Sustainability at Work Jeopardy

Used paper towels and napkins usually cannot be recycled but can often go in this bin instead.

What is compost?

Many recycling programs reject the greasy bottoms of these takeout containers.

What are pizza boxes?

Tossing items into the recycling bin in the hope they can be recycled is called this.

What is wishcycling?

These rechargeable power sources should never go in a regular bin, because they can start fires in trucks and sorting facilities.

What are lithium-ion batteries?

The number inside the chasing-arrows triangle on a plastic container is this code, identifying the type of plastic.

What is the resin identification code?

These bulbs use at least 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last far longer.

What are LEDs?

This blue label, backed by the EPA, marks energy-efficient appliances and electronics.

What is Energy Star?

Electronics that keep drawing power while switched off create this, nicknamed vampire power.

What is standby power?

This unit, 1,000 watts used for one hour, is how utilities bill for electricity.

What is a kilowatt-hour?

This U.S. Green Building Council rating system certifies buildings at Silver, Gold and Platinum levels.

What is LEED?

Released by burning fossil fuels, this is the main greenhouse gas from human activity.

What is carbon dioxide?

Released by cattle and landfills, this greenhouse gas is far more potent than CO2 over a 20-year span.

What is methane?

Paying for projects that cut emissions elsewhere to compensate for your own is called this.

What is carbon offsetting?

Emissions from sources a company owns or controls directly, like its own vehicles, fall into this scope.

What is Scope 1?

Created by the World Resources Institute and WBCSD, this standard defines the three scopes of emissions accounting.

What is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol?

Sharing a ride to work with coworkers is called this.

What is carpooling?

These vehicles have no tailpipe emissions because they run on battery power alone.

What are electric vehicles?

Working from home some days and in the office on others is this kind of arrangement.

What is hybrid work?

These bicycles with a battery-assisted motor make longer or hillier commutes easier.

What are e-bikes?

This pre-tax benefit lets US employees pay for transit passes or vanpools with untaxed dollars.

What is a commuter benefit?

Making misleading claims about how eco-friendly a company or product is has this name.

What is greenwashing?

Balancing the greenhouse gases emitted with those removed from the atmosphere reaches this state.

What is net zero?

This economic model keeps materials in use through reuse, repair and recycling instead of take, make, waste.

What is the circular economy?

The 1987 Brundtland Report defined sustainable development as meeting present needs without compromising the ability of these to meet theirs.

What are future generations?

This analysis measures a product's environmental impact from raw material extraction through disposal.

What is a life cycle assessment?

The first of these annual events was held on April 22, 1970.

What is Earth Day?

This 1962 book by Rachel Carson warned of the dangers of pesticides such as DDT.

What is Silent Spring?

This federal agency was created in 1970 under President Nixon.

What is the Environmental Protection Agency?

This 1987 treaty to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals is often called the most successful environmental agreement ever.

What is the Montreal Protocol?

This 1997 treaty, named for a Japanese city, set binding emissions targets for industrialized nations.

What is the Kyoto Protocol?