How can I help the environment? 6 Minute English

Improve your English vocabulary and listening in just six minutes!
How can I help the environment? What can I do to be more environmentally friendly? What can we do to make a difference? Sam and Neil discuss the small practical changes you can make to be more environmental and teach you 6 items of useful English vocabulary in this episode of 6 Minute English!

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬:
Falling for fraud

Does recycling coffee cups make a difference?

The art of tipping

Do our political views change as we get older?

𝐕𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐘:
𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞
something someone finds particularly annoying or frustrating

(𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠) 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐤
buying many or a large quantity of something

𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭
to transfer from an original container to a different one

𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧
to give something to someone

𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐦𝐞-𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧
a possession or item of clothing that is not new but has come from someone who no longer needs it or has outgrown it

𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤
in good condition

[Cover: Getty Images]

#BBCLearningEnglish #LearnEnglish #6MinuteEnglish

[bbclearningenglish]

Why is the Amazon rainforest important when it comes to climate change? We explain the science and bring you the English vocabulary to discuss it.

[kausarchanna]

Neil
Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

Sam
And I'm Sam.

Neil
Now, tell me about your teeth-cleaning routine.

Sam
OK. Well, it’s pretty good, I think. I brush twice a day and change my brush every couple of months.

Neil
And what kind of brush do you use?

Sam
Nothing fancy, just a regular, cheap plastic one.

Neil
Oh dear!

Sam
What do you mean?

Neil
Well, imagine all the toothbrushes you’ve used in your life, from your first brush as a child, to the one you currently have. You do realise that probably they all still exist in the environment somewhere. We use them for a couple of months yet they will last for hundreds of years.

Sam
Oh dear, and I thought I was actually quite environmentally aware. But that’s quite shocking. I hadn’t thought of that.

Neil
Well it’s just one of the problems we are facing with our use of plastics. A marvellous invention that has given us so much. But we are beginning to realise it's causing many long-lasting environmental problems. More on this topic shortly, but first, a question: Plastic has many natural variations but where was the first artificial plastic developed? Was it:

a)    England
b)    Germany or
c)    Switzerland?

What do you think, Sam?

Sam
I’m going to have a guess at Switzerland.

Neil
OK, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. Environmental issues are, of course, a big story at the moment. The topic was featured on the BBC Woman’s Hour radio programme recently. Madeleine Murray is from an Irish organisation that gives advice to businesses and communities on how to operate in an environmentally responsible way. She was asked about what she does in her daily life that other people could do too. What food items does she mention?

Madeleine Murray
My personal, like,  pet peeve is multipacks and minipacks. I buy in bulk now. I buy the biggest yoghurt I can buy. I buy big cereal boxes. I buy big shampoo bottles. We can decant stuff into lunch boxes and we can, you know, refill our pasta and our rice.

Neil

So, what food does she mention, Sam?

Sam
She talked about yoghurt, cereal, pasta and rice.

Neil
And what was she saying about those foods?

Sam
She was saying that she buys the biggest containers for those that she can - and not just food - things like shampoo as well.

Neil
And what’s the benefit of that?

Sam
Well, she says that her pet peeve is small packs of things. A pet peeve is something that you find particularly annoying. She doesn’t like small packs because they use a lot of packaging for a small amount of product.

Neil
So she buys in bulk. Buying in bulk means 'buying a lot of something'. And if you have a lot of something like rice or pasta, you can always transfer it to different smaller reusable containers. She uses the word decant for this. So that’s one area where we can all be a bit more environmentally friendly. Another area is reusing things that are perfectly good but which we don’t need any more. Dr Tara Shine is a colleague of Madeleine Murray and she talked about how new parents often buy a lot of new things for their babies, which they then throw away when the child gets too big or too old. She suggests that it’s better to pass these things on-to give them to other people.

Dr Tara Shine
Pass things on. The hand-me-down,  pass-thing-on culture is really, really important in the world of kids and there are lots of things that can be passed down, whether it’s toys or the equipment, or the high chair, whatever it is, all of that can be passed on and that’s really important. It’s saving someone else money. Most of these things are in good nick when we need to pass them on.

Neil
She used another expression for passing things on, didn’t she?

Sam
Yes, she talked about the hand-me-downculture. When I was growing up, I had a lot of hand-me-downs. These were toys and clothes from my older cousins, which saved us a lot of money and they were then passed on to someone else.

Neil
And the thing is children grow up quickly so often everything is in good condition.

Sam
Dr Shine used an interesting expression for that, didn’t she? She said most of these things are in good nick. That expression means 'in good condition'.

Neil

Now, before we recycle today’s vocabulary …

Sam
Oh, very good, I see what you did there!

Neil
It’s time for the answer to today’s question. Where was the first artificial plastic developed? Was it:

a)    England
b)    Germany or
c)    Switzerland?

What did you think, Sam?

Sam
I guessed Switzerland.

Neil
Well, I'm afraid, you are wrong. The correct answer is actually, England. Well done if you got that right. Extra bonus points if you knew that in 1856 Alexander Parkes patented Parkesine, the first artificial plastic. Now, let’s recap today’s words and expressions.

Sam
Yes, a pet peeve is something that someone finds particularly annoying.

Neil
Buying in bulk means 'buying many of the same things or a large quantity of something'. Buying in bulk is usually cheaper and can be better environmentally.

Sam
And if you have a lot of something, you can decant it to smaller containers, that is, you can transfer it to those other containers to make it easier to use. For example: I buy huge bottles of liquid soap and decant it into smaller dispensers for the kitchen and bathrooms.

Neil
You can pass on clothes, toys and other kids' stuff to family and friends. This means 'giving them to other people to use'. And those things can be described as hand-me-downs.

Sam
But of course you’d only want to pass on things in good nick, that is, 'in good condition'.

Neil
Right, that's all we have time for. We hope you will join us again soon, though. And you can always find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, online and on our app. We are BBC Learning English. See you soon. Good-bye!

Sam

Bye!

[ngahoang]

To Be environmentally aware is so crucial today, for all nations and generations.

[fuelyourwanderlust]

I always wait for new episode of 6 minute english. Thank you!

[RawiaHaroon]

When it comes to learning English this channel is second to none, hands down!

[letsplayroblox]

There are many ways how we can help the environment. I think one of the ways are figuring out and looking into all of the issues we have. Then we should solve the problems. Climate changes. In some countries it got cool down than usual in winters. We can get out of these problems problems if we try. Thanks BBC for your great work🙂

[marianuru]

So useful and informative as always! Thanks!!

[TheGudsProduction]

I have many hand-me-downs from my big brother, he passed them on me, and they were all in a good nick, though!

[hanaaabdallah]

Thanks BBC .It's such a useful video

[chloechiu]

I love variety of topics every time :)

[pkubhart]

BBC is my favourite channel, fist time visit this site learning English, I I am glad visit this site after 20 years, I always listen BBC radio news

[ahmedfarraj]

Hi
Thanks a million.
Nice episode because it has two benefits, the first, brushing teeth is so important.The second, conservation our planet is our responsibility.
Thanks for BBC learning English channel.

[joasdasilvabrito]

Great advises and, again, great learning because you guys. Definitely, the better YouTube channel for improve my English. Please goes on 👏👏

[raniaaydemir]

Thank you BBC team, as usual nice topic, new vocabulary and pieces of advice fo a better daily life . You are really the best .

[-NguyenQuangMinh-A-yiqv]

VOCABYLARY I LEARNT FROM THE VIDEO " HOW CAN I HELP THE ENVIRONMENT " - 8/10/2023
1. Friendly-environment = environmentally friendly
2. Routine ( noun ) : a regular series of movements, jokes, or similar things used in a performance
=> teeth-cleaning routine
3. A toothbrush
4. marvelous ( adjective ) : extremely good
=> He's done a marvelous job of the painting.
5. pet peeve : something/someone finds particular annoying or frustrating
=> annoying ( adjective ) : making me slight angry
=> frustrating ( adjective ) : making you feel annoyed or less confident because you cannot achieve what you want -> He doesn't like to what i say and it's so frustrating,
=> annoyed = angry
6. in buck : buying many or a large quantity of something. => but in bulk
7. yoghurt : a slightly sour, thick liquid made from milk with bacteria added to it, sometimes eaten plain and sometimes with sugar, fruit, etc. added
8. cereal : a plant that is grown to produce grain
=> cereal crops
9. decant ( verb ) : to transfer from an original container to a different one
10. stuff ( informal ) = thing
11. pasta : ( same with noodle )
12. a hand-me-down : a possession or item of clothing that is not new but has come from someone who no longer needs it or outgrown it. -> outgrow : to grow bigger than or too big for something:

QUANG MINH FROM VIET NAM - ALL BESTS FOR YOU

[nawarnawar]

Hi, I don't like throwing away my old clothes, I don't know why.
My closet is full of them. I always say to myself I may use them If I paint the wall or go to the farm or anything else.
Talking about plastic, I'm a material engineer and I can tell you that there are chiefly two types of plastic and each one has its properties convenient for some demands, the first one can be recycled, but the other can't and if you heat it it burns.
We can focus on producing the first type and searching for other materials that can be reused.
There are plenty of materials that are not harmful and don't have a negative effect on our environment, but they aren't used because of economic issues.

[jaindharmmotivationalvideo]

This channel is great to get Awerness... Awesome astonsih channel... Awesome thanks so much

[hoathoang]

We can decant stuff into our lunch boxes ( resuable drinkware) and then refill food in there

You can always transfer it to smaller different reusable containers

[HungNguyen-zemr]

when talking about helping the environment, the first thing that springs to my mind which is raising people's awareness about the impact of our daily habit on earth in long term. Like in Vietnam, we use a lot of plastic bags to carry things after buying food at street market, but now some stores or supermarkets are promoting the environmentally friendly image by reducing the price if we don't take plastic bag. from my observation, it only makes a really short impact on shopping's habit, then it's still there. cause we as human beings do everything based on our behaviors. i suppose the long-sighted vision would be changing and training the habits from the super young children like kindergartens or primary schools. well, it might take a long time but it pays off. besides, we can do some suggestions like BBC mentioned like buying in bulk, decant stuff after running out, pass things on and take hand-me-down as it both saves money and space for your family.

[hoathoang]

plastics are a marvelous invention that has given us so much, however