礼节美语 099 Go Green 1

公司总裁Tim召集部门经理开会，讨论公司可以采取哪些节能环保的措施。

Tim: Good morning folks, thanks for joining us. In light of the recent economic downturn, we thought we should pow-wow some ways we can conserve energy. This is Henry Peterson, a consultant with GreenOffices Inc.

Henry: Hi everyone. As Tim mentioned, not only is saving energy good for the environment, it's also a good way to keep costs down...and that's a win-win situation for everyone. I'm sure some of you have suggestions for ways we could become "greener." Anyone?

总裁Tim说，今天召集大家开会，商量如何节省能源开支。 参加会议的还有节能专家Henry Peterson. Henry说，节能既环保，又能减少开支，是双赢之举，a win-win situation，办公室节能有哪些措施呢？

Faith: I think we could easily cut down on "vampire power." Our computers and other electronic devices actually continue to suck power, even when they are switched off.

H: Good one! The online encyclopedia Wikipedia claims that "vampire power" or "standby power" is responsible for using as much as 10% of electricity consumption.

Dana: We could unplug the equipment or put in power strips that can completely turn off power.

T: Just imagine...we could save 10 or 15 % on our energy bill just by unplugging our computers!

Faith提议削减vampire power吸血鬼功率，又称standby power，因为即使电脑关机，只要电源不拔，电脑就会继续耗电，Dana建议拔掉电源或是采用可以切断电源的接线板Power strip。

H: And that's just the beginning! You see these lights above us? These use LED bulbs that are 10 times more efficient than the bulbs you are using in the rest of the office.

F: But they're pretty pricey, aren't they?

H: Yes, they cost more, but you'll find that they pay for themselves.

Henry承认，LED灯泡价格确实要贵一些，但是, they pay for themselves非常划算。

D: I've got one that will require a bit of sacrifice. We really don't need to use bottled water for meetings. We could also get rid of paper cups for the water cooler and everyone could use their own mug instead.

F: Ahhh.... I love bottled water.... but I agree, Dana's idea is certainly more environmentally friendly.

H: Yep. Sometimes going green does require that we change our mindset. It's funny how many of us are very conscientious at home. We recycle and reuse, but when we get to the office, we sometimes become very wasteful.

Dana建议公司取消瓶装水，不用纸杯子，得到大家的认可。 Henry指出，工作场所节能需要改变思维，change our mindset。