Group Works to Reduce Holiday Trash, Clean Environment

Group Works¹ to Reduce Holiday Trash, Clean Environment

The Alice Ferguson Foundation² is a non-profit group that works to improve the environment by building relationships between people and nature.

The foundation is based in the state of Maryland. It was created more than 50 years ago. It teaches people ways to protect the environment.

At the end of the year, it designs events to help children celebrate Christmas without increasing the amount of waste they create.

Hanna Seligmann works for the foundation. VOA joined Seligmann recently during one of her talks.

“So let’s figure out what is in our bag of trash.”

She shows adults and children how to reduce waste during the holiday gift-giving season.

“You can sort it as a cardboard³ item or you can sort it as a plastic item.”

Seligmann works with volunteers.

“We encourage using things that are already in your house like newspaper, old magazines, using a gift within a gift. You can wrap something in a reusable napkin, wrap something in a scarf, or a shawl or even a reusable tote bag.”

Urging people to recycle is important in the Washington, D.C., area. It is home to the Potomac River, one of the most famous rivers in the country.

The river is 652 kilometers long. It begins in the mountains of West Virginia, goes through Maryland and Virginia and ends in the Chesapeake Bay. About 5 million people live near the river. That means a lot of waste can enter the river and the bay, which is important to fisheries.

Seligmann says the amount of waste created increases during the holidays.

“We found out that from Thanksgiving Day to New Year’s day, the household trash increases by 25 percent.”

Many young people do not know how much waste enters the river until they help to clean it up.

Lori Arguelles is the executive⁴ director for environmental education at the Alice Ferguson Foundation.

“Over time we realized that really just doing trash cleanups was the symptom of the problem, not getting to the root cause. And so it was just a little over a decade ago that we started the initiative⁵ itself.”

The Trash Free Potomac Watershed⁶ Initiative is an effort by the Alice Ferguson Foundation to support clean agricultural methods. It includes educational programs at an environmental center on the foundation’s farm.

Programs teach children about the kinds of pollution that can enter the watershed. These include plant and farm waste and trash from homes.

One activity is called the Trash Timeline Game. It teaches children that the things they throw away do not decompose⁷, or break down, at the same rate.

For example, paper dissolves in about four weeks. An apple core⁸ takes two months to break down. A metal can takes up to 100 years. Some things that become trash take a very long time to break down. A plastic bag will not decompose for 450 years. Glass takes 1,000 years. And, they say, Styrofoam never dissolves.

Hanna Seligmann says Styrofoam is banned because of its ability to hold toxic⁹, or poisonous substances.

“This is the most toxic form of plastic. And the reason why it's so dangerous is ‘cause when it's out floating in the water it absorbs all the other toxins¹¹ in the water. So now what we’ve done to prevent that is the Anacostia River Watershed has banned Styrofoam.”

Young people taking part in the program learn that reducing waste is important not just during the holidays, but every day of the year.

I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.

Words in This Story

sort – v. to separate and put (people or things) in a particular order

encourage – v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen

scarf – m. a long piece of cloth that is worn on your shoulders, around your neck, or over your head

shawl – n. a piece of cloth that is used especially by women as a covering for the head or shoulders

tote bag – n. a large bag used for carrying things

symptom – n. a change which shows that something bad exists; a sign of something bad

root cause – n. the cause or source of something

decade – n. a ten-year period

initiative – n. a plan or program that is intended to solve a problem

watershed – n. a line of hills or mountains from which rivers drain¹²; a ridge¹³ between two rivers

decompose – v. to cause something (such as dead plants and the bodies of dead animals) to be slowly destroyed and broken down by natural processes, chemicals, etc.

rate – n. the speed at which something happens over a particular period of time

Styrofoam – n. trademarked name used for a type of light and usually white plastic

toxin¹⁰ – n. a poisonous substance, especially one that is produced by a living thing

1 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

2 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

3 cardboard   

n.硬纸板，卡纸板

参考例句：

• She brought the shopping home in a cardboard box.她将买的东西放在纸箱里带回家。
• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。

4 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

5 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

6 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

7 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。

8 core   

n.中心；核心；(苹果、梨等果实的)果心

参考例句：

• We didn't get to the core of the subject.我们没触及问题的核心。
• The pear is rotten to the core.这梨全烂了。

9 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

10 toxin   

n.毒素，毒质

参考例句：

• Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
• Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。

11 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 drain   

n.排水沟，阴沟；消耗，负担；v.排去，放干

参考例句：

• Drain off the rest of the wine from this barrel.把桶里剩余的酒排出去。
• First,you have to drain the container of all the old oil.首先，你得从油箱中把所有的陈油都抽去。

13 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。