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Environment & Climate vocabulary · Sustainability and Circular Economy

Environmentally friendly

Meaning in environment & climate, with examples

/ɪnˌvaɪrənˈmentəli ˈfrendli/adjectiveCore term

In environment & climate, environmentally friendly means: Describing products, services or activities that cause little or no harm to the environment, for example because they use less energy or create less waste.

In Turkish: çevre dostu

How it is used

Common in marketing and everyday speech; synonyms are eco-friendly and green. Because 'environmentally' ends in -ly, no hyphen is needed before a noun: environmentally friendly products. The phrase is vague, so regulators now expect companies to back such claims with specific evidence.

Example sentences

  1. The hotel switched to environmentally friendly cleaning products.

  2. Saying a product is environmentally friendly is not enough; you need data to support the claim.

Common collocations

  • environmentally friendly products
  • eco-friendly packaging
  • more environmentally friendly
  • environmentally friendly alternative
  • sustainabilityMeeting today's needs in a way that does not harm the environment, society or the economy for future generations. In companies it also means managing environmental and social impacts.
  • greenwashingMaking misleading claims that a company, product or investment is better for the environment than it really is, for example through vague labels or selective data.
  • biodegradableAble to be broken down naturally by bacteria, fungi and other living things into water, carbon dioxide and natural materials.
  • life cycle assessment (LCA)A method for measuring the environmental impacts of a product or service at every stage of its life, from raw materials and production to use and disposal.

More terms: Sustainability and Circular Economy

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