Episode 0222

Hello everyone and welcome to English Pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today's lesson is an advanced level lesson, that means we'll be speaking using our normal English tone of voice and using some very, very difficult vocabulary and phrases. So this is really good practice for all of you out there.

That's right. We're going to change a little bit the dynamic of how it works. We're not going to look specifically at language takeaway or fluency builder. We're going to talk about the topic. We are going to pick out a couple of different words and phrases that are used in the dialogue, but we're mainly going to talk, just have a conversation and you can just listen and study a little bit of what we're saying.

So, what is the topic today, Marco?

Well, today we're going to talk about the environment, specifically about our carbon footprint.

Okay, that is the title of today's lesson. I encourage all of you to listen to the context of that phrase and we'll be back in a moment to talk about what it and some of these other phrases mean.

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

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.

I don't know. It sounds like a bunch of mumble jumbo if you ask me. The Earth will save itself. It 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 40 years old and it would take a lot of money to get it refitted to be green and energy efficient.

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

I guess.

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.

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

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.

I carpool to work every day with some buddies of mine. I have a rain barrel outside my house I used 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 biodegradable plastic made from corn oil for takeout orders at my family's restaurant. Remember the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.

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.

Like the ones we're drinking out of?

Yeah.

All right, we're back. So, as you probably guessed, carbon footprint, it's it's pretty easy. You're talking about a footprint is the evidence you leave if you're walking on sand, for example.

Exactly.

And uh if we talk about carbon, we're talking about the element, right? Carbon.

Yep. So carbon is something that is in everything, basically. Uh it's organic, but it can also, in the case of a carbon footprint, mean the amount of um maybe waste or damage that we do to the Earth or to the environment.

Right. So for example, you're driving your car, we all know that the gas that is emitted from the exhaust pipe is CO2, right? And that contains carbon. So that's a way of seeing that you're leaving a footprint of carbon. You are damaging the atmosphere a little bit by driving your car.

So, in talking about a carbon footprint, we talk about um having a low carbon footprint, which is good or a very high carbon footprint, which is bad.

Mhm, right. So there were a lot of interesting things coming up in the dialogue. Um one of the first things was

Well, the first thing that they're talking about in this dialogue is they're having kind of an argument about whether or not uh global warming and global climate change really exists.

Aha. Yeah, this is a very interesting part because some people say, well, global warming is happening. Global warming is real. And other people say, well, it's not real. It's not really a problem. This is just a phase that the Earth will go through and uh like everything, it'll disappear.

Well, I agree with people who say that the Earth goes through phases because sometimes there there are centuries that are hotter and sometimes there are centuries that are colder. But I think it's undeniable that there has been a large and immediate global climate change in the last maybe 20 years.

Yeah, we're definitely speeding up maybe that cycle, right?

Exactly. And I think what's um great evidence of this and terrible evidence of this is the three earthquakes, massive earthquakes that have happened in the last couple of months. And I think that um earthquakes like last year and um like this year are really, really important reminders that we do as humans influence the way that the world responds to us.

I think uh I always see it as the Earth kind of just shaking its back kind of saying like get off me, you know?

Stop it. It itches.

Stop it. Yeah, exactly. I think that that's kind of the way I see earthquakes sometimes. Um but when they were talking about, well, is it real, is it not, they use a really interesting phrase when it says it sounds like a bunch of mumble jumbo.

Mumbo jumbo.

Yeah.

So this is a way to say it sounds like a bunch of garbage or it sounds like a bunch of gibberish. It sounds like a bunch of people are talking about something that doesn't really exist. So mumble jumbo is basically something that's not really real or true.

I think don't you also, you can you use it as um somebody that's saying something you don't really understand?

Right. So if maybe I'm talking to you about something that's very academic and very scholarly, you say, sounds like a bunch of mumble jumbo to me.

Right, exactly. Yeah.

Yeah.

So that's what the person said, you know, the environmental problems are a bunch of mumble jumbo. Um but it was really interesting because they were like, whoa, we have to save the Earth and well, and then there was actually a phrase here that was really kind of hard for me to understand when the person said, I mean, honestly, we live in the boonies.

Boonies.

So what does it mean by living in the boonies?

This is a very common word to hear in spoken English, especially with young people. Boonies means we live far away from civilization. We live far away from cities. We live far away from everything. So maybe these people live in the countryside or in a small village. And uh they don't feel like they're affected by what people in the big cities do.

Okay. So if you say, oh, I live in the boonies. I'm you're just saying, I live really far.

Really far away. So this is a very common American word, I think. Um you can also say boondocks, which is like that movie Boondock Saints. Um but Boondocks and boonies means very far away. So I could say, Marco, I'm not going to drive out to your house for a party. You live in the boonies.

Do you have any other ways if you can say that you live really far away?

Uh you live in Egypt.

You live in Egypt.

Which for us in America is obviously very, very far away.

Uh sometimes we say

Yanks.

Oh, the yanks, exactly.

Yanks, people in New Zealand say that.

I've also heard people say, oh, you live where the wind turns around.

Really? You heard that one? No, I like that one.

You live so far. Oh god, you live where the wind turns around.

The end of the earth? Yeah.

Exactly.

Wow.

So, well, there are a lot of different ways of saying that. So they were talking about different aspects of the environment like that we heard the word green or energy efficient.

Okay, so um basically what they're doing is they're talking about some of the things they've heard in the media maybe or on TV about what people are supposed to be doing, you know. These are very abstract. That means these are very kind of big terms. Uh go green or be more energy efficient.

Yeah, I've heard this like, for example, when people say, oh, you have to be more green or go green, that means more friendly towards the ecosystem, right?

That's right. So this is a very general suggestion and we can talk about specifics in a minute. But this is a very general suggestion for um thinking about the environment and doing things to help it. And so go green or be green is a way to be more environmentally friendly. We also have using energy efficient computers or light bulbs or TVs.

Right. Um the third thing that they talk about and this is something that comes up a lot is sustainability.

Mhm. Yeah, that's a big word that a lot of people like to use. Yeah, it is.

In uh in in this type of topic, sustainability.

Right. So sustainability comes from the word to sustain, that means to hold out over time or to continue. So you think about something. Maybe sustainability is, I think, in many cases about um doing or having habits, doing things that you can continue to do for a long time. For example, driving a big SUV to work every day is not keeping in mind sustainability because one day there will be no oil. So then what do we do? Right? So that's not a sustainable action. Sustainable actions mean that we have less impact, negative impact on the world.

Right. So basically what you're trying to do is to sustain, which means to to hold, to withstand these habits, for example.

Right. So when you talk about a sustainable ecosystem, it means that it has everything it needs and it continue it can continue to work for a very, very long time.

Right. So you can also talk about sustainable development, which we talk about in in aid and giving aid to other countries. So sustainable development is trying to help other countries or other people um in ways that they can keep continue to do for a long time.

It's also very popular with tourism. They talk about sustainable tourism.

That means thinking about the environment and having tourism that can last forever, not not tourism that will destroy the environment because it's very harmful.

Mhm. It's a very interesting topic and as you say, it's used in a wide range of of cases, sustainable development, sustainable projects, sustainable tourism. Um there are a lot of different ways that people use this, but it's basically the same thing, right? It's it in essence it it refers to that.

Yes, keeping something going over time.

But I think the big question here is if you want to go green, if you want to be environmentally friendly, what do you do? Because um it's it's not about big ideas, it's about specifics, it's about changing your everyday actions, right? And so these guys had a couple of ideas.

Yeah, they came up with something like, for example, hybrid vehicles, which is a big thing now. Basically, hybrid means uh two, right? It's a it's a combination of one of two or more.

That's right. So, uh you know the Sphinx in Egypt, that's a hybrid.

Right, between a man and a lion. Exactly. Right. So a hybrid vehicle basically uses gasoline, but also electricity. So they're very, they're very actually very, very efficient because

And they're quiet.

They're quiet. And uh usually where you use up most of your gasoline is in traffic because your car is on, you're accelerating, you're braking, you're accelerating, you're braking. So in this case, I think um hybrid vehicles run on the electric engine until they hit, I think it's 30 miles per hour, yeah. And uh once you surpass that, then it switches to the gas engine, which obviously if you have a a constant high speed, it uses, it's more efficient, the combustion of the gasoline.

Exactly. So, uh a good example of a hybrid vehicle is the Toyota Prius.

Right. I think it was like the first one commercially available.

But now they have all kinds and they're actually trying to make entirely electric cars. So lots of things to watch out for there. But they also talked about something for the house, right? So if you want to not just have a nice car that is environmentally friendly, but also to do things with your house. What what can you put on your roof?

Ah, I think you've seen a lot of these. These are called solar panels.

Okay. Solar has to do with the sun. So solar power, solar panel, that means energy that comes from the sun. So the sun. And a panel is like a pad or like a um some kind of device that can take the energy from the sun.

Yeah. It's really, really good. Basically, you know, in um in some places you have anywhere between 8 to 12 hours of sunlight. So the whole day these panels are absorbing energy. You can store them maybe in batteries and then just use them later. So basically you don't really need to use electricity that comes from coal or from nuclear power plants because, you know, you want to turn on a light, it doesn't really use up a lot of electricity.

And there's no waste.

And there's no waste. It's all clean.

So my question for you, does Ecuador have a lot of solar panels everywhere because you guys have so much sunlight down there?

Um, we don't really have a lot of them. It's not a big commercial thing yet, but there are a lot of projects going around to help implement these things a lot better. For example, taking these technologies to the countryside where people don't have access to electricity, um by means of of cables, right? Um so they're implementing that there, uh getting them to use it and but it's still expensive. That's the problem with solar panels is that, of course, it's an energy efficient way of going. It'll save you money in the long run, but up front, you got to spend a lot of money.

Well, here's a good way to use sustaining. If someone in the countryside has solar panels on their house, it's a self-sustaining way to produce energy. You don't have to depend on another place or another person.

Exactly. Yeah. Actually, um this is a very popular thing in many developed countries. I remember when I was living in Chile, big buildings were being marketed as energy efficient and green, um by showing that they can be self-sustaining. So basically, they would have solar panels on the roof. They would collect sunlight all day and then they had big batteries that would uh store this energy and then you can use it. Um they were more efficient into keeping heat or keeping the cold. And also what we saw in the vocab, but they also had was a rain barrels. So basically collecting water from the rain and then they can use this water obviously through a filtering system in order to be able to drink it or to wash your clothes and stuff, but basically, uh they would say that it could uh reduce your carbon footprint by more than 50% and also the amount of money you would spend because you wouldn't spend so much money on water. You wouldn't spend so much money on electricity or gas and things like this.

That's awesome. Well, one of the biggest concerns as far as environmental environmentalism is water. Um where water will come from in 50 years because um there is a limited amount of fresh water in the world. And if we can reuse rainwater and collect it, I think it's brilliant. So a barrel basically is is like a big uh container, circular, it's like a circle and it stands up on the ground or on a roof.

And it's brilliant because if you have a rain barrel that collects all this rain and you have solar panels. Basically, you don't need gas or electricity to take a warm shower. You just have the solar panels that can heat up the rain barrel water and there you have a warm water. You have a warm shower.

It sounds so nice. You have sun kissed warmth when you have like fresh rainwater and

Yeah. Uh but the whole water issue is a very popular topic. I recommend that any of our listeners read, there's a very interesting article that talks about, don't worry about petroleum running out in 50 years, we're probably going to run out of our water before that. Yeah. And they project uh droughts and huge famine in in places like India, like in the Middle East, in uh in even in places of of China.

Really? Yeah.

Well, not so scared anyone. But

But, but yeah, it's it's interesting reading though. Yeah, it's really good.

Very serious stuff. Well, the last thing that I think we should talk about before we listen to today's uh audio file again is uh the compost bin. Now this is maybe something that's hard to understand for someone who's never seen one before. Um but basically compost is um well, the verb is compost, to compost, but it's also a noun. Um but a lot of people they don't want to throw away their food and their, you know, organic material, things like flowers and food and um biodegradable things. They actually reuse them. So basically they have a space in the the the backyard of the house where they throw away all the old food. Yeah. Nothing plastic, nothing non-biodegradable. And um that over time turns into fertilizer or or mulch for their gardens. Yeah. So basically, you're you're putting it back into the Earth.

No, this is this is a very good option and I remember seeing that even in Brazil they have huge compost bins or compost places that um they fill up with with this garbage and obviously things that decompose uh start to emit methane gas. So they've found a way to harness this gas, transport it through tubes and start using it. So actually having gas stoves with this methane gas.

That's brilliant. So you can get two uses. Fertilizer and methane gas.

Yeah. So there are a lot of options there to go green to do your part to help the Earth.

Wow. So let's listen again to the dialogue that we had today. Hopefully we've cleared up some of the things that were confusing for you and we'll be back in just a moment.

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

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.

I don't know. It sounds like a bunch of mumble jumbo if you ask me. The Earth will save itself. It 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 40 years old and it would take a lot of money to get it refitted to be green and energy efficient.

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

I guess.

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.

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

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.

I carpool to work every day with some buddies of mine. I have a rain barrel outside my house I used 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 biodegradable plastic made from corn oil for takeout orders at my family's restaurant. Remember the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.

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.

Like the ones we're drinking out of?

Yeah.

All right, we're back. So, um it's a very interesting topic, very debatable. We have Earth Day coming up, I think. uh you have to turn off your lights for an hour.

That's right. Earth Hour, Earth Day. So remember, reduce, reuse, recycle, the three Rs. Think about the way that you use things and, you know, try and reuse them if you can.

Yeah, it's a very good topic. We want to know what you think about it and also if you have any suggestions or any comments about future advanced lessons, why don't you tell us? Come to Englishpod.com and we'll see everyone there.

Bye.

The English part audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Unintelligible or incomprehensible language.

Mumbo Jumbo.

Gain heat or get hot.

Heat up.

Maintain in safety from injury, peril, or harm.

Preserve.

Rural country or jungle.

Boonies.

Keep in existence and maintain.

Sustainability.

Sudden and severe.

Drastic.

Capable of being done with means at hand.

Feasible.

Add new parts.

Refit.

Prepare and equip for additional use.

Refit.

Available source of wealth.

Resource.

Share the car with others to work.

Carpool.

Let's try that faster.

Sudden and severe.

Drastic.

Capable of being done with means at hand.

Feasible.

Maintain and safety from injury, peril, or harm.

Preserve.

Prepare and equip for additional use.

Refit.

Unintelligible or incomprehensible language.

Mumbo Jumbo.

Share the car with others to work.

Carpool.

Rural country or jungle.

Boonies.

Keep in existence and maintain.

Sustainability.

Available source of wealth.

Resource.

Gain heat or get hot.

Heat up.

Add new parts.

Refit.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Mumbo Jumbo.

That's a load of Mumbo Jumbo. There is no such thing as aliens.

Mumbo Jumbo.

That's a bunch of Mumbo Jumbo. You guys like each other and get along well together, so you should at least try one date.

Mumbo Jumbo.

Some people say that what the Bible teaches is a bunch of Mumbo Jumbo, but I think there's some truth to it.

Preserve.

By living responsibly, we can preserve our planet for generations to come.

Preserve.

If you don't start preserving your relationship with your sister now, I'm afraid it will only get worse.

Preserve.

This historical building has been preserved since the 19th century.

Refit.

My sister had her living room refitted with a new entertainment system.

Refit.

The mountain climbers arrived at the base camp, got refitted, and set off again the next morning.

Refit.

Sustainability.

Sustainability consists of living one's life in a way that sustains the earth.

Sustainability.

Sustainability is starting to catch on and many companies are finding greener ways to make their products.

Sustainability.

This store is all about sustainability. They sell clothes made from organic materials, purses made from recycled aluminum and plastic, as well as notebooks made with recycled paper.

Resource.

We need to start finding alternative energy sources because our resources of carbon and oil are limited.

Resource.

The way we are living is rapidly depleting many of our natural resources.

Resource.

Solar electrical device connected solar cells and wind turbines are becoming more and more common because they are renewable resources in order to produce electricity.