Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg grabbed headlines in the U.S. last month when she traveled to the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in a sailboat and then accused adults of having stolen her generation’s hopes and dreams with their inaction on climate change. In her home country (Sweden) she’s become the face of a push to reduce air travel.
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8 ways to make your money greener
Glossary
- to grab headlines – to be given much attention in the news
- to deem – to judge, to consider
- hassle – difficulty or trouble
- to excel – to be exceptionally good at an activity or subject
- compelling (reason) – making you believe it or accept it because it is so strong
- to amp up -to increase (the power or force of sth)
- to flex – to tighten a muscle
- to run afoul of – to come into conflict with
- toll – a small amount of money that you have to pay to use a road, cross a bridge, etc
Discuss
Discuss in pairs, small groups, or with your teacher:
- Would you consider switching your bank to one created with a green (=helping the environment) or social mission?
- What do you make of the “what-not-to-buy” approach?
- Do you carpool? Do you know/use any car sharing app? What are the benefits?
- When booking travel do you choose companies that are committed to reducing their carbon footprints?
- Going green is all about what you gain, not what you give up. Do you agree?
- Do you think recycling is here to stay or will we go back to a disposable goods lifestyle?
- Should recycling be obligatory?
- (What) should schools teach children about recycling?
- Recycling or buying only the things we really need? Which is better?
Practice Makes Perfect
Use the words in Glossary to fill in the gaps in the sentences below:
- Switching banks is a h ……. ..
- T ….. are now collected electronically on most motorways.
- He had a c …….. argument.
- I suggest that we a …. up the pressure.
- Madeline always e ……. in languages at school.
Use the word given in CAPITALS to form a word that fits in the gap.
Going (1) ……… PAPER saves banks money, which is, no doubt, a big part of the reason why they promote it so (2) ……. RELENTLESS. But it also reduces the number of trees that get (3) …… LOG and cuts down on the environmental impact of producing and delivering paper.
Doesn’t (4) ……. STORE data suck up energy? Yep, that’s why Microsoft, #1 on the Just 100 for 2019, is working so hard to reduce energy use at its data centers. But your bank is going to keep your records online (5) ………… REGARD. So unless you have a (6) ………. COMPEL reason for needing paper, you might as well go paperless. As a bonus, some banks will even offer you rewards or discounts for (7) ………… SAVE them the cost of mailing you statements.
ANSWERS:
Fill in the gaps: hassle; tolls; compelling; amp; excelled
Word formation: 1.paperless; 2. relentlessly; 3. logged; 4. storing; 5. regardless; 6. compelling; 7. saving
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Going green does not need to be a sacrifice, either for us as individuals or for businesses, governments and the economy.
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