Time Zones 3 unit 3 audio and video script

Track 3.1

Plastic. It’s everywhere, and it’s not going away.

It takes about 100 years for a plastic bag in the ocean to break down and disappear
completely, and 450 years for a plastic bottle. Plastic is filling our oceans, and it’s killing the
animals in it.
We use plastic all the time. But do we have to? And can we reduce the amount of plastic
waste in the world? Yes, we can, but we have to follow three important rules.
First, we have to reduce. This is the most important rule. We have to buy and use fewer plastic
things and stay away from plastic items we only use once, like straws and plastic bags.
Second, we have to reuse. Don’t throw away plastic yogurt containers—you can reuse them.
They’re great for keeping leftover food, or for growing small plants.
And third, we have to recycle. When we can’t reuse plastic items, we have to recycle them.
We can’t just throw them away with the rest of our trash. We have to separate them and put
them in recycling bins.
There are many ways that we can use less plastic. In some places, stores aren’t allowed to
give plastic bags to customers. They can only give paper or cloth bags that people can reuse.
Think about plastic, and how you can help make a difference. And tell your friends all about
the plastic problem, too.

Track 3.2

STIG: Hey, you brought your own bag!

MING: Of course! I always carry my own bag.
STIG: That’s a good idea. You have to pay for plastic bags now.
MAYA: I think that’s great! Single-use plastics create so much waste.
STIG: They’re difficult to avoid, though. Every time you buy a drink, you need a
plastic straw.
MAYA: That’s not really true. Many places use eco-friendly straws—ones you can
recycle.
MING: And I have a reusable straw that I carry all the time.
MAYA: In some places, stores aren’t allowed to give out plastic straws anymore. I
hope the idea catches on!
Track 3.3

Talking about rules. Using have to, allowed to, and can.

A: You have to bring your own bags to this store.

B: He isn’t allowed to put that in this bin.
C: She can leave her plastic waste here.

A: Do I have to bring my own bag?

B: Yes, you do.
C: No, you don’t.

A: Can I leave my trash here?

B: Yes, you can.
C: No, you can’t.

A: Am I allowed to throw my trash here?

B: Yes, you are.
C: No, you’re not.
No, you aren’t.

Track 3.4

1
ADAM: Are we allowed to park our bikes here?
JOE: No. You have to leave them in the parking lot.
2
JUSTIN: Do I have to turn off my phone?
TAYLOR: No. But you can’t talk on it.
3
MEGAN: Can I use the bike path for running?
WALT: You’re allowed to run on it, but it’s really for bikes.
4
JENNY: Does she have to buy a ticket at the airport?
CARLOS: No, she doesn’t. She can buy one online.
5
FIONA: Are we allowed to work in groups?
CINDY: Yes, we are. We don’t have to work alone.

Track 3.5

1 You have to pay for plastic bags.

2 He has to put it in the correct bin.
3 We have to reduce plastic waste.
4 She has to bring a reusable straw.

Track 3.6

6 Things You Can Do About Plastic

Plastic pollution is a serious problem, and it’s getting worse. Because plastics aren’t
biodegradable, they’ll stay in our oceans for a long time. Scientists are trying to create plastics
that break down quickly, but the best solution for now is to use less plastic. Here are six tips
that can help you:
Stop using plastic bags. Bring your own reusable ones to the store instead. Every year,
people use a trillion plastic bags worldwide. In the United States alone, people use 100 billion
bags annually—that’s almost one per person per day. But in Denmark, people use only four
plastic bags a year! Denmark’s solution? It passed the world’s first bag tax in 1993.
Say “no” to straws. A study revealed that more than 8.3 billion plastic straws cover the
world’s beaches. Americans throw away 500 million plastic straws every day—about 1.5 per
person.
Don’t buy bottled water. Carry a refillable water bottle with you. Around the world, nearly a
million plastic bottles are thrown away every minute. The problem is so bad that in some
places like Bundanoon, Australia, stores aren’t allowed to sell bottled water anymore.
Avoid plastic packaging. Most of the things we buy come in plastic packaging. It’s
everywhere, and some countries like France are trying to ban it. But there are things you can
do, too: buy bar soap instead of liquid soap; buy things in bulk; and avoid fruit or vegetables
packed in plastic.
Recycle what you can. In 2018, the world recycled only 18 percent of its plastic. Europe
recycled about 30 percent, and China recycled 25 percent. But the US only recycled 9 percent
—a drop in the bucket.
Don’t litter. 73 percent of the litter found on the world’s beaches is plastic. The most
common types of plastic litter? Cigarette butts, bottles and bottle caps, food packaging, and
plastic bags.
UNIT 3 REAL WORLD TRAVELING WITHOUT SINGLE-USE
PLASTIC
3.1
Hi. I’m Marie McGrory with National Geographic Travel. Recently, I took a trip to Belize,
and I challenged myself to do it without any single-use plastics. This is how I’m taking
National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic pledge and putting it into action.
Avoiding single use plastics in everyday life is already pretty hard but doing it while you’re
traveling can be even harder. It means you have to avoid things like plastic water bottles, and
those shampoos at hotels, and pretty much anything you can eat at an airport.
Here’s what I chose to bring to replace the single use plastics that I would normally be using.
A reusable grocery bag, bamboo utensils, a glass straw, collapsible Tupperware, bar soap and
bar shampoo, two reusable water bottles, and a Steripen.
There is so much I learned from this experience. But here are four things that I think are really
important.
First thing, you have to ask. “Got a straw on my first night and my last night.” Having a glass
straw is not helpful if you forget to say, “No straw, please.”
Second thing is you have to research the water situation. I couldn’t drink the tap water in
Belize. And I worried that if I couldn’t purify my water, I would end up using dozens of
plastic water bottles. I was so relieved that all of the lodges I stayed in and a lot of restaurants
had purified-water stations.
The third tip is that collapsible Tupperware is definitely underrated. Turns out it was great for
carrying around snacks and grabbing food to go for when I was in a rush.
The last tool tip is you don’t always need tools. You can skip single use plastics without
replacing them, by saying no to an airplane snack, skipping a sample at an ice cream shop, or
asking for a cone instead of a cup.

UNIT 3 VIDEO FIXING THE PLASTIC PROBLEM

3.2
Plastics are everywhere. We use them in all sorts of things. But is this amazing material that
we love so much now becoming a problem? Because plastic is so useful, we make a lot of it.
Since 1950, humans have produced 9.2 billion tons of plastic. That’s the weight of nearly
1,600 pyramids! Much of this plastic becomes trash that never goes away. Single use plastics,
like straws and plastic bags, are the most harmful. They make up about 40% of all plastic
waste. They are often not recycled, and hurt the environment, animals, and communities
around the world.
To fight plastic pollution, we have to change. A great way is to reduce the amount of single
use plastics we use by choosing reusable alternatives. For plastics that already exist, we have
to find other solutions. Some scientists are asking nature for help. Wax worms and meal
worms eat plastics and break them down. Some microbes also help break down plastics more
quickly, from hundreds of years to only a few days.
Manufacturers have to change, too. Some are already using new ingredients from plants to
make biodegradable bio-plastics. These materials are just like plastic, but because they come
from natural ingredients, they can biodegrade. Manufacturers can also use rubber tree latex
instead of plastic. The tree’s latex is very useful. People use it to make many products, such as
rubber gloves and tires.
To solve the world’s plastic problem, we have to look for more natural solutions… like the
rubber tree.