BBC Take Away English (Is your l

现代人从餐厅或外卖店购买午餐已经是家常便饭了，但这种习惯可能正在对地球造成破坏，因为购买外卖食品会产生很多食品包装垃圾。那么如何减少由于买外带食品而带来的垃圾呢？本集Take Away English介绍一些商家为了鼓励减少一次性餐具的使用而向顾客推出的促销活动。

Lunchtime---from BBC
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article

A lunch break – it’s an important and often necessary part of our working or school day. It’s a chance to stop your tummy rumbling, grab a bite to eat and maybe chat with some friends. And now we ’re spoilt with an array of places to buy our lunch from, all offering tempting dishes and humble sandwiches to eat on the go.

But our appetite for buying our lunchtime fare is not just costing us money, there might be a cost in terms of damaging our planet too. Just grabbing a sandwich, crisps and maybe a cake and coffee can produce at least four items of waste. Cartons, cups, wrappers and plastic cutlery are all part of our disposable feast in addition to the food waste we create. Some experts say throwing away food, which produces methane as it rots, is a bigger cause of climate change than plastics.

But regardless of what causes the most damage, the solution, according to an environmental campaign group called Hubbub, is to eat packed lunches. Tessa Tricks from the group says "People are saying that they are buying food to take out because life has got busier." And she says people think they are being more efficient; but she argues that it’s usually healthier and cheaper to make your own lunch. It means you can eat the things you really want and make the quantity that you actually need.

Of course, preparing your lunch is another thing to fit into your morning scramble of getting ready for work, so if you haven't got time and you are going to buy lunch, an alternative Hubbub suggests is to take your own container to a shop and ask them to put your food in it. The idea of using reusable coffee cups for hot drinks and refilling water bottles has already proved successful, so this could be another step in the right direction. A trial in East Anglia (in the UK) showed that offering a 10% price reduction did persuade some customers to come prepared with their own lunch box.

The problem with eating on the move is that you might want to carry your grub in something that is disposable, so it’s a good idea to make sure it’s something that is recyclable and not to take extra sachets of sauce or utensils that you’re not going to use. The message seems to be that if we give our lunchtime eating habits some thought, we can all do our bit in helping reduce climate change and damage to our environment. That is something for all of us to chew on!

vocabulary

lunch break 午餐休息
grab a bite to eat 吃点儿东西
tummy rumbling 肚子咕咕作响
an array of 一大堆，一系列
be spoilt with... 被宠坏，破坏
dish （一道）菜
sandwich 三明治
on the go 外带，在路上吃= on the move
appetite 食欲，胃口
fare （由指饭馆里的）饭菜
carton 硬纸盒，塑料盒
wrapper 包装纸，包装材料
cutlery 餐具（刀、叉、匙等）
disposable 一次性的，用后即丢的
feast （讽刺的）“盛宴”
methane [ˈmiːθeɪn] 甲烷
packed lunch （自带）盒装午餐
scramble [ˈskræmbl] 混乱
container （餐）盒，容器
reusable 可重复使用的
lunch box 饭盒
grub [ɡrʌb] 食物
sachet [ˈsæʃeɪ] （仅够用一次的）小包，小袋
utensil [juːˈtensl] 厨房用具
do our bit in 做出一点贡献
chew on 仔细考虑，好好想想

make sentences

1. I’m going to be late for my next meeting so I’ll grab something on the go.

2. On holiday in France we found a great restaurant serving traditional fare.

3. The children made a real mess after the party: There were sweet wrappers everywhere!

4. I’m chewing on which subject to study at university – it depends on what will lead to a better job.

5. I took a disposable camera with me when I went snorkelling（潜水）. I didn’t want to risk getting my expensive digital camera wet!

question

What reasons have some people given for having to buy takeaway food for lunch?

answer

According to Hubbub, some people say their lives have got busier and buying food to-go is more efficient.

@BBC Learning English