

Freedomlawn (n)
Residential land set aside to cultivate natural plant life that grows without cultivation, chemicals or cutting.

Gashole (n)
A negative term to refer to a gas hog…usually associated with SUV drivers.

Gas sipper (n)
This 30-year-old term referring to a car that “sips lightly” found new relevance in 2008 with the rise in gas prices.

Green audit (n)
The act of assessing a business based upon its perceived adherence to environmentally
friendly practices.

Green-collar (v)
Workers employed in environmental and sustainability related fields. Think organic farmer.

Greenprint (n)
A government’s or community’s environmental plan. Also a verb to make such a plan.

Greyjing (n)
A nickname for Beijing that refers to its polluted skies.

Nano-solar (n) Small energy-absorbing panels that can fit on everything from windows to backpacks.

Natural capitalism (n)
An economic theory which seeks to combine the new found concern with eco-friendliness with business interests in order to maximize profit while minimizing environmental impact.

Negawatts (n)
The latest word for energy efficiency, coined by Amory Lovins.

Popcorn storm (n)
A term that refers to a short, unexpected rain shower that disappears as abruptly as it appeared.

Rewilding (v)
The process of returning an area to its original and natural vegetative state.

Ruralpolitan (n)
A professional who leaves the city for a rural area, but maintains their professional life.

Scuppie (n)
Socially conscious urban professional.

SRLI (n)
The Sampled Red List Index. An index that attempts to measure the threat of extinction to the various species of life on the planet.

Upcycle (v)
To give an object a better and more upscale existence.

Witches’ knickers (n)
Plastic bags caught in trees or bushes.

Green bag from Green Garmento

However, reusable alternatives to these clear used once plastic bags are becoming popular and adapted by people. Green Garmento reports as much as 60% up-take, which is great, but that’s little more than a half-hearted effort by the general public as there is still 40% to convert. This one is a no brainer without excuses other than your own laziness, people!

- Globe and Mail (June 16 2009), Green Garmento from the Environmental Impact Calculator

In this 4 minute talk, John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology at TED.com that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes. He uses microprocessors and RFID tags to do this. The Safeplug invention promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires and to conserve energy.

This, my friends, could change the face of the electrical outlet that badly needs an update! This is also an example of finding the source of a problem!

John also gives a bunch of impact statistics related to the electrical outlet, like how every year in the US, 2,500 children are admitted to emergency for shock and burn injuries related to electrical receptacles.

The energy impact is amazing, not to mention home damage from fires, can be staggering. Please have a look and judge for yourselves.

In the 2009 Stanley Cup finals, the championship T-shirts handed the winning team after the game  was an eco-friendly a new organic cotton design from Reebok. [Yahoo!]

Now, if they could only stop making two sets ahead of time for both possibilities of teams winning, and have to ditch one. As well, they should stop making such shirts for preliminary rounds of a championships like conference winning teams. It’s little consolation to have one of those if you lose the finals, and it’s not too valuable if you’ve got the overall championship T-shirts.

This data was from a British government-sponsored study, with media reference made by Jonathan Leake in the Sunday Times of London. The reason given for the higher CO2 footprint was that lambs burp (and probably farts to release methane and other greenhouse gases like you, me and the cows) a lot.

Problem was the study was advising to give up lamb roasts to save the planet, not beef. Sure, lamb roasts may be more popular in Britain than in North America, but I highly doubt it is more consumed than beef in either place. If anything, find a way to reduce cow farting and burping, possibly by altering their diets a little. Should be quite possible given you and I both know that if we don’t eat certain things, we don’t fart and burp nearly as much as other things we do eat.

Besides, even if sheep gave off more greenhouse gases than cows, I think most people would agree with me McDonald’s and other beef burgers generally make people fart more than with lamb roast, especially given what else you eat with fast food. We definitely make up for what the cows fart and burp less than the sheep.

Who does those studies and draws those kinds of conclusions???

Mary had a little lamb,
Which burped and farted lots,
Everywhere that Mary went,
She sure smelled like she rots!