environmentally-friendly

IPA/ɪnˌvaɪrənmentəli ˈfrendli/
IPA/ɪnˌvaɪrənmentəli ˈfrendli/

environmentally-friendly — adjective

1. describing products, practices, or behaviours that cause little or no damage to

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing products, practices, or behaviours that cause little or no damage to the natural world, or that are designed to reduce pollution and waste.

Example

The hotel uses solar panels and serves locally grown food to be more environmentally friendly.

predicative use: be + environmentally friendly

More shoppers now look for environmentally-friendly cleaning products made with natural ingredients.

attributive use: environmentally-friendly + noun

Common collocations
  • environmentally-friendly + product / packaging / material / energy / transport / building / policy / practice / option / alternative
Synonyms
  • eco-friendly

    more informal and commonly used in marketing; shorter and more casual in tone

  • sustainable

    broader meaning that also covers social and economic responsibility, not just environmental impact

  • green

    informal and sometimes vague; a company may claim to be 'green' based on a single initiative

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

be environmentally friendly

environmentally-friendly + noun

Usage Note

The hyphen is optional after a linking verb (e.g. "The building is environmentally friendly") but common when the compound appears before a noun ("an environmentally-friendly option").

Common Mistakes

This product is environmental friendly.
This product is environmentally friendly.
'friendly' is an adjective, so it needs the adverb 'environmentally' to modify it, not the adjective 'environmental'.
They chose a friendly-environmental solution.
They chose an environmentally-friendly solution.
the adverb must come before 'friendly', not after it.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four terms relate to reducing environmental harm, but they differ in scope and register. 'Eco-friendly' is common in advertising and everyday conversation; it implies a product causes little harm but lacks a measurable standard. 'Sustainable' is broader — it includes social and economic dimensions, not just environmental impact — and is preferred in policy and academic writing. 'Green' is the most informal and can be vague; a company may call itself 'green' based on a single initiative. 'Low-carbon' is the most specific, focusing solely on carbon dioxide emissions, often used for energy and transport. For everyday consumer choices, 'environmentally-friendly' is the most transparent and widely understood term. Example: 'The hotel calls itself green, but only its low-carbon heating system is truly environmentally friendly.'

eco-friendly ↗sustainable ↗green ↗low-carbon

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be kind to the planet
  • reduce one's carbon footprint

Etymology

Old FrenchOld EnglishEnglish

A compound formed from 'environment' (from Old French 'environner', meaning 'to surround') + '-ally' (adverbial suffix) + 'friendly' (from Old English 'frēondlic', meaning 'kindly, well-disposed'). The term emerged in the late 20th century alongside the environmental movement and became widespread in the 1990s as concern about climate change grew.