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Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.
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And I'm Rob.
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Now Rob, we've talked before on this programme about our love of coffee.
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Oh yes, indeed. I couldn't function without it.
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But have you ever thought about the environmental consequences of all those disposable coffee cups?
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Oh yes, indeed. I always carry a reusable cup with me so I don't have to throw one away.
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So if a "disposable cup" is one you throw away, a "reusable one" is one that you can use again and again.
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Yes, there is a big problem with disposable cups in that many of them can't be recycled, so there is a lot of waste for something we only use for a short time.
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What are the big coffee shop chains doing about this problem? We'll find out a little bit more shortly, but first, a quiz for you.
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Which country drinks the most coffee per capita - so not the total amount of coffee but the average per person.
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Is it: a) Japan, b) Kenya, or c) Finland.
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What do you think, Rob?
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Ooh, tricky. I don't think the Japanese are big coffee drinkers and I know they produce a lot of coffee in Kenya.
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I'm surprised the USA isn't on the list but I'm going to go with Finland. Just because.
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Well, we'll see if you're right later in the programme.
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On a recent BBC "You and Yours" radio programme they discussed the topic of coffee cups.
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Some of the big chains are now charging customers more for a disposable cup and giving discounts if people bring their own reusable.
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However not all of the shops actually collect old cups and sort them for recycling in the shop itself.
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Here's Jaz Rabadia from Starbucks.
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Is the store only interested in facilities inside their shops?
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It is something that we are in the process of rolling out and it will be in all of our stores.
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It's also not just our stores in which these cups end up.
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So we're doing a lot of work outside of our store environment to ensure that paper cups can be recycled on the go.
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We're working with our environmental charity partner Hubbub to increase recycling infrastructure outside of our stores because that too is where a lot of our cups will end up.
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So are they just working in their stores at improving recycling?
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Well no, after all most people take their coffee out of the stores, so they are working on recycling infrastructure outside as well.
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This will be things like bins and collection points which are clearly marked for coffee cups.
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And what about enabling recycling cups in store?
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Well she said that was something they are rolling out to all stores.
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"Rolling out" here means introducing over a period of time.
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So it's starting to happen, but is not finished yet.
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Let's listen again.
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It is something that we are in the process of rolling out and it will be in all of our stores.
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It's also not just our stores in which these cups end up.
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So we're doing a lot of work outside of our store environment to ensure that paper cups can be recycled on the go.
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We're working with our environmental charity partner Hubbub to increase recycling infrastructure outside of our stores because that too is where a lot of our cups will end up.
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Not everyone, however, believes that the coffee chains are doing everything that they can.
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This is Mary Creagh, a member of the British parliament.
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She compares the situation to that of the plastic bag charge.
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This was a law brought in to force shops to charge customers for plastic bags, which previously had been free.
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If you think you're having to pay extra for something, as we saw with the plastic bags, we think a similar psychological measure is needed, a nudge measure, to encourage people to remember to bring their reusable cup with them.
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And of course this is something that the coffee shops have been fighting tooth and nail.
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She thinks that we consumers need a "nudge" to help us remember our reusable cups.
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Yes, we need a nudge, which is a little push, a reason.
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In this case, she is thinking of a law to make them charge more.
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But she says the coffee chains really don't want this, they are, she says, fighting it tooth and nail.
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If you "fight something tooth and nail," you are against it completely and try to stop it.
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Let's hear MP Mary Creagh again.
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If you think you're having to pay extra for something, as we saw with the plastic bags, we think a similar psychological measure is needed, a nudge measure, to encourage people to remember to bring their reusable cup with them.
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And of course this is something that the coffee shops have been fighting tooth and nail.
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Time to review our vocabulary, but first, let's have the answer to the quiz question.
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Which country drinks the most coffee per capita?
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Is it: a) Japan, b) Kenya, or c) Finland.
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What did you think, Rob?
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I took a bit of a guess at Finland.
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Well, congratulations, your guess was correct.
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The Finns on average get through an amazing 12kg of coffee a year, each.
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Now, onto the vocabulary.
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We had a couple of related but opposite words.
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Something disposable is designed to be used once or a few times and then thrown away and a reusable is designed to be used again and again.
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We then had "rolling out," which in a business sense is the process of gradually introducing something new.
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This could be a new system, new product, new technology or even a new way of doing things.
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New ideas often need new "infrastructure."
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This is usually physical structures that are needed to make something work, for example rail infrastructure includes tracks, stations and signals.
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A "nudge" is a small push, to encourage us to do something.
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You don't need a nudge to carry a reusable coffee cup, do you?
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Oh, no, I'm all for it.
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In fact I'd "fight tooth and nail" to keep hold of my reusable, which is quite a coincidence as that was our last expression today.
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"To fight tooth and nail" means to make a strong effort to try to stop something or achieve something.
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Well, that's all from us.
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We look forward to your company next time.
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Until then, you can find us in all the usual places on social media, online and on our app.
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Just search for "BBC Learning English." Goodbye!
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Goodbye!