Daily Life: Eco-Conscious Living London may soon be changing the habits of shoppers in the city and helping the environment by banning the use of the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag. Estimates are that Londoners and tourists use 1.6 billion plastic bags each year, many of which are thrown away after just one use. Shoppers may soon have to buy reusable bags in an attempt to reduce the strain on landfill sites, where the bags take 400 years to break down. Local authorities have asked the British government to ban retailers from giving away free plastic bags. A spokesman said stores should sell reusable bags and pass the money raised on to environmental projects. “As a society, we need to do far more to reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfill and London as a city is determined to take an ambitious lead on this issue,” he said. Retailers are up in arms at the idea and have promised to fight the government to stop the ban from going ahead. The British Retail Consortium said there was no need for the ban as it would simply cause inconvenience to shoppers. A spokesman told reporters: “We think it’s excessive and misguided [because] retailers are already committed to reducing the environmental impact of bags by 25 percent by the end of next year.” He was worried the ban would affect sales, saying: “If somebody is going to go into a supermarket or convenience store, it's hard to see in practical terms , unless they have brought a bag with them, how they will be able to buy more than a few items." A recent survey found 92 percent of Londoners supported a total ban on plastic bags or a tax on them. "Online activities, the mp3 and printable handouts are available for this lesson at http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com " ロンドンではもうすぐありふれたレジ袋の使用を禁止することで環境を助け、市内で買い物をするお客の習慣を変えるこ とになるかも知れません。ロンドン在住者や観光客が使用するビニールのレジ袋は毎年約16億枚にもなり、多くのバッグ はたった一度使っただけで捨てられてしまいます。買い物客はビニール袋の分解に400年もかかる埋め立て地の負担を軽 減するためにも、再利用可能なバッグを購入しなければならなくなるでしょう。地元当局は小売店に自由にレジ袋を配布 することを禁止するように英国政府に求めています。地元当局の広報担当者は、小売店は再利用可能なバッグを販売し売 り上げを環境プロジェクトの為の資金積み立てに送金すべきだとしています。また、広報担当者は「地域社会として、 我々は今よりもさらに埋め立て地に送るゴミの量を減らし、ロンドンはこうした問題に対して積極的にリードする都市で あると認識されていく必要があると」述べました。 一方で、小売店はこのアイディアに怒りを露にし、今後のレジ袋配布禁止を差し止めるように政府に求めていくとしてい ます。英国小売協会は、レジ袋配布の禁止は単に買い物客の不便を招くだけであるとして、その必要性を疑問視していま す。英国小売協会の広報担当者は取材リポータに対し「既に小売業者はレジ袋による環境負荷を25%削減する目標に取り 組んでおり、今回のケースはやり過ぎで見当違いだ」と述べています。広報担当者はレジ袋禁止が売り上げに影響する事 を懸念して「実際に誰かがスーパーやコンビニに行ったとして、現実的にレジ袋が無い状況では複数のものを購入すると は思えない」と語っています。 最近の調査では、92%に及ぶロンドン市民がレジ袋の全面禁止もしくはバックに対する課税に賛成しています。
Transcript
Daily Life: Eco-Conscious Living
London may soon be changing the habits of shoppers in the city and helping the environment by banning the use of the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag. Estimates are that Londoners and tourists use 1.6 billion plastic bags each year, many of which are thrown away after just one use. Shoppers may soon have to buy reusable bags in an attempt to reduce the strain on landfill sites, where the bags take 400 years to break down. Local authorities have asked the British government to ban retailers from giving away free plastic bags. A spokesman said stores should sell reusable bags and pass the money raised on to environmental projects. “As a society, we need to do far more to reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfill and London as a city is determined to take an ambitious lead on this issue,” he said.
Retailers are up in arms at the idea and have promised to fight the government to stop the ban from going ahead. The British Retail Consortium said there was no need for the ban as it would simply cause inconvenience to shoppers. A spokesman told reporters: “We think it’s excessive and misguided [because] retailers are already committed to reducing the environmental impact of bags by 25 percent by the end of next year.” He was worried the ban would affect sales, saying: “If somebody is going to go into a supermarket or convenience store, it's hard to see in practical terms, unless they have brought a bag with them, how they will be able to buy more than a few items."
A recent survey found 92 percent of Londoners supported a total ban on plastic bags or a tax on them.
"Online activities, the mp3 and printable handouts are available for this lesson at http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com"
In what situations do you get plastic shopping bags?
How do you think people in Japan feel about eco bags in general? Are there ever times when
eco bags are troublesome?
In Japan, we are charged a small amount of money to get a plastic shopping bag at the supermarket. How do people feel about that?
How would people in Japan feel if plastic shopping bags were completely banned in supermarkets?
How would people in Japan feel if plastic shopping bags were completely banned EVERYWHERE?
リーディングを読む前：
ありふれた ___________________________________
負担を軽減するため___________________________________
このアイディアに怒りを露にし___________________________________
現実的に___________________________________
Daily Life: Eco-Conscious Living
Reading 16 Questions
(1) What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
(2) How many plastic shopping bags are used in London each year?
(3) What happens to plastic shopping bags after people use them once?
(4) What alternative is London city government proposing?
(5) According to the article, how long does it take for a plastic shopping bag to disappear back into nature?
(6) Who wants plastic shopping bags to be banned; local government or national government?
(7) What is another way to say “retailer” in English?
(8) Who does the “spokesman” in paragraph 1 represent?
(9) What does the spokesman want stores to sell?
(10) Where should the money from these sales go?
(11) Do retailers like the idea to ban plastic shopping bags?
(12) What is another way to say “excessive” in English?
(13) What is another way to say “misguided” in English?
(14) What was the spokesman worried about?
(15) Are Londoners in favor of the ban?
(16) What other possibility are local authorities considering to get people to use fewer plastic shopping bags?
Daily Life: Eco-Conscious Living
After Reading
Japan is a country that regularly uses eco bags (reusable shopping bags), so we are kind of experts on this topic. What would you say to retailers who are afraid of losing sales because of a ban on plastic shopping bags?
How would you feel about using eco bags not just at the supermarket, but at clothing shops, electronics stores, and other places as well?
Do you think certain kinds of shops should be exempt from a plastic shopping bag ban?
People are definitely using more eco bags at the supermarket in Japan. What do you think has caused people to change their behavior?
After Reading
Interview your classmates about eco bags and graph the results. You choose the specific topic.
