Facts and Fiction

Some people think that green living is something difficult for them. They just don’t want to change their day-to-day way of living. These people often appeal to some imaginary or non-proven facts about eco living. So, let’s try to sort that out!

“Small changes don’t matter!” is said about some green tips. One of your biggest weapons in the green movement is your own wallet. Recent numbers demonstrate that a few smarter buying decisions translate to big changes in the planet. When you buy household paper goods (like paper towels, napkins, toilet paper and copy paper), look for products that use high percentages of recycled or post-consumer waste.

How would you like to save $50 this year with a few simple clicks of your computer mouse? You would? Then turn off your screen saver. Instead, select the "sleep" or "hibernation" mode for periods of inactivity. So, you cannot say that all green choices are painful and expensive. While some greener options (like some organic products) do cost more, others (like turning out lights, using water-saving faucets and keeping the thermostat at a reasonable temperature) are money-smart strategies, too.

One more green myth is that eco-friendly vegetables and fruit are expensive. Not every green choice has to cost you extra money. Buying locally grown food is a good example. The average food item travels 1,500 miles to 2,500 miles to get to your store. Locally grown produce – usually grown within 200 miles – saves all those transportation and fuel costs, along with tons of carbon. For that reason they are often less expensive and tastier, too. What's more, many smaller local growers don't use pesticides and herbicides.

Exercise 6. Is our Krasnoyarsk region green or not? Try to prove both statements. Use the local authorities’ papers, web links and reports. Write up to 200 words. These web pages can be useful:

http://energoeffekt.krskstate.ru/page4291

http://energoeffekt.krskstate.ru/sovet

http://ecoreporter.ru/news

http://www.yarsknadzor.ru/

http://www.sobranie.info

Unit 1.9 Environmental Monitoring: What For?

The words to be studied in 1.9:

to observe наблюдать

observation наблюдение

data факты; данные; информация

flexible гибкий; легко приспосабливаемый

ecological monitoring экологический контроль (за качеством окружающей среды)

environmental monitoring контроль за состоянием окружающей среды

area область

to assess оценивать

to measure измерять; оценивать

measurement измерение; контроль

to determine определять; устанавливать

to detect обнаруживать; выявлять

to forecast прогнозировать; предсказывать

Exercise 1. Do you know the meaning of monitoring? If you aren’t sure about it, please look the word up in a dictionary.

Exercise 2. Read the statements about eco monitoring. Discuss them with your groupmates. Mark them as True of False.

1) Monitoring is not often used.

2) When people monitor something, they observe it for a period of time.

3) Any organization can do activities which can change our environment.

4) Ecological monitoring usually collects some data and makes its presentation.

5) Ecological monitoring can observe plants, animals, water, soil, etc. – any part of the environment.

6) Ecological monitoring can say what is bad in the particular part of the environment.

Exercise 3. Read an extract from the article Ecological Monitoring. Check, if your answers in Exercise 2 are correct. Use a dictionary to understand unknown words.