Agro forestry
The practice of growing trees and crops together. Agro forestry systems benefit from the ability of trees to protect soil from erosion and to capture and recycle plant nutrients.

Aquaculture
The science, art, and business of cultivating for food marine or freshwater fish or shellfish, such as oysters, clams, salmon, and trout, under controlled conditions.

Atmosphere
Layer of gases surrounding the Earth. Many of these gases are involved in chemical cycles such as the nitrogen and carbon cycles that sustain life on Earth and shape the planet's habitability.

Bio-indicators
Fish and other freshwater organisms from polluted waterways, for example, whose unusual behaviour or death may indicate the presence of hazardous pollutants that have escaped other detection methods.

Biodiversity
The variety of living species of plants, animals, and microorganisms on Earth, as well as the range of genetic variety within each species.

Carbon cycle
The carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon from the air, into plants, animals, people, the Earth and back into the air.

Carbon sinks
Carbon locked away for many years in trees, in the sea and in built structures.

Carbon credits
What polluting companies might use to pay for the maintenance of forests.

Catalytic converter
A device connected to the exhaust system of all new vehicles in Australia to control emissions of air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

Catchment area
The area of land that drains water to a river.

Composting
The biological decomposition of organic material.

Conservation
The protection or wise use of natural resources that ensures their continuing availability for future generations.

Consumption
The amount of any product or resource (eg material or energy) used up by a given number of people.

Deforestation
The clearing and removal of trees and undergrowth.

Development
A process of economic and social transformation.

EcoLogical footprint
The impact of an entity, for example a person, city or country, on local, regional and global ecosystems. It is a measure of direct and indirect consumption of resources and production of wastes.

Economy
The activity of managing resources and producing, distributing, and consuming goods and services.

Ecosystem
An interdependent community of plant, animal and microbial species that interact with each other and their physical and chemical environment.

Efficiency
A measure of how resources are used or employed.

Emission
The discharge of gases or particles, such as from a smoke stack or car engine.

Environment
The biological, natural and human-made systems that surround us. It includes everything that affects an organism during its lifetime eg. soil, rock, water, air, and other living organisms.

Environmental impact
The net change (positive or negative) in human health and the condition of the environment that results from human actions, activities or development.

Environmental impact assessment
A formal procedure for the assessment of the effects of a proposed new activity or development on the environment.

Fossil fuels
Sources of energy including coal, oil, and natural gas formed in geological deposits from carbon-rich remains of prehistoric plants, animals and microbes.

Global warming
The expected rise in global temperature caused by an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour).

Greenhouse effect
The name given to the phenomenon by which gases in the atmosphere allow sunlight to warm the Earth's surface, and then prevent that warmth from escaping back into space.

Gross domestic product (GDP)
The statistical measure of the total economic value of all the goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.

Habitat
A geographic area of environment that can provide for the key activities of life.

Heavy metals
Elements such as copper, lead, cadmium, zinc, mercury and other toxic metals used in industrial processes and often released as both air and water pollutants. Some are always toxic and others are toxic at high concentrations (eg zinc, copper)

Hydrocarbons
Air pollutants that are important precursors of smog.

Industrialisation
A development path based on expanding a country's capacity to process raw materials and manufacture products for consumers, businesses and export.

Innovation
The use of a new idea, material, or technology to change an activity, development, good, or service or the way goods and services are produced, distributed, or disposed of.

Intensive agriculture
A method of land cultivation intended to increase the productivity of a fixed area by means of an increase in capital and labour.

Landfill
A site designated for disposal of solid or chemical wastes by burial.

Life cycle
The complete cycle of events occurring over the lifetime of an animate or inanimate object.

Manufacturing
The process of turning raw materials into a product by hand or machinery.

Non-renewable resources
Those resources which are not self-renewing or regenerative and which exist only in fixed amounts. Coal, oil, gas and minerals are all non-renewable.

Nutrients
Elements or compounds required by plants and animals for growth and reproduction.

Packaging
A cover, wrapper, container, or stabiliser designed to store, transport, display and protect a product and attract purchasers.

Pollution
An undesirable contaminate (gas, liquid, noise, solid) which has been released into, or is now part of the environment.

Product life cycle
The series of steps involved in manufacturing, distributing, using, reusing, recycling, or ultimately disposing of a product.

Quality of life
Composed of several aspects including material living standards, public health and safety, access to education, health care, employment, opportunities for personal development and advancement, community, culture, social life and recreation, environmental amenities and aesthetic qualities.

Raw materials
Unprocessed materials used in the manufacture of products.

Recycling
Methods for recovering discarded materials and refashioning new materials of the same, or differing type.

Renewable resources
Naturally occurring materials that come from a limitless or cyclical source. Fish, trees and energy from the sun, wind and waves are renewable resources.

Reusable
Materials that can used again, either for their original purpose, or for a new purpose.

Salinisation
The accumulation of salts in topsoil caused by the clearing of native vegetation. Clearing causes the water table to rise to the surface, bringing salt with it.

SEDA
Sustainable Energy Development Authority, set up in 1999 to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of energy in NSW.

Soil erosion
Movement of soil by exposure to wind or flowing water.

Sustainable development
A concept that has emerged in recent years, based on the premise that development must meet the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Vermiculture
The use of special kinds of worms to process and purify organic wastes.

Water cycle
The water cycle involves the movement of water from the sea, through the atmosphere, over and through the land and back to the sea.

Wellbeing
The state of being healthy, happy, or prosperous.