Learn the current buzz of environmentalism - "going green"
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| Keith: Hi, I’m Keith. |
| Sadia: Hey and I’m Sadia. |
| Sadia: The focus of this lesson is the phrase, "going green." |
| Keith: There seems to be a lot of talk about "going green." The word "green" has had many meanings beyond the color, but these days "going green" means doing things that have less of an impact on the Earth. |
| Sadia: Right. So, "to go green," then, means to engage in more behaviors or to do more things that could be considered good for this GREEN Earth-- at least better for the Earth. |
| Keith: That's right. To "be green" is to be earth-friendly. |
| Sadia: Right or, "eco-friendly," which means, “friendly to the ecosystem.” Since the early 2000s release of the film, "An Inconvenient Truth," which warned about the dangers of careless behavior like excessive fuel usage and energy consumption, the "green movement" has |
| grown in popularity. |
| Keith: Ahh, that's definitely true. Small factions of people have been advocating environmentalism since the 1960s and 1970s, but only recently has environmental consciousness become very popular. |
| Sadia: That’s true, although not with everyone, but it has become pretty popular, right? |
| Keith: More popular than it was before, I think. |
| Sadia: Anything you do to be more "green," Keith? |
| Keith: Sure! I take recycling pretty seriously! |
| Sadia: I’m pretty serious about my recycling too. Also, I like to kind of try to buy locally grown foods-- fruits and vegetables that are grown near where I live. This way, less energy is used to transport food because the trucks carrying it don't have to go far, and neither do I. So, it's what we would call a "win-win" situation. |
| Keith: And that means - win-win, it's good for everyone involved. Okay, it's also good, I think, to maybe buy organic produce. |
| Sadia: Yeah, very expensive, but organic produce, organic fruits and vegetables are grown without the use of pesticides. |
| Keith: That's right, and pesticides are chemicals used to keep pests like bugs or mice from eating food as it grows. |
| Sadia: Another thing I've noticed lots of people doing in an effort to "go green" is reducing their use of plastic bags-- some people and even some stores have actually stopped using them all together. |
| Keith: Without plastic bags, you can always use reusable bags. |
| Sadia: Definitely. Reusable bags-- bags that you can use again and again-- sometimes they’re called "eco-bags." |
| Keith: So you can be "eco-friendly" by using an "eco-bag"? Okay, that’s pretty nice. |
| Sadia: It’s not nice Keith, it’s GREEN! [laughs] |
| Keith: But it's not just individual consumers and stores that are eco-friendly.Other businesses are, too. |
| Sadia: Some businesses rely on "green energy" like solar and wind power. |
| Keith: Yep. And some other businesses are "paperless" environments where everything is preserved digitally. |
| Sadia: Paperless! That’s so kind of cool I think. Listeners, have you "gone green?" |
| Keith: What are some of the things you do to be more "eco-friendly?" |
| Sadia: ARE you even "eco-friendly?" Let us know! |
| Keith: Let's take a look at some of the vocabulary for this Buzzword lesson. |
| Sadia: green [natural native speed] |
| Keith: green [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: slang or vernacular for Earth-friendly |
| Keith: green [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: green [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Earth-friendly [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: Earth-friendly [natural native speed] |
| Keith: mindful of the well-being of the Earth; created with the well-being of the Earth in mind |
| Sadia: Earth-friendly [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: Earth-friendly [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: eco-friendly [natural native speed] |
| Keith: eco-friendly [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: Earth-friendly |
| Keith: eco-friendly [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: eco-friendly [natural native speed] |
| Keith: pest [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: pest [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a troublesome bug or small animal |
| Sadia: pest [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: pest [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: pesticide [natural native speed] |
| Keith: pesticide [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: a chemical designed to destroy pests |
| Keith: pesticide [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: pesticide [natural native speed] |
| Keith: organic [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: organic [natural native speed] |
| Keith: food grown without the use of chemicals |
| Sadia: organic [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: organic [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: local [natural native speed] |
| Keith: local [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: of or relating to a particular place, within a community |
| Keith: local [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: local [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to recycle [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to recycle [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to use again; to collect items to be broken down and |
| reused |
| Sadia: to recycle [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: to recycle [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: beneficial [natural native speed] |
| Keith: beneficial [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: advantageous; good for |
| Keith: beneficial [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: beneficial [natural native speed] |
| Keith: impact [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: impact [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a strong effect |
| Sadia: impact [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: impact [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to engage in [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to engage in [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to do; to perform; to participate in |
| Keith: to engage in [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to engage in [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to contribute [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to contribute [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to add to |
| Sadia: to contribute [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: to contribute [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: digital [natural native speed] |
| Keith: digital [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: characterized by computer technology, relating to |
| information stored by numbers |
| Keith: digital [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: digital [natural native speed] |
| Keith: paperless [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: paperless [natural native speed] |
| Keith: without paper |
| Sadia: paperless [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: paperless [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: solar [natural native speed] |
| Keith: solar [natural native speed] |
| Keith: of or relating to the sun |
| Sadia: solar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: solar [natural native speed] |
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