Confused about green jargon? Here’s a glossary of general and industry terms:

Biodegradable: A material or substance which will decompose quickly and without harmful effects to the environment when left exposed to nature.

CARB: Short for California Air Resources Board. A two-phased state regulation passed in 2008 regulating the production of lumber once it has been harvested and is aimed at cleaning up product emissions, specifically formaldehyde glues or resins.

CARE: Stands for Carpet America Recovery Effort. A non-profit group voluntarily created by the carpet industry in 2002 to divert postconsumer carpet from landfills, as well as promote recycling and reuse by finding new markets for the diverted material.

Chain of custody: Record keeping that tracks a product, typically wood, from the time it was harvested to when it leaves a factory as a finished product. Helps ensure a product was obtained through legal and sustainable methods.

FloorScore: Developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute in conjunction with Scientific Certification Systems to voluntarily test and certify flooring products for compliance with indoor air quality emission requirements adopted in California. Products that can be tested include vinyl, linoleum, rubber, laminate, wood, ceramic, wall base and associated sundries.

Green building: A building designed to conserve resources and reduce negative impacts on the environment.

Green Label Plus: A voluntary third-party testing and certification program first launched by the carpet industry in 1992 for carpet, cushion and adhesives. Revised four times since, each one making it more stringent, it is now nationally recognized by public and private entities, including California which adopted it in lieu of the state’s Section 01350, the CHPS low-emitting materials criteria for use in schools.

Greenwashing: A superficial nod to the environment that marketers and businesses that historically were not interested in sustainable concerns are doing to improve their public relation standings.

Lacey Act: A 110-year-old federal law that bans commerce of illegally sourced plants and their products—including timber and wood products including that used to make flooring.

Laneve: Brand created by Wools of New Zealand to attest to the sustainability and traceability of New Zealand branded wool.

LCA: Short for life cycle analysis or life cycle assessment. A way to compare the full range of environmental and social attributes of a product. There are numerous types of LCAs with the most popular being cradle-to-grave, cradle-to-gate and cradle-to-cradle.

Linseed oil: Also known as flax seed oil, it is the key ingredient in linoleum floors. The yellowish oil is obtained from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant.

Moso: A hardy, strong species of bamboo and the most prized in Asia. Used for thousands of years to build structures, it is considered the best type of bamboo to use when making floors.

Postconsumer: Refers to recycled material that was used first by a consumer. The higher the postconsumer content the more material kept from being land-filled.

Pre-consumer: Refers to recycled material that came from the manufacturing process. Pre-consumer recycling of scraps and discards diverts waste that may otherwise end up in landfills and reduces use of raw materials.

Reclaimed/recovered wood: Wood that was originally used in barns, old buildings, wine barrels and so on, as well as logs found at the bottom of river beds. Cleaned and re-milled, these woods are prized for their unique characteristics and environmental attributes.

Renewable energy: Energy harvested from sources that are not depleted when used, typically causing very low environmental impact, such as solar energy, hydroelectric and wind power.

RPET: Acronym for recycled polyethylene terephthalate. Derived from postconsumer plastic drinking bottles with the No. 1 code on it, it is used to make polyester carpet. The flooring industry is the largest collector and recycler of this material, with nearly 5 billion bottles diverted from landfills each year.

Seal of Approval (SOA): For the flooring industry, launched by the Carpet & Rug Institute in 2004, its purpose is to identify effective carpet cleaning solutions and equipment, including vacuums. Cleaning agents can receive Green Chemical Certification after passing stringent tests from nationally accredited entities including the EPA ’s Design for the Environment program.

Suberin: Waxy substance made by cork and responsible for the product’s many green qualities, such as acting as a natural insect repellent, fire retardant and waterproofing agent.

Sustainably harvested: A renewable resource that has been harvested in a way that allows its inherent regeneration and continued ongoing supply.

VOC: Volatile organic compounds. VOCs are toxins commonly found in conventional paints, sealers and the finished product. VOCs off-gas into the air and are not good to people or the environment.

Waste reduction: A process to reduce/eliminate the amount of waste generated at its source or to reduce the amount of toxicity from waste or the reuse of materials.

Zero- and Low-VOC: Terms referring to reduced amounts of VOCs released by a finished product. According to EPA standards, finishes that qualify as zero-VOC cannot exceed 5 grams per liter; to qualify as low-VOC it cannot exceed 200 grams per liter.