I really like this list of alternative words for environmental terms, offered by George Monbiot & Ralph Steadman. I have rebuilt it in HTML with some additions and deletions, I plan to evolve it over time.
| Existing terms | What’s wrong with it | Alternative terms |
| Environment | Cold, technical Seen as seperate | The natural world |
| Global warming | Warm sounds pleasant | Global overheating |
| Biodiversity | Inaccessible | Wildlife |
| Ecosystem services | Anthropocentric and reductive | Life support systems |
| Nature reserve | ‘reserve’ suggests coldness | Wildlife refuge |
| Habitat destruction Deforestation Biodiversity loss | Sounds like they are happening to themselves | Ecocide |
| Conservation | Preserving what little is left rather than rebuilding living systems (New Zealand needs a department of Restoration) | Restoration |
| Clean rivers / seas | Sounds too hygienic, is blind to waters as habitats | Thriving rivers / seas |
| Fossil fuels | Suggests redundancy | Dirty fuels |
| Sustainable development | Green growth is an oxymoron | Regenerative development |
| Photopollution | Too technical, doesn’t indicate what is being impacted | Ecological light pollution |
| Stormwater | Suggests that the water is unwanted, unnecessary or unsavoury | Rainwater |
| MARINE | ||
| Fish stocks | Suggests fish are here to serve us | Wild fish populations |
| Biofoul, foul, foul ground | Suggests there is something ugly about biogenic habitats | Sea life, seafloor life, benthic epifauna |
| Fishing | Casual everyday activity | Killing native wildlife |
| Bait fish | Implies the fish exist to be bait | Small schooling fish / forage fish / small pelagic fish / shoaling fish |
| Bait ball | Implies the fish exist to be bait | Tight ball of fish |
| Seaweeds | Pest connotations | Ocean plants |
| Mobile bottom contact fishing | Implies a light touch | (Mobile) Bottom impact fishing |