6 Minute English - Environmental English Mega Class! One Hour of New V... (4)
But let's start off with a quiz question for you to answer. In 2010, a Christmas tree in Belgium
was awarded the world record for having the most lights on it – but do you how many? Were there…
a) 19,672
b) 94,672, or
c) 194,672
What do you think, Sam?
Well, I don't think you could fit 194, 673 lights on a Christmas tree, so I'll say a) 19,672.
OK. Well, we'll find out how ‘bright' you are at the end of the programme!
Of course, Christmas trees are the ultimate Christmas decoration.
It's part of the Christmas tradition and millions are bought around the world each year.
But what impact do Christmas trees - real and artificial - have on the environment?
Well before we answer that, let's hear from some of the BBC Learning English
team who chose to have a real Christmas tree in their home and find out why…
Well, you've got the smell of it. You've got the look of it. But more importantly, it's
Christmas trees are supposed to be symbolic, aren't they? So the idea of something that
stays green all year, so bringing that into your house it, it means something.
I just think a real Christmas tree is more festive and more Christmassy.
And it's just the tradition to get a real Christmas tree, that's all.
There's something more beautiful about the nature, the smell,
the feel, the look of the tree and I like it to be sustainable. So, as long as I get my tree from
a person that promises to grow two or three in its place, then I'm really, really happy.
Yes, I agree – you can't beat having a real Christmas tree. And as Phil said, it's
symbolic – it represents something important – and here a Christmas tree is the symbol of Christmas.
And as Jiaying mentioned, it's a tradition – something that's done regularly and has
become the expected thing to do – and I'd agree it makes things more festive – a
word to describe the joyful feeling you get when celebrating something like Christmas.
But of course, all these trees are often thrown away, which is wasteful.
That's why Roy mentioned his tree being sustainable – which means they can continue
to be grown and cut down over a longer period so it's less harmful to the environment.
Well, an alternative to a real Christmas tree is a fake or artificial one,
which is what Feifei from our team has in her house. What are the reasons why?
We have a plastic Christmas tree, which we've had for about nine years. So it's plastic so you can
re-use it every year and it's more economical, and we don't have to keep buying new trees.
So Feifei's fake tree is made of plastic – so that's not great for
recycling – but the good thing is she uses it year after year which makes
it economical – which means it doesn't cost a lot of money, it's good value.
Ah, but even Feifei admits it doesn't have the smell and feel of a real tree.
It's a dilemma isn't it, Neil?
Yes – what's best for us and what's best for the environment?
The BBC's Reality Check programme found that real trees take about 12 years to grow and as they do,
they absorb carbon from the atmosphere and nitrogen from the soil – so a good thing.
But when it's chopped down, it starts to release emissions back into the atmosphere – especially if
you have to transport it to your home. And when Christmas is over, if it ends up in landfill,
the tree's carbon footprint will be higher.
But its carbon footprint will be lowered if it's recycled or composted – that's the process of
allowing it to decay and then adding it to the ground to improve soil quality. A fake tree on
the other hand is usually imported, and can't usually be recycled but, as Feifei mentioned,
it can be re-used. But without any type of Christmas tree, where would we put all those
lights I mentioned earlier, Sam? I asked you: In 2010, a Christmas tree in Belgium was awarded
the world record for having the most lights on it – but did you know how many? What do you say, Sam?
I think I said 19,672.
Ooo, not very bright I'm afraid! There were in fact 194, 672!
Wow – think of the electricity that must have used!
Indeed. Well, let's enlighten everyone with some of the vocabulary we've discussed today.
OK, well we started talking about indulging – that means
allowing yourself to have perhaps too much of something you enjoy.
When something is symbolic, it represents something important.
And the word festive describes the joyful feeling you get when celebrating something like Christmas.
Like the festive jumper you are wearing today, Neil – very jolly!
OK, next we mentioned sustainable – which means
the ability to do something over a long period of time without harming the environment.
Economical describes doing something that doesn't cost a lot of money, it's good value.
And when something is composted, it is allowed to decay – and it turns
in to compost which can be added back into the soil to improve its quality.
Thank you, Sam. And that brings us to the end of 6 Minute English for now.
It just leaves us to wish you a very happy Christmas. Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Georgina.
Sorry I was late today, Georgina. I'd forgotten to take the recycling bins out before the rubbish
collection this morning. I seem to have more and more plastic packaging each week! Actually, that's
the topic of our programme. With more and more household waste being either incinerated – that's
burned - or being buried underground, we'll be asking - is the recycling system broken?
China used to accept 55% of the world's plastic and paper scrap – another word for
unwanted waste - or in other words, rubbish. That included waste sent over from Britain.
But in 2018 it stopped taking any more.
Other countries like Indonesia and Vietnam took over China's waste processing role.
But they too are now sending much of the scrap back,
arguing it is contaminated and it is harming their own environments.
This has created major problems for countries in the West
who traditionally relied on others to process their recycling waste.
And the problem isn't going away. In fact, we are creating more household waste than ever.
So here's my quiz question. On average, how many kilograms of household waste were generated per
person in the UK last year? Was it: a) 280 kg
b) 480 kg c) 680 kg
That sounds like a lot of waste! I'll say a) 280 kg.
OK. We'll find out later if you were right. Although nowadays people are recycling more,
the use of plastic isn't decreasing at the same rate.
The BBC World Service's programme The Inquiry spoke to Roland Geyer,
a professor at the University of California about the current situation.
There's been a real raise in consciousness which is fantastic and I'm really glad
that now it seems the public at large is really interested in this issue
and appalled and wants to do something about it, wants to change it. But at the same time I don't
see yet any real action that would make things better because while all of this
is happening the virgin plastic industry is actually increasing its production capacity.
Workers who process recycling are often exposed to dangerous waste materials which can harm them.
Professor Geyer says there has been a raise in consciousness about this problem – meaning that
people are being told about an unfair situation with the aim of asking them to help change it.
Now, professor Geyer is an American and he uses 'raise' as a noun.
The main problem comes from virgin plastic - original, unused plastic containers.
These are made directly from fossil fuels like crude oil
or natural gas - major sources of carbon dioxide and climate change.
But consciousness-raising of this issue is having an impact.
The public at large – meaning most people in the world, rather than just
some of them – are concerned about the increase in plastic waste and want to do something to help.
However, it's not always easy to know what the best way to help is.
Another expert, Professor Monic Sun,
believes that focusing only on recycling may not be the best idea.
She conducted psychological experiments to find out more about peoples' attitudes to recycling…
..and surprisingly found that if people know
recycling is an option they tend to use more resources. They reduce any guilty
feelings by telling themselves that the material will be recycled anyway.
We have the slogan of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' and the priority should
be exactly that – reduce and reuse is better than recycling. And the cost of
recycling is often not emphasised enough. People perceive recycling to be great but
there's actually significant labour and material costs associated with recycling.
Professor Sun mentions ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' as a useful slogan - a short,
easily remembered phrase, often used to promote an idea,
in this case, that we should all do what we can to protect the environment.
But while protecting the planet is a common goal, recycling in itself
may not be so important. It's better to reduce and reuse than recycle,
so these two objectives should be emphasised - highlighted as being especially important.
Do you remember my quiz question? I asked you how
many kilograms of waste the average British person generated last year.
I reckoned it was a) 280 kg.
That would be bad enough, but the real answer is b) 480 kg. Multiply that by
the UK population of 66 million and you start to see the size of the problem!
Today we've been talking about the problems associated with recycling
scrap – another word for rubbish.
Western countries used to send their rubbish to China for recycling but this caused issues for
the local environment. Some groups raised consciousness about the problem – made
people aware of the situation to encourage them to help change it.
The public at large – most people in the world – are now
aware of the need to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle',
the slogan – or short, memorable phrase – used by environmentalists to spread their message.
A related problem is the increase of virgin plastic – original, unused plastic made from
fossil fuels. Recycling is unable to keep pace with virgin plastic production, so instead
reducing and reusing plastic should be emphasised - highlighted as being especially important.
And that's all from us. Bye for now.
Bye.
Hello, this is 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Georgina.
Georgina, what do you do to cheer yourself up?
Having a walk usually helps – especially if it's in the countryside.
Yes, being in all the green open space can certainly help us relax
and de-stress – getting back to nature can be a tonic when you're feeling down.
Georgina A tonic is
something that makes you feel happier and healthier. I'll drink to that!
Me too. But connecting with the natural world is particularly beneficial to people with mental
health issues such as clinical depression. And it's something that's being called ‘ecotherapy'.
More on that in a moment but here's a question for you to answer, Georgina.
OK, Neil. Fire away.
Well, seeing or even hugging trees is a form of therapy, but how high is the world's tallest tree
thought to be? Is it... a) 65.8 metres,
b) 115.8 metres, or c) 185.8 metres
Georgina, any ideas?
Not a clue – but let's go for the highest figure of 185.8 metres.
Are you sure? Well, we'll have to wait until the end of the programme to find out.
Now, the mental health charity, Mind, describes ecotherapy as a formal type of
treatment which involves doing outdoor activities in nature.
However, there's not one simple definition, it just relates to doing activities outdoors.
Yes, it can involve doing many things, such as outdoor yoga or
horticulture – another name for gardening. It doesn't involve taking medication,
but instead, it just develops a person's relationship with nature.
