2012年11月9日星期五

明報:桑迪過後的六夜六日

(按:本文在《明報》(2012-11-09)發表時用的標題為『桑迪襲美啟示錄』。這一版本與明報刊登時的版本略有出入)


【星期一:斷續的電力】

颶風「桑迪」是在週一(十月廿九日)傍晚登陸的,風眼在新澤世州的阿特籣大市附近,離我家也不遠,大概只有八十哩左右。果然,就在大約那個時段,開始停電了。最初,停電是斷斷續續的,每次只維持了幾分鐘。這使我心存幻想,以為問題不大。可是,第四次停電郤是來真的,一整夜電力都沒有再恢復過來。

【星期二:電筒燈下的晚餐】

翌日醒來,發現電力仍未修復。不止如此,原來公司的辦公大樓也停電了,也不能上班,惟有待在家中等候。幸好我之前已經準備好了一點糧水,而且屋中仍有餘溫,所以問題不大。甚至,我還可以用手機上網。但是因為要節省手機的電力,不敢隨意的用。當時不知停電的範圍和程度,還以為只要忍耐大約半天到一天就可以了。

中午試一試開車出外找熱午餐,竟然在鄰鎮找到,還能喝上了一杯熱咖啡。那時還不知道這家原來是附近唯一一家可以開門營業的餐廳(大概是用發電機來營業的),原來我是幸運兒!無論如何,心中也感激餐廳人員這麼快就恢復工作。誰知道呢?說不定他們家中很可能也停了電,甚至受到不同程度的損毀,他們郤第一時間的投入了工作來服務我們。

家中食水和乾糧都不缺,最欠的就是熱水,所以出門前帶上了一個小型保暖水壺,在飯後向待應拿了一些熱水。餐廳在飯前按往常習慣提供了些餐包。但我吃不完,所以就打包了回來。

日光真是很重要的:有日光時還可以傍窗看書,日光過後則幾乎甚麼事都做不了。因為之前忘了準備蠟燭,家中只有電筒和有限的電池,不能浪費,故此只好「日出而作、日入而息」。在網上查了一查,說日落時間是下午五時半,這即是說大約六時半(日落後一小時)天便會全黑。

燈光晚餐,算是幸福的
晚餐時才發現中午在餐廳打包回來的麵包,是珍貴的食物。在電筒燈下吃了一頓燈光晚餐。

【星期三:柴火帶來的溫暖】

電力還未恢復。由於昨天出外找到餐廳和熱的食物,所以我決定再次出外找熱早餐。這次順著電力公司在網上提供的停電地圖,向著一個停電情況較輕微的鎮出發。以為是好主意,但出門後才發現路上處處封路,兜了一個大圈,最後還是回到家門前,最後決定放棄找熱早餐,回家吃乾糧作罷。昨天問餐廳拿的熱水,原來郤已經用完了,唯有用冷水送凍麵包。

傍晚天黑前,吸收了早上的經驗,決定還是去昨天的鄰鎮找食物,起碼我知道住那裏的路還是暢通的。另外,熱水是珍貴資源,昨天還怕餐廳說我貪心,不敢拿太多的熱水;今天我特意帶上了兩大個熱水瓶,再也顧不儀態了。餐廳的待應見我的兩個大水瓶,還開玩笑說要收費。其實,熱水珍貴,真是要付費我也是心甘情願的。

晚上屋裏愈來愈冷了。我決定要生火取溫。屋裏一向是有一個壁爐的,只是我一直沒有用過,也不知道怎樣用。但能力是可以逼出來的。我打電話給一個家中也有壁爐的同事,向他請教怎樣用壁爐。原來最關鍵的是氧氣,也即是氣流。故此必須先用燃著了的報紙在壁爐上方做成上關氣流,壁爐中的柴火才有可能持續。家中其實沒有燃料,只靠下午在屋外執拾了一些樹枝。想不到活了一輩子,這才是我第一次「執柴」的經驗。以前在家門前見到樹木殘枝,都把它們看作垃圾,望園藝工人快快把它們清理,這時才知它們是寶!

【星期四:發現公司有浴室】

早上醒來,收到消息說公司的辦公大樓已經恢復有電了,真是大好消息。馬上出發!幸好路也是暢通的。在辦公大樓裏,除了可以恢復工作外,也可以為手機充電,又可以拿到熱水。更重要的是,公司裏有一個洗手間,也不知之前是哪位仁兄的德政,竟然設有浴室。我洗了一個熱水澡,這是大停電以來首次。很舒服,很感恩。

下午不敢在公司久留,在天黑前便趕回到家中。入黑後唯一節目是生火取暖。柴火燒盡後室暗無事可做,早早便上床休息。由於知道明天回公司又可以為手機充電,開始可以較放膽的用手機來播些音樂。心血來潮,選上了巴赫的歌德堡變奏曲。這首音樂,據說是巴赫為經常失眠的俄羅斯大使寫的,好讓大使的琴師歌德堡可以在大使無眠的晚上演奏催他入睡。這時時間尚早,我也無心睡眠,臥室郤愈來愈冷。在漆黑一片中,手機以僅餘的電力,播放著本來為無眠者而寫的雋永音樂,有種說不出的意境。

到天明前,屋裏實在是非常的寒冷,我穿著羽絨大衣,蓋著棉被,仍然冷得渾身發抖。

【星期五:遇上汽油荒】

天亮時,我突然心生一計:窮則變,變則通,我何不搬到公司暫住?雖然公司晚上也沒有暖氣,但靠著早上的存下的餘溫,晚上也不會太冷。而且,新聞上說,新州開始鬧汽油荒,每天上下班也要耗用一定的汽油,我如果暫住在公司則可以省下不少汽油。當下點算一下,所需者不外睡袋、衣物、餐具,這些我都有,而且公司的洗手間還有浴室。。。於是,我決定到公司「宿營」去了。的確是比已經多天沒有暖氣的家中暖和得多。

【星期六:妙法煲粥】

宿營的旱餐有「真空唔駛煲潮州粥」。其製作方法甚為簡單,也不妨向大家介紹一下:保溫真空煲或真空水壺一個,放入米少許,再加入滾水,冚實焗約十二小時即可(時間加長或更好)。不需明火,也不用「睇火」,十分容易。進食時伴以一些泡菜則更加美味。

自從搬到公司暫住後,生活算是比較正常,有燈、有電、能上網,比較像大停電之前的生活。

電力公司在網上公佈恢復供電的進度,說我家所在小鎮只有百份之一的用戶電力供應得到修復,故此我也不知要在公司暫住多久,只好作長期作戰的準備。

【星期日:隧道盡頭的光明】

又過了一日。慢慢的在朋友間聽到他們的好消息,說家中電力恢復了。這時電力公司的公佈,說我家小鎮有四成電力得到修復,我覺得開始見到隧道盡頭的光明了。

兩天以來我間中會嘗試往家中打電話,都是「佔線」的音頻。但是到了這天的傍晚,音頻改變了,變成是「無人接聽」的音頻,我估計可能家中己經開始有電了。但我還不是太肯定,於是再試一試在網上服務給家中的數碼錄影機 (TiVo) 發出預錄節目的指令,也成功了。我決定開車回家看一看。

其實,未到家中,我已經大概的知道結果了。因為附近的街道已經回復到大停電之前一樣的燈火通明。於是,在第七個停電的晚上來臨之前,我回到家中。果然電力已經接通了!

失而復得,真是別有一番滋味在心頭。

【風災日與夜】

其實,這六夜六日的停電生活,說不上甚麼艱苦。自問沒有受到皮肉之苦,也沒有財物損失,只是生活上的少許不便罷了。其中最大的感受是匱乏:電池不夠用、熱水不夠用、麵包不夠用、汽油不夠用。甚至,在我生火取暖時,才發現連家中的舊報紙不夠用,檢回來的柴木也不夠用。但是,匱乏未嘗不是好事 -- 它可以令我們有一個反思的機會,平日我們視很多身邊的事物為理所當然,郤不知道擁有這些看似平平無奇的事物,其實已經是一種福份!

── 完 ──

2012年11月7日星期三

網上公投:龍尾建人造沙灘 -- 請表態贊成或反對:


請大家投票後也要把這帖用「分享」(Share)鍵傳開去。(最好也附上這段文字。)

龍尾建人造沙灘:贊成者請在 facebook 上 LIKE
http://bit.ly/YesOnLungMeiArtificialBeach
龍尾建人造沙灘:反對者請在 facebook 上  LIKE
http://bit.ly/NoOnLungMeiArtificialBeach

E-Referendum: Lung-Mei Artificial Beach
Please cast your vote on the artificial beach

If you are for it, please LIKE the following link on facebook
http://bit.ly/YesOnLungMeiArtificialBeach
If you are against it, please LIKE  the following link on facebook
http://bit.ly/NoOnLungMeiArtificialBeach



2012年11月3日星期六

「唉!瘋」與「非死不可」的隨想


報載考評局出版的首屆中學文憑試考試報告,在中文科評語中批抨考生在中文科口試經常中英夾雜,包括 iPhone 、iPad 和 facebook 。有教師質疑,這些名詞尚未有官方中文譯名,坊間也未有約定俗成的通用中文翻譯,考生如何可以不中英夾雜?

考評局接受查詢時,指 iPhone 可以譯作「蘋果智能手機 5」云云。這個「標準答案」是硬生生的翻譯,而且尚未在坊間成為共識。各位能接受這個翻譯嗎?

還是,考生們要用坊間開玩笑式的翻譯?iPhone 譯為「唉!瘋」、iPad 稱為「我劈」、而把 facebook 譯作「非死不可」?!開玩笑也許可以,在認真的口語討論中,這些譯名又可以接受嗎?

其實,語文的最終目的是溝通思想、傳情達意。說話的人,如果在發出聲音後,對方不知其所云,再標凖的語法也是徒然。我想請那位提供標準答案的官員,不妨在其生活圈子,試一試其所建議的標準答案「蘋果智能手機 5」來指稱 iPhone 5,看一看它「傳情達意」的效果如何?!

況且,新鮮的外來詞每日都在增加中,即使以上三個詞語能有普遍接受的中文譯名,但 Twitter 呢? YouTube 呢?甚至,香港政府入境處的德政、甚受市民大眾歡迎的 「e-道」服務呢?如果保安局局長去考中文口語科,以「e-道」而不是生硬的自創翻譯「電道」來描述有關的服務會否落得個「肥佬」 (fail / 不及格) 的下場?

外來詞被引入一個文化體系,有一個過程。有些詞能慢慢的形成共識,比如 Disco 一詞現今普遍譯為「的士高」或「的士夠格」;又如 Internet 一詞在初期有約十個不同的譯名,但後來慢慢以「互聯網」為通用翻譯(按一);有些外來詞在反覆論證討論後仍然共識難求,如 Alzheimer's Disease 以前譯為「老人痴呆症」,後來有團體認為該詞不妥,在公開徵求譯名後得出「腦退化症」的建議,但又有醫生指這個譯名有欠準確,建議要再從長計議(按二);有些詞永遠以外來語形式存在,如在英語中「政變」一詞一直沿用其法語原文 coup d'état ,「等等」一詞一直以其拉丁文 et cetera 或其更常用的簡寫 etc 存在。

有時,一個外來詞,即使有常用譯名,但視乎情況,一個著重表達效果的講者,也可能會捨棄譯名,而直接用外來語。如果要表達「我很快便會把文件傳真過來」的意思,在粵語口語中相信大部人都會說「我好快就會 fax 份文件過嚟」,而不會生硬的把 fax 轉成「傳真」。

甚至,即使不是外來語,在文字的使用中,也不一定是要以標準為唯一考慮。美國大文豪馬克。吐溫(Mark Twain)在他的文學巨著《頑童流浪記》(Adventure of Huckleberry Finn)中寫下這些不朽的文字:
"Please take it," says I, "and don't ask me nothing – then I won't have to tell no lies."
這是英語老師心目中的爛英文,因為,按英語文法,這句話大概應該寫成:
"Please take it," I say, "and don't ask me anything -- so that I don't have to tell any lies."
但大文豪為甚麼不寫標準的英文呢?其實,這豈不是又是為了傳情達意?查以上的說話,是出自書中主人翁「頑童」 Huckleberry Finn ,他是識字不多的小童,只有十三、十四歲,以上的「爛英文」,正好反映了他的背景。

寫了這麼多,筆者是在咬文嚼字、吹毛求疵嗎?非也。其實,我覺得香港的教育政策制訂者,多年來就是處處表現出上述的這種食古不化的僵化思想,實在需要改正。

記得多年前,在討論母語教育時,有政策制訂者大談「英書中教」(按三)不淪不類、不可接受。要英文中學在採用英文教科書的同時,上課時中學老師也一定要以英文講課。但是,這要求符合現實嗎?筆者高中時接受的,正是「英書中教」。後來(八十年代中期)考入香港大學,並先後完成學士和碩士課程。那時,教授們大多都是有留學英美背景的華裔學者,但尚且不是每一個老師最後會選擇用英語講課,原因是用英語授課不一定會有最好的溝通效果,而同學們都已經是天子門生了。記得後來出任港大校長的鄭耀宗教授,留美多年,英語了得。但在課室中,他也選擇以粵語授課,甚受學生歡迎(當然,教科書、講義和試卷,都是用英語的)。在當年的香港最高學府,尚且不能完全做到「英書英教」;對比之下,中學老師,大多數沒有放洋背景,而中學同學的語文程度平均來說更遠遠不及最後能考上大學的學界精英。無視這一現實,而把「英書英教」這一僵化政策住中學上推。這一思想,不知害苦了多少中學生?!

筆者只慶幸當年還未有所謂的教育改革,在中學和大學時,老師們都以實事求是的態度,以最有效的語文,為我們打好了日後求學的基礎。

-- 完 -- 





2012年10月21日星期日

奧巴馬的醫療改革是在「養懶人」?


給我的一位美國朋友的信:

我是在 2000 年才來美國的,之前在香港,看國際新聞時有聽聞過克林頓的醫療改革(後來無法獲得通過)。當時我的反應是,西方社會真不同,政府連這種「小事」也要管。其實,我是身在福中不知福。香港一直都有公立醫療制度。我那時從未聽說過有人會因生病而破產的。

後來我在 1996 年到美國當了一年的訪問學者。來美之前,有熟悉美國情況的朋友閒談中提醒我,「你到美國記得要有醫療保險啊!」我唯唯諾諾,但心想這也是對的,我在美國是外國人,政府自然不會有任何保險給我--我當時並不知道美國作為一個全球最富裕的國家,是有幾千萬人國民(超過十分一)是沒有任何醫療保險的。(幸好我的僱主 CMU 大學,的確有為所有僱員購買醫保,包括訪問學者。所以我很輕鬆地解決了這個問題。)

後來奧巴馬推動醫療改革,我有留意到有關的辯論,才開始了解克林頓和奧巴馬想解決的,並不是「小事」。要明白並判斷這場改革是否合理和合宜,要明白很多數據,也要比較美國和其他先進社會(如英、日、德、加拿大、甚至台灣)對這問題的處理方法。但當時令我印象最深刻的,是這一個有血有肉的故事,是在這個電台對談節目(十四分鐘)中聽到的:


其中的主人翁(被訪者的弟弟),是否人們心目中的「懶人」、「窮人」、或者「不負責任的人」,諸位可以自行判斷。

March 11, 2009

When Karen Tumulty's brother Patrick was diagnosed with kidney disease, the Time magazine correspondent thought her 15 years of experience covering health policy would enable her to solve his insurance problems. But Tumulty soon realized that the health care crisis is more complicated — and severe — than she thought.

As Tumulty notes in her Mar. 5, 2009 Time article, "The Health-Care Crisis Hits Home," her brother had subscribed for six years to a short-term health insurance policy, which he renewed every six months. But, she writes, the short-term policy meant that "each successive policy treated him as a brand-new customer." When he was diagnosed with kidney disease, the insurance company labeled his illness a "preexisting condition" and refused to pay for the costly diagnosis and treatment.

Tumulty explains that many Americans are under-insured, and they may not even know it: Health policies that seem generous for healthy people may actually be unable to cover costs if a serious illness arises. She writes that "just about anyone could be one bad diagnosis away from financial ruin."

2012年10月13日星期六

方便大哂!?


奧地利某家超市認為,對它的顧客來說,剝香蕉是很麻煩的事。為了「提高」服務,超市決定推出新產品--預先剝好皮的香蕉,再用發泡膠和保鮮紙來把它包好出售。(請見原來的 新聞報導

我們真的變得這麼懶惰了嗎?連剝香蕉也嫌麻煩,要別人代勞?!即使因此我們要用上成千上萬的千年不腐的發泡膠托盤,留在堆填區,甚至在大海中漂浮?

朋友,也許您會嘲笑這家超市的荒謬。但細心想想,我們其他的一些生活習慣,又合理嗎?
  1. 在飯堂,我們每天用上一個發泡膠杯,用完即棄。
  2. 出外時,我們購買樽裝水。每飲一樽水便製造了一個膠樽垃圾。
  3. 到超市購物時,我們隨手拿上十個八個的即用即棄的塑膠購物袋。(按)
我們又可否有想過,這些行為製造了大量的塑膠垃圾,它們郤是本來十分容易避免的。比如說,只要:
  1. 我們去飯堂時帶上自已的水杯。
  2. 出外時,我們帶上水壺。
  3. 到超市購物時,我們帶上可以無限次重用的布袋和購物籃。(按)
這些垃圾完全可以避免。但我們不會這樣做,因為我們要方便,「方便大哂!」

其實,我們是否在「五十步笑一百步」呢?

回到文首的那間超市,如果公眾對這家超市不作出強列抗議的話,習以為常,「預先剝皮香蕉」,很快會成為潮流。大家慢慢的也會見怪不怪了。

如果真是這樣的話,我們也就只能祝我們的下一代好運了!

(按:香港自 2009 年實施膠袋徵費後,情況大為改善。但在美國大部份人仍然是不會自備購物袋的。)






But I need the convenience !

There was a supermarket who thinks peeling banana is too tedious for their customers (see the news report here), so they decided to sell bananas pre-peeled, and then wrapped the bananas on a Styrofoam plate topped with plastic wrap.

This is how lazy we as a society has become. So we want the convenience of avoiding the "chore" of peeling a banana ? Even though that means we are going to trash tons of Styrofoam plates that will take thousands of years, if not more, to bio-degrade ... ?

My friends, you may laugh at the supermarket. But if you think more carefully about the issue, many of our other commonly accepted habits are not significantly less ridiculous.  Think about these:

  1. we use Styroform cups in our cafeteria
  2. we buy bottled water when we are outside of our home
  3. we get five to ten plastic shopping bags for every grocery trip
We could have avoided the waste by:

  1. bringing our own mugs to the cafeteria, 
  2. pre-filling a reusable water bottle with tap water before we go out, 
  3. bringing a reusable shopping bags or baskets to groceries. 
But we say we need the convenience!

It is just that we have been having these other wasteful habits for a longer time.  But this does not make them less ridiculous.

So if this supermarket's idea survives the public outcry (luckily there have been quite some), soon I think we can see these pre-peeled bananas sold in every supermarket. Good luck to our future generations!

2012年6月16日星期六

Recycling considered harmful?

(Note: I gave this talk to my colleagues on the eve of World Oceans Day 2012. The content is very similar to my other talk (in Chinese) given to my Chinese school last Saturday. I picked a slightly different title so as to entice more of my colleagues to come. I was very glad that 17 of them (out of a team size of ~20) came. I would like to thank them for having some trust on me and willing to spend a lunch time to listen to me on the problem. )

Let's first review the follow footage (3 minutes 57 seconds). If you don't have time to review all the materials on this page, I sincerely hope that you can at least review this video:

The video was shot in Midway Atoll, one of the most remote places in the world because it is more that 2,000 miles from any continents. Yet, in this place we see the havoc we human beings wreak upon our nature. Our trash flows all the way to the sea surrounding the island. Albatrosses often mistake the trash, especially the caps of plastic bottles, as food and they feed these trash to their chicks. One third of the chicks would die because of indigestion.

This level of devastation was done in a very short time span of some sixty years. Around 1950's, we started to use plastic in a massive scale. In particular, someone came up with the idea of single-use plastic. In 1955, LIFE magazines proudly announced the introduction of the throwaways "that would liberate the housewife from the drudgery of doing dishes" ...

Plastic cannot be bio-degraded, yet we use it for single-use proposes -- throw it away when its short span of usage is over. Come to think about it, isn't this insane? Unfortunately not many people could see through the insanity and we have been abusing on single-use plastic for sixty years.

The next picture was taken not from a third-world country, but from our modern society of Los Angles. Whenever there is a rainstorm, a lot of trash got washed down the drainage system and eventually they come this Ballon Creek outside of LA. People realized this is bad for LA's local beaches and the ocean, so they built a fishing net to trap all the trashes. Notice how a large portion of them are plastic waste.

Sometimes the build up can become so large that it may clog the river. So the fishing net was designed in such a way that it would be allowed to break when overloaded. When that happens, the trash will contaminate the local beaches and then flow into the ocean, together with other trash from other cities.

Over many years, these trash follow the ringlike ocean currents called gyres and flow to some specific location in the ocean. In north Pacific, they eventually accumulated in a Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). . There are some estimates that the size of the garbage patch has already been twice as large as Texas.

The next video is by Captain Charles Moore, who first found the GPGP. Let's hear what he has to say about plastic (7 minutes 21 seconds):

With all the above said, some of you may say "Hey, I have been doing my part and sorting my trash and recycling my plastics. Isn't that good enough?"

And this is the key question of today's discussion -- "Is recycling by itself good enough?"

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the overall recycling rate of plastics in the US is an embarrassing 8%.

Furthermore, EPA has the following to say:

Contrary to common belief, just because a plastic product has the resin number in a triangle, which looks very similar to the recycling symbol, it does not mean it is collected for recycling

The "resin number in a triangle", is technically called the Resin Identification Code. It was introduced by Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), a plastic industry trade association.

The warning from the EPA is very real. For example, in my town, they explicitly say that they will only accept plastics with Resin Identification Code of #1 (PETE) and #2 (HDPE) (and plastic bottles only -- not other plastic waste such as plastic bags). I believe my town is not particularly irresponsible -- plastics outside of #1 and #2 are indeed very difficult to recycle and they are commonly excluded from recycling programs. Other towns may not be so honest and they may just tell you that they "have a recycling program", without telling you the fine print.

So you may say perhaps the other plastics that are not accepted for recycling are just not common. Well ... many single-use plastic products are still being made and used despite the fact that they are not accepted for recycling.

For example, my company's cafeteria offers "free" drinking cups to employees. These cups are made from Polystyrene (Resin Code #6 or PS), which is notoriously difficult to recycle and are not accepted by many recycle programs, including my company's own program. Yet they are offered as free benefits to employees.

My company's building has several thousands employees. Assuming just half of them take these "free" drinking cups, that means our building is throwing away thousands of non-biodegradable, non-recyclable trash cups every day, and for what?! When everyone's desk is just a few minutes away from the cafeteria and they could just bring their own drinking mugs to the cafeteria ! We really need some reflection on our wasteful lifestyle.

How about #1 (PETE), which is accepted by many recycling programs. PETE is the materials used in bottled drinks including bottled water.

Let's review the story of bottle water (8 minutes 4 seconds)

After reviewing the above video, probably you would agree with me that bottled water is a very harmful product to our environment. What is the recycling rate of these water bottles? Just an embarrassing 12 to 23%. Yet many people think it is okay to buy bottled water because "the water bottle will be recycled". I think we should all just avoid buying bottled water. The alternative is readily available -- reusable water bottles and tap water.

Sometimes we feel we HAVE TO buy bottled water, but with a little bit of thoughtfulness, we can easily find a way out. Here is a personal story of mind. Last year (2011) when Hurricane Irene was about to hit my area, everyone said we should stock up some bottled water. I almost fell into the same mental trap, but then I realized that to store drinking water I already have quite a lot of containers at home that are perfectly fit for the purpose. So at the end I did not buy any bottled water yet I was fully prepared for the Hurricane.

Another source of plastic waste is plastic shopping bags. Before we examine its recycling rate, let's first see Chris Jordan's animation, in which he artfully demonstrate the scale of our massive consumption:

First here is a lot of plastic bags.

However, if you zoom out the picture, you can see more plastic bags.

And more, you see an ocean of plastic bags. Yet this is the consumption of plastic bags in the US in just 5 seconds!

And what is the recycling rate for plastic bags? An even more embarrassing rate of 6%. And even worse, of these bags that are collected for recycling, 57% of them actually went to the export market (link), where we don't really know they were really processed for recycling, or they were just going into some landfills or incinerators in these other countries.

Again, we use plastic bags in such a massive scale, with such a low recycling rate, but what for?! When we can just bring our own reusable shopping bags to the supermarket!

Some of my friends told me that they reuse the shopping bags by using them to line their trash bin. This is not a bad idea. However, I still hope that they can reuse 100% of their shopping bags but not just a small portion of them. My experience (when I used to occasionally get some shopping bags especially when I forgot to bring my reusable bags) has been that the "intake" rate of plastic bugs could easily exceed the rate that I could use the shopping bags as trash bags.

Therefore, I propose that, if you do get plastic shopping bags occasionally and intend to use them as trash bags, you should also self-impose a "5-bag rule", which says that if you already have five or more plastic bags in your drawer, then stop taking any more plastic shopping bags until your "inventory" drops below the threshold of five. This rule helps you make sure that all 100% of your plastic shopping bags will eventually be reused as trash bags.

Furthermore, I would like to point out that apart from carryout bags (which we can relatively easily avoid by bringing our own shopping bags), there are also bread bags and produce bags, which are relatively harder to avoid. So, if you need some plastic bags to line your trash bins, have you considered using bread bags and produce bags for that?

The following is a picture of my trash bin and you can see how I used bread bags to line my trash bin. Note how I have to use some clips to fix the bread bag to the edge of my bin, and how I use another outer layer of plastic bag, which I don't change very often, to line the bin to prevent any potential leakage of juice or liquid through the inner bags. This setup might take a little bit of effort to get used to but overall it is still a very tidy solution.

Many people become complacent with our wasteful practice of single-use plastic abuse, because they think "there is a recycling program in place." I encourage them to read the fine print of the recycling programs and become fully aware of their limitations.

I think the concept of recycling is a bittersweet. It may be good if it provides another life to some plastic products that are really necessary. But recycling would be a bad concept if it is used as an excuse to justify the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products, when it just gives us a false sense of security.

I think between Recycling and Reduce, the latter is far more important than the former.

Let me conclude this presentation with the following picture. Someone threw a six-pack ring, which eventually flew into the ocean. And this poor turtle, in its young age, got trapped into the ring. But it could never rid itself of the ring, and as you can see, its other body parts grew but its waist has been restricted from growing any bigger than the ring. As a result, its body has been completed deformed by the ring. I think this picture is good visual aid to remind us that our everyday habit may have a far more severe impact on nature than we think. So let's all think twice before we consume any single-use plastics. Thank you!

* * * The End * * *

Bonus videos (I did not have time to show these two videos, but they are also very good, and I wish you have time to review time also.

2012年6月2日星期六

救救海洋!

(以下是我今天在中文學校的講座《救救海洋》的發言稿。本文也有一個英文版,標題略有不同,但內容大致相同。)

請先看以下片段( 3 分 57 秒)。

片中的中途島 (Midway Atoll) 位於太平洋中心,距離任何一個大陸都有 2,000 哩以上。這麼遙遠,郤也逃不了自私的人類對她的摧殘。海洋上漂浮着人類製造的圾垃,特別是其中的塑膠樽蓋,被信天翁媽媽誤會是食物,飼餵給不懂事的雛島。三分之一的雛島因此死亡,屍體中殘留着的,是人類自私行為的證據!

海洋受到這樣大規模的摧殘,卻原來是只在短短的六十多年間做成的。大約六十多年前,人類開始了大規模的應用塑膠。1955 年 LIFE 雜誌曾驕傲的宣稱『「即用即棄的生活」來臨了,主婦們將可以獲得「解放」,不再受繁重的家務所「勞役」。』這大概是標誌人類瘋狂浪費時代的開始。

塑膠不能被自然降解,郤用來作「即用即棄」的產品,這豈不是在蹂躪大自然嗎?人類豈不是瘋了嗎?!只可惜清醒的人太少了。這樣一下子就過了六十多年。

以下這圖片不是來自第三世界國家,而是來自先進發達的美國的洛杉璣市郊。城市街道上的垃圾,在大雨後被冲進了下水道,最後通過河流來到海邊,被河口的魚網所攔阻,堆積成一片奇景,要勞動清潔工人以挖泥機來清理。

其他没有受到攔阻的圾垃,就流進了大海。受海洋中的自然存在的環流 (Gyre) 的影響,它們慢慢地會被捲進一個巨大的「太平洋垃圾堆」中 (Great Pacific Garbage Patch) 。科學家發現這個垃圾堆,已經有兩個德州這麼大的面積。不可謂不驚人!

以下片段介紹這個巨型垃圾堆的情况( 4 分 22 秒)

各位讀者相信在生活中都有將垃圾分類,方便回收。但這是否足够呢?

根據美國環保署的數字,塑膠廢物的回收率,只有 8%!

很多美國人看到塑膠製品上印着看來像是回收符號的 Resin Identification Code,便以為製品是可回收的,可以放心使用(濫用)。

但美國環保署對市民有以下忠告:

Contrary to common belief, just because a plastic product has the resin number in a triangle, which looks very similar to the recycling symbol, it does not mean it is collected for recycling

事實上,以本人所居住的鎮為例。鎮政府便在其網頁上清楚說明,只接受 Resin Identification Code 中編號為 #1 (PETE) 和 #2 (HDPE) 的兩種塑膠瓶,其他塑膠恕不接受。換言之,即使我盡了我的公民責任,把所有塑膠廢物放在回受桶裏,七種塑膠材料中,只有兩種會回收。

其中一種不回被回收的塑膠,就是發泡膠(Polystyrene) 編號是 #6 (PS)。但在我任職的公司的飯堂,即用即棄的發泡膠杯郤是在飯堂內堆積如山地任由員工『免費使用』!

我每天到飯堂都是自携水杯,拒絕為了幾分鐘的方便而為地球製造一個留存萬年的麻煩。但是環顧四周,很少我的同事會這樣做,令我感到十分心痛。今年我已經决定不再沉默,我向公司有關的部門提出,他們至少應向同事說明,這些免費派發的水杯由不可降解物料所做,對環境有着極大的危害。暫時我仍然在等待他們的回覆之中。。。

至於較常被接受回收的 #1 (PETE) 主要是用來製作水樽(包括樽裝水水樽)的,而 #2 (HDPE) 則被用來製造垃圾膠袋和膠樽如牛奶樽。

但樽裝水也是萬惡的。請看看以下這個短片( 8 分 04 秒)。這短片已經在 YouTube 上被點擊二百三十萬次以上。但當然,這遠不及財雄勢大的樽裝水公司的宣傳力量,所以大家如果看了對其認同的話,可要多多向朋友推介啊!

請大家要儘量避免購買樽裝水。方法其實很簡單,在家就喝自來水,出外就自備一個水壺把自來水帶上。我個人喜歡用不銹鋼造的保溫水壺,裝冷熱水都適宜。

記得去年 (2011)八月 Hurricane Irene 來襲美東,大家都去超市購物防風,我也去買了些餅乾、罐頭等作應變。本來想着也難以避免要買些樽裝水,但細想了一下,要儲存食水其實大可以用家中的各種容器如煲、暖水壺、咖啡壺等。所以,即使是防風,也可以不用買樽裝水的。

塑膠袋 (Resin Id Code #4 LDPE)的遺害也不少。藝術家 Chris Jordan 曾經以此為題材作了一個演示。請先看這一堆膠袋垃圾,很多吧?!

可是,如果您站遠一點,您會看到更多的膠袋垃圾。

再站遠一點,您會看到似乎是無窮無盡的膠袋垃圾。可是,您知道嗎,這看來無窮無盡的膠袋垃圾,只是美國人在五秒鐘內的用量!這能不令人觸目驚心嗎!

#1 (PETE) 已經是較多被接受作回受的塑膠種類,但事實膠水樽在美國的回受率只有大約 12% ,而膠袋垃圾 (#4 LDPE) 的回收率也只有 6%。其中回收來的膠袋中,有 57% 其實是被出口到美國以外的地方,究竟是真正的回受,還是只是把自家的廢物住人家的後院丟,也是十分可疑的。

我強烈建議大家出門購物要自備購物袋。停止繼續再製造這些垃圾。

但您也許會說,我在超市購物所得的購物袋,再用來包家居垃圾,算是重用 (Reuse) 的一種,不算浪費。這也許是對的。但是,我們也要審視有多少比重的購物膠袋是真正的重用了?是全部還是一小部分?

因此,我建議各位如果仍然在接受超市購物袋的(香港已經實施膠袋徵費,因此這情况應該少見了,但在美國這還是很常見),不妨自訂一個『五膠袋法制』,規定自已家中若存有超過五個舊購物袋,即是已經有了足够「庫存」作包家居廢物之用,這時便應停止接受超市購物袋,直至「庫存」跌回低於五個才「解禁」。這樣才可確切保證百分百購物袋有被重用。

其實除了「背心袋」(carryout bags)之外,生活中其實還有「平口袋」(bread bags or produce bags)。比於買一包麵包,可能麵包袋便是用透明平口袋造的。或者在超市買青菜,有不少是預先用透明平口袋包装好的。消費者也無從選擇,被迫要拿一個平口袋。我現在做法便是用這些暫時仍未想到辦法怎樣可以避免的平口袋來裝家居垃圾垃。故此我既不買專用垃圾袋,也不會拿超市背心袋。

注意由於平口袋較細少,垃圾桶體積相應也要較細少。我還要用衣夾來把平口袋固定在垃圾桶邊上。最外層的白色膠袋是某慈善團體不斷不請自來的衣物回收袋,平常並不更換,只是防備平口袋穿洞漏汁而矣。(慈善團體發信不請自來,也是浪費的一種。但我無法制止他們把這些膠袋寄來,只能重用它們。)

平口袋如果乾淨的(比如裝過蕃茄、蘋果、橙等),其實也可重用,也是減少濫用平口袋的好方法。

講了這麼多,也是時候總結一下了。以前講環保有 3R 之說,即是 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle。但現在我對 Recycle 是又愛又恨。它本是一種好的做法,但有更多的時候,它成了一種麻痹人們警惕浪費行為的策略。難怪塑膠業代表組織如 American Chemistry Council 或 Society of Plastics Industry 等對 Recycling 推動不遺餘力。

故此,我希望大家也要有第四個 R 即是 Rethink。我們更需要的是重新醒覺--重新醒覺我們消費行為對環境的影響。最好的其實還是 Reduce 減少無謂的使用。把萬年不化的塑膠,來作一次性的即用即棄產品,是極度不負責任的行為,應該立刻停止。用過一件物品後,能重用 (Reuse) 當然是好。作為最後選擇,回收 (Recycle) 也是無可奈何之選。但這一切都不如從一開始就不用這個選擇。

最後,容我以以下的圖片,為這次演講作結。有人隨手把包装六罐裝 (Six-pack) 啤酒或汽水的膠環丟棄,讓它流落到大海。小海龜不小心被膠環纏在身上,重此無法擺脫它。小海龜日漸長大,腰部郤因為被膠環所束縛而無法長大,身體因此變型。成了對不負責任的人類的控訴!

* * * 完 * * *

後記:在講座中我没有充足時間播這兩段短片,但他們也是非常值得一看的:

2012年2月11日星期六

請捐款支持「全民選特首」

後記: 「3.23民間全民投票」 最後有逾廿二萬人投票,取得空前成功。請參看香港各報章的報導。如明報 (2012/03/25):22萬人公投 逾半白票 唐梁何均不足兩成 學者:新特首難管治

另:港大民研發放「3.23民間全民投票計劃」財務報告( 2012/04/23)




以上非官方圖表由本人製作。數字來自 PopVote.HK 網站。圖表原發表於 Tableau Public



【明報專訊 2012 年 2 月 9 日】香港大學民意研究計劃3月23日(特首選舉前兩天)舉行全民投票選特首,並在未來兩星期在網上籌款,暫定最少要籌得50萬元才會落實計劃。計劃總監鍾庭耀(右)強調今次不是公投,無意挑戰憲制,包括本地法律及《基本法》。

鍾指50萬是他們的籌款下限,若籌得更多款項,或會增加票站數目,但上限為5個;而就今次民間投票計劃不會主動邀請個人、政黨或參選人捐款,但會接受匿名捐贈,市民可瀏覽網址popvote.hk提供聯絡方法。圖左為計劃研究主任馬晉彥。