2007年VOA标准英语-US Cities Promoting Tap Water as Eco-Friendly C

By Mil Arcega
Washington, D.C.
12 July 2007
 

New York has joined the growing list of cities urging Americans to stop buying bottled water. The city recently launched an advertising¹ campaign asking people to trade their bottled water for ordinary tap water. Environmentalists say the problem is not the water in the bottles, but the plastic the water comes in.  VOA's Mil Arcega has today's Searching for Solutions report.

Author Charles Fishman

Americans are addicted² to bottled water.  But a growing number of U.S. cities are calling on Americans to kick the habit.  Author Charles Fishman says people drink so much bottled water, it's starting to hurt the environment.

"Bottled water is something that you wouldn't suspect would have such a significant environmental impact," says Fishman.

But scientists say it does.  Last year, Americans consumed more than 30 billion bottles of water.  Most of the bottles -- about 80 percent -- end up in landfills.  Laid end to end, that's enough non-biodegradable plastic to circle the Earth more than 150 times.

That's why Salt Lake City banned bottled water at a recent outdoor jazz festival.  Mayor Rocky Anderson calls it a marketing³ scam and refuses to spend public money to pay for it.  Instead, the city served ice-cold tap water served in recyclable cups.

"We just need to get away from these wasteful⁴, environmentally disastrous⁵ consumer habits that have been developed and get back to drinking water out of the tap," says Anderson.

Tap water is just as healthy as bottled, experts say

Experts say the widely held perception that bottled water is better than tap water is simply not true.  Mark Pastore, who runs an upscale restaurant in San Francisco, has taken bottled water completely off the menu.  "It seems kind of foolish to be serving water in a glass or plastic bottles when we have great tap water here," says Pastore.

Experts say another reason to switch is that transporting bottled water burns a lot of  fuel.  Bottled water from France for example, must travel more than 8,000 kilometers to reach a store shelf in Chicago.  Allen Hershkowitz with the Natural Resources Defense⁶ Council says it is a wasteful process that creates greenhouse gases.

"It's ironic⁷ that on some of the labels of the bottles, you see snow-capped mountains and glaciers⁸ when in fact the production of the bottle is contributing to global warming," says Hershkowitz.

But Joseph Doss, head of the International Bottled Water Association says his industry is being unfairly singled out.

"Any effort to reduce the environmental impact of packaging has to focus on all consumer goods and not just target bottled water," says Doss.

Doss cites industry-based initiatives to introduce corn-based, eco-friendly plastics.  He says some companies also are donating a portion of sales to help water projects in developing countries.  Environmentalists say if people really want to keep the world as pristine⁹ and clean as these labels suggest, cut back on the bottles.

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

5 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

8 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

9 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。