Environmental Verbs: Take Action

Do you consider yourself an earth activist? Talking about environmental issues is difficult to do in a foreign language. Learning the following verbs will help you express your thoughts and concerns in English.

Word	Meaning	Example sentence
ban	disallow an action or thing in a specified area	The school banned water bottles because they are bad for the environment.
carpool	when people take turns driving instead of taking two or more cars to the same location	I carpool to work with two of my neighbours who also work downtown.
clear cut or chop down	to remove trees from a forest	It is important to plant new trees in nearby areas after clear cutting.
compost	put certain types of waste (vegetable peels, newspapers, dry leaves) into a large container that will break down into reusable soil	Since we started composting we've reduced our garbage by half.
commute	travel from home to work (either by public transit or driving)	Imagine how much pollution you cause in a lifetime by commuting two hours a day?
consume	take into our bodies or homes	Americans consume more than their share of the earth's resources.
donate	give money or items to an organization or individual in need	When you donate money to this fund, the animals' habit is protected.
emit	to give off or out	Cars emit harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
fertilize	treat plants and green spaces (lawns and fields) with special chemicals that helps them to grow	If you are going to fertilize your lawn, make sure to use an organic fertilizer.
minimize	make as little as possible	We can minimize pollution by walking instead of driving to work and school.
pollute	put dangerous substances into the ground and the air	Fumes from factories pollute our lakes and oceans.
preserve	keep in its natural state	We need stronger laws in order to preserve our forests.
protect	keep from harm	It is important to protect your skin from the harmful UV rays of the sun.
protest	voice concern about; fight against an issue or decision	The environmentalists will protest if the road builders don't make a bicycle lane.
recycle	to take materials from garbage and form it into something new that can be used	Please recycle your junk mail instead of throwing it in the garbage.
reduce	use less	You can reduce your household waste by buying products with less packaging.
reuse	use again	We reuse the inner bags from the cereal boxes inside our small garbage can.
throw away	put in the garbage	Don't throw away your grass clippings; leave them on your lawn.
use up	use until there is no more	We are using up the earth's natural resources faster than ever.
waste	throw away something that is still useful	Don't waste toilet paper; use one or two sheets instead of three or four.