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Paper vs Plastic

Learn English with this paper vs plastic English lesson

Date: Jan 09 2019

Themes: Health

Grammar: You're vs. Your

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Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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It may feel like a simple and small decision that many people make every day. “What kind of bag should I use when I go to the market?” People are learning more about how their choices can affect the environment. Even small decisions about what kind of bag to use can have a big impact.

In the US, there are cities that ban the use of plastic bags. More stores are only using paper bags. Another way that some stores try to get their customers to bring their own bags is to make customers pay for them. All of this may seem like a lot of trouble to go through for bags, but it can make a big difference in the health of our planet.

Lily tells Rafael about what types of bags she uses and why she thinks it’s an important decision. Read on in today’s English lesson about everyday choices that can affect the environment.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Rafael

Lily

Rafael: The debate is global. What’s better for the environment, paper or plastic?

Lily: Oh… neither, actually. I only use cloth bags when I go grocery shopping.

Rafael: Wow. That sounds very… not hazardous.

Lily: Yeah. It’s environmentally conscious to do that. Because otherwise you’re either killing trees by using paper bags, or you are essentially adding to this giant, floating pile of plastic out in the middle of the ocean if you use plastic bags. Because there are not very many ways to recycle them.

Rafael: Part of the debate is this could compromise animals’ lives, right?

Lily: If you are obliterating someone’s habitat by cutting down all the trees, or fish getting caught in plastic bags that are floating in the ocean… that’s killing animals. I personally don’t want to be responsible for any more environmental detriment than I have to be.

Rafael: Well, look at you.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Lily thinks that both paper and plastic bags are a bad choice. She chooses to use cloth bags instead. Even though it doesn’t seem like a big decision to make, she thinks that it’s important to be environmentally conscious.

Lily points out that paper bags are detrimental to trees and plastic bags are harmful to fish. These bags have a negative impact on both the environment and on animals. Lily is trying her best because she doesn’t want to be responsible for doing anything that is hazardous.

What type of bag do you use when you go grocery shopping? Why do you use that type?

Comments

TangJun815

China

I often use plastic bags when i go grocery shopping, but I early know using plastic bag is negative impact to enviroment. After read this article, I think I will use colth bag more, improve my enviromentally conscious, for our earth.

Abo9od

Saudi Arabia

I prefer plastic

Abo9od

Saudi Arabia

I prefer plastic

ARYA30

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I prefer paper, its really better and benefit for nature.

But here, there isn’t choice for paper

What a pity….

pyu

Indonesia

In my country, all of the grocery stores still use plastic bags though they provide cloth bag to the customer :(

Julie3

Russian Federation

Just today I’ve read an article about the biggest environmental problems the population has faced in 2014. The first is a world ocean pollution with plastic. Just imagine the numbers: 5.2 trillion plastic particles weighing over 268 000 tons! It’s eaten by smaller water organisms, fish, birds etc…

Bugatto

Ukraine

Manufacturing of cloth bags requires more energy than producing plastic bags.But plastic bags are more dangereous for our environment.When I am resting in the summer on the beach, I always burning plastic garbage from the shore.

julito

Argentina

To deter shoppers from the use of plástic bags ,in my country you would be charged for it, the idea behind it is ” bring your own bag and if it is environmentally friendly much the better. In the US in major grocery stores you would have also to pay if you ask for bags, that’s the law!! I have reusable bags at home,but most of the times I go shopping without any of them, a kind of silly thing to do ,as I would have to pay if I want to have my groceries packed in plastic bags. As Lily pointed out ,the damage that plastic containers are making to the earth`s ecosystem is unimaginable, our oceans are so polluted with them, thus putting marine life in jeopardy , a rich ecosystem that sustain our life is being degraded day by day.

Julie3

Russian Federation

Two ends of a stick – plastic needs lots of time to disappear. To make a Paper bag u have to cut a tree. Both hazardous to the Nature.

Djana

Algeria

Frankly ,i don’t do shopping at all ,but if i do i prefer to use paper bags because it’s not hazardous and it hasn’t a negative impact on our environment