outgreen

From out- +‎ green.

outgreen (third-person singular simple present outgreens, present participle outgreening, simple past and past participle outgreened)

1. (transitive) To surpass in environmental activism or consciousness, to be more conscientious than someone else about not harming the environment, be more green than another.
   • 1990, Zach Schiller, "P&G Tries Hauling Itself Out of America's Trash Heap", Business Week (April 23, 1990), Environment, page 101:

     P&G is steering clear of exaggerated claims. Indeed, it has campaigned against "biodegradable" products, many of which don't break down in landfills. "We're not trying to outgreen everyone with advertising slogans," says Viney.

   • 1999 February 1, John Tierney, “Martian chronicle; plans for manned exploration of planet Mars”, in Reason, volume 30, number 9, page 24:

     It was a lovely moment, a developer outgreening environmentalists by nobly espousing the largest real estate project in history, and it illustrated why Mars is a no-lose proposition for libertarians.

   • 2008, Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, page 328:

     In 2005, David Yassky, a New York City Council member, sat down with one of his supporters, a technology entrepreneur, to brainstorm about how New York could make itself more livable, and outgreen competing cities, by making New York’s taxi fleet less toxic.

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:outgreen.

• greenout