Take Away English-Green Living 绿色生活

Can we help the environment by being green?

We all know that humans are damaging the environment, but what can we do about it? Some people are trying to do their bit to try to be more environmentally friendly.

Local councils in Britain encourage certain aspects of green living, such as recycling paper, tin, plastic and glass. They want to reduce the amount of rubbish going into landfill sites, because they are running out of places to dump rubbish. In some areas rubbish for recycling is collected from your doorstep, but in other areas, you have to take it to a special recycling place, such as a bottle bank.

Another way of reducing the amount of rubbish you create is to use reusable products instead of disposable ones. For example, some people use strong shopping bags or boxes for their groceries instead of plastic carrier bags, or use washable nappies instead of disposables.

More people are becoming interested in reducing their carbon footprint – the amount of carbon they use up. They try to reduce their carbon emissions¹ by cycling, using public transport or an electric car, rather than driving gas-guzzling vehicles. Some people choose not to fly to go on holiday because aeroplanes are the biggest producers of carbon emissions.

You can make ‘green’ choices when buying food too. It’s best to buy food which was locally grown or produced so that it hasn’t been imported by air, or transported long distances by road.

Houses can be environmentally friendly too. It takes less energy to heat a house if it has good insulation² and double glazing³. You can also create your own energy if you have solar panels or a wind turbine fitted though these can be expensive. You can also save water by using a rain water butt⁴ for washing the car or watering the garden. It’s even possible to use a system where ‘grey water’ – water which has been through a tap once already, is used to flush toilets. Some new housing projects are being built specifically to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
to do their bit 做他们能做的 councils 地方政府 landfill 填埋场 bottle bank 玻璃瓶回收站 disposable 一次性用的 carbon footprint 生态足迹 gas-guzzling 费油的 insulation 绝缘, 保温 solar panels 太阳能电板 water butt 积水罐	environmentally friendly 环境友好 recycling 回收 to dump 扔掉，抛弃 reusable 可再次使用的 carrier bags 口袋，拎袋 emissions 排放量 imported 进口的 double glazing 双层玻璃 wind turbine 风力发电涡轮 to flush 冲水

 

1 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

2 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

3 glazing   

n.玻璃装配业；玻璃窗；上釉；上光v.装玻璃( glaze的现在分词 )；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• You should ensure against loss of heat by having double glazing. 你应装双层玻璃以免散热。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You should ensure yourself against loss of heat by having double glazing. 你应该装双层玻璃防止热量散失。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。