VOA慢速英语2021--减少假日垃圾的方法

Ways to Cut Down on Holiday Trash

The holiday season is a time for celebrating with friends and family. It is often called the "giving season" because during the holidays people give gifts and have celebrations. They also decorate their homes.

Unfortunately, this can all lead to a lot of waste.

And some parts of the holidays create a lot of waste -- for example, holiday cards, decorations, the tree, entertaining, and gift wrap. (Gift wrap is the special paper used for wrapping gifts.)

However, there are ways to reduce the amount of waste you create. Experts recently gave some ideas to the Associated Press.

One of those experts is Liz Vaccariello. She is the editor in chief of Real Simple, a home and lifestyle magazine and website.

Vaccariello says this year is a great year to think about using products that can be recycled when celebrating the holidays. She said, "It is a great way to feel good as you enter the giving season."

Another expert is Melissa Ozawa. She is an editor at Martha Stewart Living and suggests thinking carefully about what you buy.

Ozawa says that now more than ever we should be asking ourselves: Do I really want this? Will I use it? And how will it affect the planet¹?

Gift wrap

The concerns about paper waste has caused many people to look at other choices for wrapping a present.

You can use reusable bags for gifts. Vaccariello recommends keeping gift bags and other decorations that you receive. You can reuse them the next time you give a gift.

You can buy from companies that make environmentally-friendly gift wrap. Some companies make recyclable wrapping paper and do not use materials that are not recyclable.

You can also wrap gifts in old maps, pages from magazines, and art paper. The person receiving the gift could use the wrapping for something else.

Ozawa says she likes the Japanese tradition of furoshiki. This is where gifts are wrapped in cloth. The pretty and strong wrapping cloths can be used for other things, instead of just thrown away.

You could also wrap a gift in a colorful scarf or tablecloth². This makes the wrapping cloth part of the gift itself.

Instead of decorating a gift with something plastic, you can use something natural such as pine cones³, rosemary, or other evergreen⁴.

Holiday cards

For many people, sending holiday cards is a tradition. However, now many people use digital, or electronic cards.

Vaccariello says that people are much more accepting of electronic holiday cards. "There are so many digital options now," she adds, "and people get just as much joy out of it."

Those who want to send traditional cards might choose ones printed on recyclable paper.

Decorations

For decorating the home, experts again say think of reusing and recycling.

Natural greenery can be used to make a room beautiful and smell nice! One expert suggests using old holiday cards as decorations.

If you use holidays lights and they are old, experts suggest using newer energy-saving types of lights.

The tree

If people want a Christmas tree, the question is often fake⁵ or real?

"The greener choice would be buying a real Christmas tree from a local farm," says Ozawa. "The trees are grown for the purpose of being cut, and new ones are typically replanted every year. So," she says, "the cycle continues."

She explains that buying local means that it did not use much fuel to get to you.

Ozawa adds that in the United States many cities and towns pick up trees after the holidays and process them into a useable product, like small wood pieces for the garden. This means the tree is not adding to a landfill. "And," she says, "you can't beat the smell of a fresh-cut tree."

However, if you do buy a fake tree, she says plan to use it for many years. And she says to consider the materials it is made from. Ozawa suggests asking, "Is it made with recycled materials? Or can it be recycled?"

Entertaining

When having a celebration avoid single-use plastics. Use more environmentally-friendly options, like regular plates and cups. If single-use seems unavoidable, choose ones that are made from things like bamboo or sugar cane⁶, says Vaccariello.

And, she adds, donate your unused food to an organization that helps those in need.

Words in This Story

decorate – v. to make (something) more attractive usually by putting something on it

recycle – v. to make something new from (something that has been used before)

: to send (used newspapers, bottles, cans, etc.) to a place where they are made into something new

scarf – n. a broad band of cloth worn about the shoulders, around the neck, or over the head

option – n. an act of choosing

fake – adj. not true, real,

cycle – n. a set of regular and repeated actions that are done by a machine as part of a longer process

compostable – n. decayed organic material (as of leaves and grass) used to improve soil especially for growing crops

1 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

2 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

3 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

4 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

5 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

6 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。