Does recycling coffee cups make a difference? 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute

English. I'm Neil.

Rob: And I'm Rob.

Neil: Now Rob, we've talked before on this

programme about our love of coffee.

Rob: Oh yes, indeed. I couldn't

function without it.

Neil: But have you ever thought

about the environmental consequences

of all those disposable

coffee cups?

Rob: Oh yes, indeed. I always carry

a reusable cup with me so

I don't have to throw one away.

Neil: So if a disposable cup is one

you throw away, a reusable one

is one that you can use

again and again.

Rob: 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.

Neil: 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. Which country

drinks the most coffee

per capita - so not the total amount

of coffee but the average per person. Is it:

a) Japan, b) Kenya, or c) Finland.

What do you think, Rob?

Rob: Ooh, tricky. I don't think the

Japanese are big coffee drinkers

and I know they produce

a lot of coffee in Kenya. I'm surprised the

USA isn't on the list but I'm going to go

with Finland. Just because.

Neil: Well, we'll see if you're right later

in the programme. On a recent BBC You

and Yours radio programme they

discussed the topic of coffee cups.

Some of the big chains are

now charging customers more for

a disposable cup and giving discounts

if people bring their own reusable.

However not all of the shops actually

collect old cups and sort them for

recycling in the shop itself. Here's Jaz

Rabadia from Starbucks. Is the store only

interested in facilities inside their shops?

Jaz Rabadia: It is something that we are

in the process of rolling out and it will

be in all of our stores. It's also not just

our stores in which these cups end up. So

we're doing a lot of work outside

of our store environment to ensure

that paper cups can be recycled

on the go. 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.

Neil: So are they just working in their

stores at improving recycling?

Rob: Well no, after all most people

take their coffee out of the stores,

so they are working

on recycling infrastructure outside

as well. This will be things like

bins and collection

points which are clearly marked

for coffee cups.

Neil: And what about enabling recycling

cups in store?

Rob: Well she said that was something

they are rolling out to all stores.

Rolling out here means

introducing over a period of time.

So it's starting to happen,

but is not finished yet.

Neil: Let's listen again

Jaz Rabadia: It is something that we are

in the process of rolling out and it will

be in all of our stores. It's also not just

our stores in which these cups end up. So

we're doing a lot of work outside

of our store environment to ensure

that paper cups can

be recycled on the go. 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.

Neil: Not everyone, however, believes

that the coffee chains are doing

everything that they can.

This is Mary Creagh, a member of

the British parliament.

She compares the situation

to that of the plastic bag charge. This was

a law brought in to force shops to charge

customers for plastic bags, which

previously had been free.

Mary Creagh: 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 and

of course this is something

that the coffee shops have been

fighting tooth and nail.

Neil: She thinks that we consumers

need a nudge to help us remember

our reusable cups.

Rob: Yes, we need a nudge, which

is a little push, a reason. In this case,

she is thinking of a law to make

them charge more.

But she says the coffee chains

really don't want this,

they are, she says, fighting it tooth and

nail. If you fight something tooth and nail

you are against it completely

and try to stop it.

Neil: Let's hear MP Mary Creagh again.

Mary Creagh: 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 and

of course this is something

that the coffee shops have been

fighting tooth and nail.

Neil: Time to review our vocabulary,

but first, let's have the answer

to the quiz question.

Which country drinks the most coffee

per capita? Is it:

a) Japan, b) Kenya, or c) Finland.

What did you think, Rob?

Rob: I took a bit of a guess at Finland.

Neil: Well, congratulations, your guess

was correct. The Finns on average

get through an amazing

12kg of coffee a year, each.

Now, onto the vocabulary.

Rob: We had a couple of related

but opposite words. 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.

Neil: We then had rolling out which

in a business sense is the process of

gradually introducing something new.

This could be a new system, new product,

new technology or even a new

way of doing things.

Rob: New ideas often need

new infrastructure. This is usually

physical structures that are

needed to make something work,

for example rail infrastructure

includes tracks, stations and signals.

Neil: A nudge is a small push,

to encourage us to do something.

You don't need a nudge

to carry a reusable coffee cup, do you?

Rob: Oh, no, I'm all for it. 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.

To fight tooth and

nail means to make a strong effort to try

to stop something or achieve something.

Neil: Well, that's all from us.

We look forward to your company next

time. Until then, you can find us in all

the usual places on social media,

online and on our app. Just search

for 'BBC Learning English'. Goodbye!

Rob: Goodbye!