APES Eco-Footprint Unit

reservoir

1. artificial water body behind a dam that stores water for human use

artesian aquifer

An artesian aquifer is an underground layer which holds groundwater under pressure. This causes the water level in the well to rise to a point where the pressure is equal to the weight of water putting it under pressure.

Ecological footprint

An ecological footprint is a measure of human impact on Earth's ecosystems. Its typically measured in area of wilderness or amount of natural capital consumed each year.

consumptive use

Consumptive water use is fresh water removed from available supplies without return to a water resource system (e.g., water used in manufacturing, agriculture, and food preparation that is not returned to a stream, river, or water treatment plant).

irrigation

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall.

peak oil/Hubbart's peak

The peak in production of crude oil in the US which occurred in 1970 just as shell oil geologist M King Hubbert had predicted in 1956

Aquifers

a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater, underground water reservoir

incineration

a controlled process of burning solid waste for disposal in which mixed garbage is combusted at very high temperatures

natural gas

a fossil fuel composed primarily of methane (ch4) produced as a by product when bacteria decompose organic material under anaerobic conditions

oil/crude oil/petroleum

a fossil fuel produced by the conversion of organic compounds by heat and pressure. crude oil is a mix of hundresds of diff types of hydrocarbon molecules and characterized by carbon chains of diff lenghts

landfill gas

a mix of gases that consists of rougly half methane produced by anaerobic decomposition deep inside landfills

materials recovery faciliites (mrfs)

a recycling facility where items are sorted, cleaned, shreded, and prepared fro reprocessing into new items

electricity

a secondary form of energy that can be transferred over long distances and applied for a variety of uses. a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged particles (such as electrons or protons), either statically as an accumulation of charge or dynamically as a current.

sanitary landfills

a site at which solid waste is buried in the ground or piled up in large mounds for disposal, designed to prevent the waste from contaminating the environment

unconfined aquifer

acquifer with no impermeable upper layer to confine it, so its water is under less pressure and can be readily recharged by surface water

sinkholes

an area where the gorund has given way with little warming as a result of subsidence cuased by depletion of water from an aquifer. a cavity in the ground, especially in limestone bedrock, caused by water erosion and providing a route for surface water to disappear underground.

waste-to-energy (WTE)

an incinerator that uses heat from its furnace to boil water to create steam that drives electricity generation or that fuels heating systems

Economic growth

an increase in the amount of goods and services produced per head of the population over a period of time and consumption of goods and services

run of the river

any of several methods used to generate hydroelectric power without greatly disrupting the flow of river water. run of river appraoches eliminate much of the environmental impact of large dams

waste

any unwanted product that results from a human activity or process

biodiesel

diesel fuel produced by mixing veg. oil, used cooking grease, or animal fat with small amounts of ethanol or methanol in the presence of a chemical catalyst

electronic waste

discarded electronic products such as computers, monitors, printers, dvd players, cell phones, and other devices. heavy metals in these produces mean that this waste may be judged hazardous.

Affluenza

failure of material goods to bring happiness to people who have the financial means to afford them.

coal

fossil fuel composed of organic matter that was compressed under very high pressure to form a dense solid carbon structure. a combustible black or dark brown rock consisting mainly of carbonized plant matter, found mainly in underground deposits and widely used as fuel.

non-consumptive use

fresh water use in which water from a particular aquifer or surface water body either is not removed or is removed only temporarily and then returned. the use of water to generate electricity in hydroelectric dams is an exmapl.

leachate

liquids that seep through liners of a sanitary landfill and leach into the soil underneath

municipal solid waste

nonliquid waste that is not especially hazardous and that comes from homes, institutions and small businesses.

industrial solid waste

nonliquid waste that is not especially hazardous and that comes from production of consumer goods, mining, petroleum extraction and refining, and agriculture.

fossil fuels

nonrenewable natural resources such as crude oil, natural gas, coal, produced by the decomposition and compression of organic matter from ancient life. (highly combustable substances formed from the remains of organisms from past geoloic ages used for energy)

anaerobic

occuring in an environment that has little or no oxygen. the conversion of organic matter to fossil fuels at the bottom of a deep lake or shallow sea is an ex

aerobic

occurring in an environment where oxygen is present

Ecolabelling

process of designating on a products label how the product was grown, harvested, or manufactured so that consumers guying it are aware of the processes involved and can differentiate between brands that use processes believed to be engironmentally beneficial and those that dont. voluntary method of environmental performance certification and labelling that is practised around the world. An "ecolabel" is a label which identifies overall, proven environmental preference of a product or service within a specific product/service category.

net energy

quantitative difference between energy returned form a process and energy invested in the process. positive net energy values mean that a process produces more energy than is invested

energy conservation

reducing energy use as a way of extending the lifetime of our fossil fuel supplies, of being less wasteful, and of reducing our impact on the environment. conservation can result from behaivioral decisions or form tech that demonstrates energy efficiency

waste management

strategic decision making to minimize the amount of waste generated and to dispose of waste safely and efectively

peak oil

term used to descibe the point of max production of petroleum in the world or for a given nation after which oil production declines. this is also expected to be roughly the midway point of extraction of the worlds oil supplies.

energy efficiency

the ability to obtain a given result or amount of output while using less energy input. technologies permitting greater energy efficientcy are one main route to energy conservation.

ethanol

the alcohol in beer, wine, liquor, produced as a biofuel by fermenting biomass, generally from carbohydrate rich crops such as corn.

Overshoot

the amount by which humanity exceeds earths long term carrying capacity for our species. The consequence of overshoot is called a crash or die-off.

environmental ethics

the apllication of ethcial standards to enviro questions. Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents

recycling

the collection of materials that can be broken down and reprocessed to manufacture new items

composting

the conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus by encouraging in a controlled manner, the natural biological processes of decomposition

watershed

the entire area of land from which water drains into a given river

waste stream

the flow of waste as it moves from its sources toward disposal destinations

hydroelectric power (hydropower

the generation of electricity using the kinetic energy of moving water

source reduction

the reduction of the amount of material that enters the waste stream to avoid the costs of disposal and recycling, help conserve resources, minimize pollution, and save consumers and businesses money.

water table

the upper limit of groundwater held in an aquifer

recovery

waste management strategy composed of recycling and composting

hazardous waste

waste that is toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive.

confined aquifer

water bearing and porous layer of rock , sand, or gravel that is trapped between an upper and lower layer of less permeabl substrate such as clay. the water in a confined aquifer is under pressure because it is trapped between two impermeable layers.

groundwater

water held underground in aquifers

surface water

water located atop earths surface

fresh water

water that is relatively pure holding very few dissolved salts