Carbon Footprint

So what’s your guys’ take on all this global warming hysteria in the media?

那你们怎么看媒体上那些关于全球变暖的瞎嚷嚷？

It’s pretty serious, man. There have been tons of scientific studies and the scientific community says that the earth is heating up. We need to make some drastic changes to our lifestyle if we want to preserve our planet.

挺严重的，兄弟。大量科学研究都表明地球在变暖。要想保护地球，我们得对生活方式做大的改变。

I don’t know. It sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo if you ask me. ”Save the earth!” The earth will save itself. It’s survived worst disasters in the past. I mean, honestly, we live in the boonies. There’s no way anyone here is ever going to walk or bike to work, especially in the winter. And we have no bus system. My house is forty years old and it would take a lot of money to get it refitted to be ”green” and ”energy-efficient”.

我不知道。要我说，听起来就是一堆鬼话。“拯救地球！”地球自己能救自己。过去更糟的灾难都挺过来了。说真的，我们住乡下，这儿没人会走路或骑车上班，尤其冬天。而且也没公交。我家房子四十年了，要改造成“绿色”“节能”得花好多钱。

Well I don’t really know if I believe in global warming either, or whether or not it was our doing or a natural change the earth is going through, but you have to admit that we’re living pretty irresponsibly here in the west.

呃，我也不知道自己信不信全球变暖，也不确定是我们造成的还是地球的自然变化，但你得承认，我们西方人现在过得挺不负责任的。

I guess...

大概吧……

I think the issue at hand is sustainability. We’ve only got this one earth we can live on, and our resources are quickly disappearing because of our own carelessness and our inability to think of anyone but ourselves and anything but the present.

我觉得核心问题是可持续性。我们能住的地球只有一个，资源却因为我们的粗心、只顾自己和眼前而快速消失。

So, like I was saying, we need to change the way we live. We need to reduce our carbon footprint.

所以就像我说的，我们需要改变生活方式，减少碳足迹。

But it doesn’t have to be that drastic. Hybrid vehicles and solar panels are too expensive to be feasible right now. And we don’t have to be hippies living off the land and buying everything organic either, though it helps.

但也不用到那个程度。混合动力车和太阳能板现在太贵，不现实。也不必像嬉皮士那样自给自足、什么都买有机的，虽然那样也有帮助。

I car pool to work everyday with some buddies of mine. I have a rain barrel outside my house I use to water my plants and my lawn in the summer, and I make sure I always bring reusable bags with me when I get my groceries. And we just started using bio-degradable plastic made from corn oil for take-out orders at my family’s restaurant. Remember the three R’s? Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

我每天和几个哥们拼车上班。房子外有个雨水桶，夏天用来浇花草和草坪。买杂货时总带可重复使用的袋子。我家餐厅最近开始用玉米油做的可降解塑料打包。还记得三个R吗？减量、复用、回收。

Exactly, it’s just small simple changes, like buying energy-saving light bulbs, starting a compost bin, recycling bottles and papers, using reusable water bottles, stop using disposable cups and cutlery.

没错，就是些小改变，比如买节能灯泡、开始堆肥、回收瓶子和纸张、用可重复使用的水瓶、不用一次性杯子和餐具。

Like the ones we’re drinking out of?

就像我们现在用的这些？

Yeah.

对。