My sister in Jerusalem sent me this link from Lake Superior State University, which (apparently) has been issuing lists of words for 34 years that should be banished for overuse. This year, the top two are "green" and "carbon footprint" or "carbon offsetting."

To which I say, what do you want to call it instead?

The list is composed via nominations made throughout the year, so this does express the people's voice. But "it" needs a moniker and I haven't thought or heard of anything better.

It's not just the general public that objects. In my series of interviews of "green [oops!] people," I typically ask for "an example of green[oops]washing that really bothers you," and a couple of folks have responded with "green." I don't much like it myself, in part because I've seen that others don't, but we have to call it something.

Why? Because discussions about renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy-saving technologies, environmental degradation, and a hundred other tendrils arise daily, and we're not going to go through a litany like that every time we do.

So again I ask, what do you want to call it instead? The name isn't nearly as important as the concepts, ideas, concerns, and initiatives it has come to represent, and giving them a different tag isn't going to alter the fundamentals.

If you've got a better idea, please leave it in the comments section.