From “Climate Change” to Global Overheating
From “Environment” to Nature
Animals
EgoLinguistics in general
Quotes and Proverbs
Links and Resources
Clips and Videos
A Language Advocating for an Eco-Phil,
Regenerative (r)EVOLution.
speakGreen EcoLingo
Language expresses our worldviews and influences how we think about the world. Our thoughts have an influence on how we act, so language and the stories-we-live-by can directly inspire us to exploit, pollute and destroy or to love, respect and care for the biosphere that human life depends on – the choice is ours!
The following selection highlights red language that contributes to ecological destruction and offers a new GREEN language that inspires everyone
to protect the natural world we live in.
George Monbiot’s article “Forget ‘the environment’:
we need new words to convey life’s wonders”
(The Guardian on Aug. o9, 2017) very much resonated with the work of speakGreen and its daily posts. He invited supporters to find better ways of describing nature and our relationships with it so we can better care for it.
We immediately contacted him, offered a cooperation with speakGreen, and
this page is the result of this invitation and inspiration.
Our aim is to raise awareness for the power of language, inspire everyone to choose our language with the same care we hold for nature and then based on
our life-supporting beliefs and values act accordingly.
Let's contribute to the world we wish to live in by choosing a language that
advocates for a green, regenerative (r)EVOLution, word-by-word and day-by-day.
“People exploit what they have
merely concluded to be of value,
but they defend what they love,
and to defend what we love
we need a particularizing language,
for we love what we particularly know.”
Wendell Berry quoted based on
Robin Kimmerer (2017)
From “Climate Change” to Global Overheating, Climate Breakdown or Climate Crisis
– 60 Words and Expressions that could replace the misleading term “Climate Change” and more
green | red |
---|---|
climate change | episodes of extreme weather |
climate change | global warming |
global overheating | global warming |
global warming | climate change |
global overheating | climate change |
climate breakdown | climate change |
climate wrecking | climate change |
climate torture | climate change |
climate murder | climate change |
climate destabilisation | climate change |
planet death | climate change |
climate crash | climate change |
climate crunch | climate change |
climate crisis | climate change |
climate destruction | climate change |
climate disaster | climate change |
the end of the world as we know it | climate change |
climate Armageddon | climate change |
weather extremes | climate change |
system change | climate change |
human-induced climate change | climate change |
man-made weather change | climate change |
human-induced life-threatening climate change | climate change |
anthropogenic climate change | climate change |
mass genocidal holocaust | climate change |
raging planetary destruction | climate change |
catastrophic progressive corruption of the atmosphere | climate change |
human-induced climate chaos | climate change |
Insectageddon | |
climate pollution | climate change |
planetary hot-housing | greenhouse effect |
world-baking | climate change |
weather-trashing | climate change |
weather-blending | climate change |
climate decay | climate change |
climate inflammation | climate change |
climate warfare | climate change |
climate reactivity | climate change |
climate immune reaction | climate change |
climate overheating | climate change |
overwhelming threat to national and global security | climate change |
security threat | climate change |
global-scale violence against places and species as well as human beings | climate change |
climate change is a time bomb | |
humans play a role in causing climate change | climate change is occuring |
human-induced changes in the environment | climate change is caused by the sun |
the planet is a patient | |
climate chaos | climate change |
climate meltdown | climate change |
climate variability | climate change |
human-caused warming of the earth | climate change |
climate catastrophe | |
ecological destruction | climate change |
crime against humanity | climate change |
climate justice | |
carbon dioxide | greenhouse gases |
turning down the global thermostat | |
fix our atmosphere | |
fixing the climate | |
technological fix |
Watch the speakGreen short clip From “Climate Change” to Global Overheating, Climate Breakdown and
Climate Crisis here. (coming soon)
From “Environment” to Nature, Habitat and Mother Earth – 179 Words and Expressions that could replace the misleading term “Environment” and more
green | red |
---|---|
We are the Earth's extended body. | (1) There is no environment. |
the environment around us | |
the environment | our environment |
living planet | environment |
natural world | environment |
heartlands | environment |
the sublime | environment / surroundings |
home | environment |
natural world | environment |
natural world we belong to | natural world around us |
human life-support system | environment |
nature | environment / surroundings |
habitat | environment |
the magic of the natural world of Gaia | environment |
creation | environment |
sanctuary | environment |
ocean sanctuary | environment |
bird sanctuary | environment |
mountain sanctuary | environment |
beaver sanctuary | environment |
ethosanctuary | environment |
wilderness | |
pristine | |
virgin forest | |
eco-system | |
nature | |
the great outdoors | environment |
natural refuge | environment |
natural pilgrimage | environment |
Mother Earth | environment |
Gaia | |
living planet | environment |
Whole Earth | environment |
our children's natural inheritance | environment |
Precious Planet Places | environment |
gardens of the wild | |
our home | |
our shared place | |
here and now | |
all-in-one | |
our natural home | |
shared nature | |
(the only) place to be alive | |
life-landscapes | |
gardening for good | |
nature's playground | |
natural capital | |
no end in site | |
nature without reserve | |
natural place / no borders | |
place to look | environment |
staring ecouraged zone | environment |
wonderful places to be | environment |
miniature garden | environment |
maximum joy | environment |
our only home | environment |
natural beauty | environment |
intagrament | environment |
web of life | |
human and non-human nature | |
We live together. | |
our common home | the world |
the planet first! | me first! |
what do you do for a living planet? | what do you do for a living? |
preserve life | preserve the environment |
the planet we live IN | the planet we live ON |
the world has evolved into a balanced eco-system before humans came along anf plundered and destroyed anything and everything | the world was made for man (or humans) |
protection of the environment | |
Protect what you love. | Protect what you own. |
Save the Humans! | Save the Planet! |
the Earth | the planet |
bio-omniversity | biodiversity |
facets of life | biodiversity |
nature | biodiversity |
wildlife | biodiversity |
plants and animals | biodiversity |
wonderworld | biotope |
awesphere | biotope |
natural community | biotope |
miraculous refuge | sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) |
sites / places of natural wonder | sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) |
areas of outstanding beauty | sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) |
sites of extraordinary ideel worth | sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) |
area of wonder | sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) |
Sight of Awe and Wonder (SAW) | sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) |
places of natural wonder | reference areas |
foundation | reference areas |
wildlife ark | parks and reserves |
wildlife sanctuary | national park |
national sanctuary | national park |
shrine sites | protected areas |
area of wonder | nature reserve |
wildlife | |
wildspace | |
nature reserves | game reserve |
wildlife parks | game reserve |
country parks | game reserve |
animal home | game reserve |
endangered wetlands | |
beaver sanctuary | |
rare species home | |
beetle paths | |
moth nights | |
butterfly days | |
ant music | |
bee songs | |
refuge for butterflies and pollinators | national park |
grouse moorland | grouse ranches |
grouse desert | grouse ranches |
tropical forests | carbon sinks |
places of natural wonder | no-take zone |
Marine Wilderness Zones | no-take zone |
Marine Nursery | no-take zone |
natural world | natural capital |
the natural world | natural resources |
National Treasure | natural resources |
landscape | |
underwater paradise | reference areas |
magic kingdom | nature reserve |
nature haven | reserve or SSSI |
Marine Recovery Area | Marine Protected Areas (MPA) |
Marine Life Nurseries | Marine Protected Areas (MPA) |
Swimmable Rivers | |
Clean Water Campaign | |
protect the ecosystem | do not damage the ecosystem |
ecosystem | |
ecosystem | network |
interconnected web of relationships | ecosystem |
wild animals and plants | ecosystem services |
human planetary life-support system | ecosystem services |
common good | good for few |
commons | common wealth |
worship nature empathically | commodify nature economically |
natural capital | |
nature | natural capital |
nature | stocks of natural ecosystem resources |
nature | biodiversity and other ecological resources |
nature | trade commodities such as grain, fish and timber |
nature is the habitat of human beings | nature is a resource |
Re-member that we are nature too. | Don't forget that you are nature. |
hu/men are part of nature | man is above nature |
cooperate with nature | conquer nature |
Earth community | empire |
working with nature | working against nature |
living with Earth | living on earth |
live in stride with nature | live against nature |
one with nature | separate from nature |
ecological mindset | mechanistic mindset |
part of nature | apart from nature |
humans are part of nature | humans are separate of nature |
nature is a competition | |
nature is a battle | |
nature is a struggle | |
nature is a war | |
great battle of life | |
war of nature | |
nature is a machine | |
land as a community | land as a commodity |
natural capital assets | |
biological stock | |
biomass | |
timber forest | cubic meters of timber |
trees | cubic meters of xyz |
wood biomass | |
natural capital declaration | |
maintaining ecosystem capital stocks | |
environmental resources | |
fish stocks | |
fish production | |
humans become increasingly hostile to Earth's life | Earth becomes increasingly hostile to human life |
interconnected biosphere | |
natural sources as the sun, wind, water, etc. | Natural recourse as in e.g. oil, coal and gas |
areas that were not farmed or built upon | waste lands |
human beings as stewards | rather than owners of the world. |
living being | nature |
language of animacy | objectification of nature |
she, he, they | it |
ki | she, he, it |
kin | them |
Watch the speakGreen short clip From “Environment” to Nature, Habitat ad Mother Earth here. (coming soon)
76 Words and Expressions related to Animals
green | red |
---|---|
wild animals and plants | ecosystem services |
communities | stocks or resources |
wild animals and plants | resources or stocks |
bovine mammary secretions | dairy |
pig flesh | pork |
cow flesh | steak |
dead chicken soup | chicken soup |
trophy hunter | conservationist |
human-caused extinction | |
chicken periods | eggs |
culling / managing | |
genocide | culls |
deportation | sustainable harvests |
eugenics | captive breeding |
prison camps | translocations |
slavery | commercial animal trade |
exploitation | |
antibiotic zero chicken | organic chicken |
pesticide neutral | organic crops |
wildlife conversation | |
wild animals | game |
lifestock | |
Kowari | Kayer rat |
rat ??? | pest control |
animal prison | zoo |
progressive zoos | |
indigenous fishing | trawler fishing |
Stewardship | Wilderness Management Plan |
wolf killing plan | wolf management plan |
rewilding | conservation |
animal units | |
beef cows | |
cramped cages | individual accommodation |
factory farming is beneficial | |
animals are objects | |
animals are produced, managed, optimised and utilised | |
mother pig | the sow |
mother pig | pig manufacturing unit |
life stock production | |
primary breeding stock | |
meat production | |
animals are born by mothers | animals are 'produced' by 'producers' |
animals | red meat |
chickens | broilers, fryers, roasters |
hoofs | |
claws | |
antlers | |
quills | |
feathers | |
fins | |
tentacles | |
barnacles | |
organisms | |
mechanisms | |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | nursery pigs |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | grower pigs |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | farrowing pigs |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | feeder pigs |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | finisher pigs |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | carry-over sows |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | cull sows |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | market hogs |
animals as living, breathing, beings with goals, purposes and mental live | slaughter hogs |
individuals | mass |
volume slaughtered | |
unique individuals with intrinsic worth | livestock |
animal welfare | animal farming |
commonly harvested fish species | |
species | |
extinction rate | |
ecocide | extinction |
ecological suicide | extinction |
ecological genocide | extinction |
species death | extinction |
death | extinction |
age of ecocide | age of extinction |
More 164 Words and Expressions related to EgoLinguistics
green | red |
---|---|
carbon negative | carbon neutral |
car pooling | car buying |
Hello clean energy, | goodbye coal! |
bio gas | liquid gas |
solar spill | oil spill |
wind spill | oil spill |
clean power | coal power |
burnable gas | natural gas |
fossil fuel | |
Raise your voice, | not the sea level. |
really a resource gone astray. | (1) Trash is |
Everything is used. | Nothing is wasted. |
no bags | paper bags |
hemp | plastic |
no bags | plastic bags |
treasure | trash |
wealth | waste |
silent killer | pollution |
reusables | single-use |
crime against humanity | pollution |
biotecture | architecture |
permaculture | agriculture |
organic | inorganic |
improved pasture | |
The grass is greener where you water it. | The grass is greener on the other side. |
natural | unnatural |
farming (instead of organic farming) | chemical farming |
no fertilizers | chemical fertilizers |
pesticides | |
connection | efficiency |
diversity | uniformity / conformity |
multi-cropping | mono-cropping |
allow | |
balance | |
collect crops | harvest |
regenerative | sustainable |
holo-sustainable | sustainable |
nature experience | nature studies |
kindling | firewood |
countryside | concrete |
Step on the lawn and enjoy it! | Keep off the lawn! |
Pass with joy. | No Trespassers! |
land | nation |
environmental politics | |
to interdependence and mutualism. That's the way. | (1) From independence and individualism |
interdependence | independence |
mutualism | individualism |
paint a detailed picture of a better world | frame the problem |
speak, write, perform and sing it. | (1) Don't just be the change, |
ecologist | materialist |
stakeholders | |
ecopreneur | entrepreneur |
protectors, guardians, etc. | sentimentalists, greenies, animals rights brigade or extremists, bunny huggers, tree huggers, Eco-Nazis |
The little I can do makes a difference. | The little I can do makes no difference. |
alarmists | |
warmists | |
fundamentalists | |
campaigners | |
activists | |
peaceniks | |
humans as part of a living world | |
creationists | |
arts and humanities | STEM subjects |
Ubuntu | |
homers | environmentalists |
ethology | ecology |
ethologists | |
Earth's primary pathogen | modern human species |
eco-terrorist | |
natives | |
First peoples | |
aboriginals | |
indigenous | |
trust | distrust |
stewards of creation | |
winnable struggle | lost cause |
hope | threat |
unlimited economic growth | |
accumulation of unnecessary goods | |
nature | separate of humans, a mere stock to be exploited. |
humans live outside the animal kingdom | |
ecocentric (centred on all life including humans) | anthropocentric (human centred) |
race | |
win | |
defeat | |
keep up | |
fall behind | |
connection | othering |
harmony | mastery |
to be more | not to have more |
wellbeing | economic growth |
overall decrease in consumption | |
redistribution of resources | |
utility-maximising consumer | |
gifts of nature | gifts of nature |
profit maximisation | |
abundance | scarcity |
reunion | separation |
whole | fractured |
generosity | selfishness |
equitable distribution of wealth | polarisation of wealth |
ease | anxiety |
leisure | hardship |
cooperation | competition |
circulation | hoarding |
cyclical | linear |
nature as a storehouse | |
planetary health | |
reduce consumption | |
redistribute wealth | |
slowing population growth | |
nature is an organism | |
nature is a person | |
economic growth is a tide | |
growth is good | |
many is better than few | |
more is better than less | |
small is beautiful | big is better than small |
grow is better than shrink | |
up is better than down | |
falling profits are bad | |
retails sales are bad | |
inhabitants | exhabitants |
ethical consumer | insatiable consumer |
community wellbeing | |
all-too-human-desires | |
politicians are people too | |
care | selfishness |
being more | having more |
connectedness | separation |
pollution | |
habitat degradation | |
introduction of exotic species | |
creation | destruction |
people destroy things | destruction |
finances | |
remember | dismember |
forest | |
soil | |
water | |
air | |
sky | |
windswept prairie | |
desert silence | |
concreteness | abstraction |
personalisation and naming and individualisation | impersonalisation |
appreciating nature | costing nature |
economic valuation of nature in general | |
activation | passivation |
mental health | |
wellbeing | |
connection | |
contentment | |
fulfillment | |
unique | replaceable |
inequality | |
overconsumption | |
waste | |
ecological destruction | |
Wellbeing is the key goal of society. | Growth is the key goal of society. |
community of life | humankind |
It is agreed by everyone... | It is uncontroversial... |
science | sound science |
genetically engineered => genetically modified => GM => genetically enhanced => biotechnology foods |
32 Quotes and Proverbs related to EgoLinguistics
green | red |
---|---|
Go Green | - there is no Planet B. |
they are a birth right | (1) Animal rights are not a gift we give animals, (3) we have taken from them. |
I want to create a world where the environment doesn't need protection. | (1) I don't want to protect the environment. |
If the climate were a bank... It would have been saved by now. | |
It is an act of justice. | (1) It's not an act of kindness to treat animals respectfully. |
it's Everything Change. | (1) It's not Climate Change, |
It's our job to raise children who will make the world less cruel and heartless. | (1) It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. |
instead start asking if they understand it. | (1) Stop asking if people "believe" in climate change, |
but not the value of unspoiled beauty, wildlife, solitude, and spiritual renewal. | (1) We seem to understand the value of oil, timber, minerals, and housing, |
they will remember who you were. Be a good human, | (1) When you die they won't remember your car or house. (3) not a good materialist. |
Earth provides enough to satisfy every hu/man's needs, | but not every hu/man's greed. |
A savage is not one who lives in the forest, | but one who destroys it. |
Children connected to nature will actively engage to protect it. They sense and understand that they are part of nature. | Children disconnected from nature won't fight to save it. |
A wo/man's heart away from nature | grows hard. |
Plants can survive without humans, | humans cannot survive without plants. |
It's not an investment if it's destroying the planet." - Vandana Shiva | |
Nature is real, | money is an illusion. |
No intelligent species would destroy their own environment. | |
Nature is home, | not a place to visit. |
Soil, (3) holds the future for humanity. | not oil, |
Animals belong on pastures, | not plates. |
Be part of the solution, | not the pollution. |
Rain comes from the Earth, | not the sky. |
Just make sure your handprint it bigger | than your footprint. |
We are not here to save the world. We are here to save ourselves, but in doing so, we save the world. | |
We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature. We've lost our connection to ourselves. | |
You are what you share. | You are what you own. |
The biggest challenge we face is shifting human consciousness, not saving the planet. The planet doesn't need saving. We do. | |
If the climate were a bank, it would have been saved by now. | |
Eventually we'll realize that if we destroy the ecosystem, we destroy ourselves. | |
There's a revolution that needs to happen and it starts from inside each one of us. We need to wake up and fall in love with the Earth. Our personal and collective happiness and survival depends on it. | |
Maybe if we start calling it Unborn Baby Earth instead of Mother Earth, Republicans will be more concerned with its well-being. |
Links and Resources

George Monbiot “ Forget ‘the environment’: we need new words to convey life’s wonders”,
article published in The Guardian on Aug. o9, 2017.

The Stories We Live By
– a free online course in EcoLingo developed by Arran Stibbe.

Arran Stibbe “Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By”
book published by Routledge in 2015.
The International Ecolinguistics Association

Linda Buzzell and Craig Chalquist“Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind”
book published by Counterpoint in 2009.

Robin Kimmerer “Speaking of Nature”,
article published in March / April 2017.

Robert Macfarlane “Landmarks”,
Hamish Hamilton:
Review by Kirsty Gunn
published in The Guardian on March 8, 2015.
“Birds, bugs, and berries are spoken of
with the same respectful grammar as humans are,
as if we were all members of the same family.
Because we are.
There is no it for nature.
Living beings are referred to as subjects,
never as objects, and
personhood is extended to
all who breathe and some who don’t.”
Robin Kimmerer (2017)

Peter Trudgill
“Different words might mean a different outcome for us”,
article published on June 1st, 2015.

Philip R. Conway Forget the ‘environment’
– problems of geosemantics and ecopoetics,
article published on Aug. 9, 2017.

Steven Poole “Unspeak: Words are Weapons”,
book published by Abacus in 2006.
Clips and Videos
speakGreen short clip From “Climate Change” to Global Overheating, Climate Breakdown and Climate Crisis (coming soon)
speakGreen short clip From “Environment” to Nature, Habitat ad Mother Earth (coming soon)
Prince Ea’s clip “Dear Future Generations: Sorry” (April 20, 2015).