Japan tries to cut down on plastic bags

[영어도우미]

Japan tries to cut down on plastic bags

By HIROKO TABUCHI, Associated Press Writer Sat Jun 10, 9:31 PM ET

 

 

TOKYO - Buy lunch and a magazine at any Japanese convenience store, and you're likely to get your drink in one plastic bag, hot lunch box in another, and your magazine in yet a third.

 

The mega-packaging keeps your food hot, your drink cool and your newspaper clean, but environmentalists say it also creates a mountain of plastic waste that fouls the air, pollutes the oceans and contributes to global warming.

The world uses between 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags a year, according to the advocacy Web site, reusablebags.com. Wrapping-happy Japan is a major player, consuming some 30 billion about 300 for each adult.

Those figures don't include the tons of extra wrapping individual plastic covers for shirts from the cleaners, tiny packages for single cookies ?used in Japan, experts say, suggesting the country is among the world's premier consumers of plastic sheet.

"Japan probably uses more plastic than most societies in the world," said Hideki Nakahashi, a spokesman at the Japan Polyolefin Film Industry Trade Association.

Facing criticism from environmentalists, Japan is now trying to reduce plastic use with a law revision that lets the government issue warnings to retailers that don't do enough to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The revised law was approved by Parliament Friday. But for a country famous for elaborate wrapping, cutting back will be an uphill task.

"We consider wrapping a part of the product," said Shinji Shimamura, a spokesman for the Japan Franchise Association, which represents over 125 franchise chains in Japan.

"Of course it's good to cut down on plastic bag use," Shimamura said. "But we can't hand customers a hot lunch box or cold ice cream without a bag. That would be unhygienic and very rude."

Still, wrapping habits in Japan border on the excessive. Some fruit stores even wrap each apple or banana in plastic. And when purchased, all they all go in yet another plastic shopping bag.

The impulse to wrap may stem from Japan's traditional attitudes toward gift-giving, which is geared to presentation more than content. The layering of wrapping also has important social meaning ?more wrapping means more politeness and formality.

And the bags are so cheap that shops don't have the incentive to reduce or recycle, analysts say.

Some retailers have taken the initiative to cut back even before the revised law comes into effect in 2007.

 

for full version of the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060611/ap_on_sc/japan_bagging_plastic;_ylt=AuMSEQ2NCLspcW_jGLZqw.Os0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-

 

VOCABULARY LIST:

 

foul- ruining or damaging something by making it dirty

advocacy- a publicly supported idea, development or way of doing something

premier- best or most important

elaborate- containing a lot of careful detail or many detailed parts

uphill- needing a large amount of effort

unhygienic- not clean

geared to- to design or organize something so that it is suitable for a particular purpose, situation or group of people

incentive- something which encourages a person to do something

 

 

DISCUSSION POINTS:

 

1. Do you find plastic shopping bags convenient? Why?

2. Does Korea also use a lot of plastic bags? Would you say it's excessive?

3. Is recycling practiced?

4. If you go to shops, do they mostly wrap the products you bought in plastic bags or paper bags?

5. Do they also wrap the items you bought individually? (each cookie, each fruit etc.)

6. Do you keep and reuse the plastic bags at home?

7. Is wrapping style important when giving gifts to other people? Does it have to be elaborate?

8. Which do you prefer, plastic bags or paper bags? Why?

9. Is there any natural resource that's excessively used by Koreans?

10. What are some of the environmental issues that your country is facing?

11. Are most Koreans aware of how to take care of their environment?

12. Are there a lot of environment-friendly products being used in your country? Give examples.

13. Compared to other countries you have visited in the past, do you think Korea is clean?

14. What should be done to make your country more environment-friendly?