Story : A way of life
【明報專訊】Brother Bear is doing his homework -- a survey on what each member of his family can do to reduce carbon emissions.
Little Sister is puzzled. "Carbon emissions? What's that?"
"It's the increase in carbon dioxide in the air caused by human activity," explains her older brother. "Burning coal, oil and gas; factories, the food industry, cutting down trees..."
"How awful! Why would anyone chop down a lovely tree?"
"For wood, to make houses, furniture, paper. Also to make room for fields to grow more food, for sheep and cows," her brother replies.
"Well, I have no idea what I can do but if I can help reduce carbon emissions and save the Earth, I'll do it! Why don't we ask Papa and Mama to help too?"
Off they go to find their father, who's just had a shower after a hard day's work. "Nothing beats a long, hot shower," says Father Bear with satisfaction. "But to help the Earth, from now on, I'm going to reduce my shower time by half. That will save water and power. I'm also going to use the stairs instead of the lift at the office."
"More exercise will be good for your health too," adds Mother Bear, who has just come back from the market with two bags of groceries.
"Oh Mother," ask the children. "What are you doing to cut carbon emissions?"
"I'm doing as much as I can do," replies their mother with a smile. "I always bring my own bags and reuse plastic ones. I buy fruits and vegetables from the market stalls and avoid the supermarkets because their packaging is wasteful. I plan our meals carefully so that we do not waste food. That means less goes into the wastebin and the landfills.
"Actually, I have been thinking about how to reduce food waste even more. From now on, our family will bring our own lunch boxes three times a week! What do you think?"
"That's a wonderful idea!" cry the children and Father Bear nods his head. "We can enjoy Mama's delicious home-made cooking instead of buying fast-food or going to the canteen. The problem is sometimes we don't like the taste of the takeaway or the portion is too large and a lot of food is thrown away."
"Bringing our own lunch is a marvelous idea but wouldn't that mean a lot of extra work for you, my dear?" asks Father.
"I'll need to get up earlier and plan the meals well," replies Mother. "But it's worth it for the health of our family and the health of our planet. Each of us can do something to cut carbon emissions and to reduce waste. After all, green living is not an empty slogan, it's a way of life!"
■Something to do
Hong Kong is a 'food paradise' but unfortunately that means a lot of food waste is created every day. What can you do to reduce food waste?
■Glossary
survey (n) 問卷
packaging (n) 包裝
landfill (n) 堆填區
slogan (n) 口號
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[Smarties' Power English 第373期]
