Glossary

Decode the eco-speak with our friendly glossary list of green buzzwords and certifications.

Organic Cotton: Cotton grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers according to processes monitored by third-party organic verifiers. Organic color-grown cotton offers an eco-friendly alternative to harsh synthetic and chemical dyes.
Olefin/Oleo: A vegetable based ingredient added to cleaning supplies to create a less harmful ingredient with a better environmental profile and fewer health risks.
Omega-3: A fatty acid found in foods such as eggs and fish that promotes normal blood pressure, sustains normal blood clotting and keeps blood vessels flexible.
Optimal Value Engineering (OVE): Represents a coordinated effort to design, plan, and build in order to reduce the amount of lumber used in framing. Careful planning, redesign of certain elements, and use of alternative materials are key to the process.
Organic: Refers to agricultural methods designed to sustain soil life and biodiversity. Organic regulations forbid the use of pesticides and fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, irradiation, sewage sludge, antibiotics and hormones (in livestock) and other practices. In the United States, the USDA's National Organic Program has provided organic certification for foods since 2002. Certified organic farms are routinely monitored by third-party verifiers. Organic foods and personal care products are labeled "100 percent organic," "USDA Organic" for items containing 95 percent or more organic ingredients, and "Made with Organic Ingredients" for items that contain 70 percent or more organic ingredients. While the USDA has also set standards allowing personal care products to be certified organic, they have not set any regulations against the use of the word "organic" on product labels. As a result, many manufacturers still use the term as part of a product's name or its labeling. Consumers who purchase non-certified "organic" products have no way of knowing how much or what percentage of a product is actually organic, some of which have as little as 50 percent organic ingredients. Products with at least one organic ingredient can be labeled "organic," regardless of the other ingredients used. Also, while this isn't legal, some non-certified manufacturers label products "100% certified organic ingredients," when only one ingredient is certified organic and the rest are synthetic.