The English Blog

To pee or not to pee

From The Guardian's Gardening Blog:

Have you heard of a "pee bale"? It's the latest measure adopted at the National Trust property Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire to both save water and ensure efficient composting.

As the name suggests, a 3m-long series of straw bales has been installed alongside the compost heaps in the walled gardens so workers (well the male ones anyway) can relieve themselves. Urine has been long-established as a free compost "activator" (aka "liquid gold"), because it's full of nitrogen, but there are other benefits too. Tamzin Phillips, the NT's "compost doctor" is quoted in the press release as saying: "What's so great about the pee bale is that it's using a natural solution to help the garden while saving flushing the loo for only when it's really necessary." Full story >>

WATCH AND LISTEN
• Pee to help make your garden grow (BBC News—brilliant interview with head gardener!)

COMMENTS
1. Apparently, the pee bale is only used outside visitor hours because they don't want to scare the public.
2. Could pee bale be a surprise contender for Word of the Year?

VOCABULARY
To relieve oneself is a polite alternative for pee; but you wouldn't say "I'm going to relieve myself" or "I need to relieve myself" (well, not if you're normal). Urinate is the 'medical' term (but sounds ugly). Wee is more commonly used by children (and women?). Piss is impolite, and would be considered rude by some people. Your safest bet is to say "I need to go to the toilet" or "loo" (in the UK), or "I need to go for a pee" (which still might offend certain squeamish people). Alternatively, you could use a euphemism such as 'I need to spend a penny' (though it's now 30p in London mainline railway stations).

Video: Supermodels Against Climate Change

For some unknown reason, I completely missed the International Day of Climate Action on October 24th. So to make up for that unforgiveable omission, I thought I'd share this with you—strictly in the interests of saving the planet, you understand. (Click through to see the HD version. It's worth it.)

Cartoon: The Cow That Farted

This cartoon by Steve Bell in The Guardian relates to the story about meat eating and climate change. Actually, it seems like the story is just an excuse for the cartoonist to use an old joke to create a surreal and funny image. The cartoon shows Queen Victoria at a banquet surrounded by assorted aristocrats. A cow is seated opposite her. The man sitting next to the queen (Prince Albert?), says to the owner of the cow, "Dammit, man! Your cow just farted in front of Her Majesty!!" The latter replies, "I'm sorry! I had no idea it was her turn!"

EXPLANATION
The original version of the joke goes something like this:

Outraged host: "Dammit man, you've just farted in front of my wife."
Defaulting guest: "I do apologise, my dear fellow, I didn't realise it was her turn."

The joke hinges on the double meaning of "in front of", which can mean "in the presence of" or "before in time". The host means the former, while the guest takes it as meaning the latter.

VOCABULARY
1. Dammit is another way of writing Damn it—an impolite expression of annoyance.
2. Fart is a rude/impolite/informal word which describes the action of passing (or breaking) wind (aka flatulence). Fart is also a noun. As one might expect, there are a lot of jokes about farts and farting!

FOOTNOTE
This (probably apocryphal) story about Queen Elizabeth I provides an interesting footnote to the cartoon.

Video: Go Vegetarian, Save The Planet

According to a leading authority on global warming, going vegetarian would have a positive impact on climate change. ITN's Rags Martel reports.

COMMENT
I've been having problems with the new CNN video embedding system. Please let me know if you are unable to view this video. If so, here's a direct link.

LESSON IDEA
Lord Stern's proposal has created a lot of debate in the press. Get your students to research the arguments for and against eating meat and hold a debate with the motion "This house believes that people should give up eating meat to halt climate change."

Words in the News: Give Up

The Times reports that a leading expert on climate change has urged people to become vegetarian in order to prevent global warming. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If you give up something, you stop doing it or having it. • “Giving up smoking is easy,” Mark Twain said. “I've done it hundreds of times.”

Climate Change Ad Controversy

According to the Guardian, the advertising regulator has received more than 200 complaints that the UK government's latest TV campaign on climate change, launched last Friday, is misleading:

Some have argued that there is no scientific evidence of climate change; others claim there is a division of scientific opinion on this issue and therefore the ad should not have attributed global warming to human activity.

Another complaint was that the ad, which features a father telling his daughter a scary bedtime story about climate change, is inappropriate to be seen by children because it is "upsetting and scaremongering".

The ASA is assessing the complaints and will make a decision on whether to launch an investigation in due course. Full story >>

COMMENT
An excellent video for introducing a classroom discussion about climate change/global warming. Find out more about this topic on the governments ACT ON CO2 website.

LESSON IDEA
Get students to write a letter to the Advertising Standards Authority or a company complaining about an ad they have seen. I got my student to write a letter in pairs to Ford complaining about this ad. They then exchanged letters with another pair and had to write an answer.

Cartoon: Happy 60th Birthday, China

China is celebrating six decades of Communist Party rule. This cartoon by Peter Brookes from The Times shows a birthday cake with the inscription "Happy CO₂th Birthday, People's Republic of China". Instead of candles, the cake is topped with smoking chimney stacks.

COMMENTARY
The cartoonist is drawing attention to the fact that China is the world's biggest carbon polluter in terms of total emissions (though its per capita emissions are far below that of the United States). The 60 has been changed into CO₂, the chemical formula for carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The smoking chimneys speak for themselves.

Video: Bottled Water Banned In Australian Town

Sky's Ian Woods reports on the Australian town which has taken a step back in time and banned bottled water, in favour of a greener alternative.

 

ARTICLE
• Australian town bans bottled water (The Guardian)

COMMENT
I'm surprised they haven't got the beer on tap—this is Australia after all! 

Video: China Makes Pledge On Global Warming

China, the world's biggest polluter, has vowed a significant cut in CO2 emissions by 2020. It made the pledge at the climate change summit in New York from where Sky's Environment correspondent Catherine Jacob sent this report.

Words in the News: Treaty

The Independent leads with another unlikely champion for the climate change treaty, saying Beijing is ready to cut its emissions. Full story >> 

VOCABULARY
A treaty is a written agreement between countries in which they agree to do a particular thing to help each other. • A group of 91 countries reached an agreement Tuesday on a UN-backed treaty that aims to leave those engaged in illegal fishing without a safe haven.

10:10 Climate Change Campaign

The 10:10 climate change campaign was launched yesterday. The aim of the campaign is to get individuals, companies and institutions to reduce their carbon footprints by 10% during 2010. You can find out more on the official website. The Guardian newspaper, which is supporting the campaign, has an impressive amount of coverage, including videos and photo galleries.

LESSON IDEA
Get students to sign up for the campaign and do their bit to save the planet.

Cartoon: Death of a Lightbulb

Today's cartoon by Andy Davey in the Sun relates to the EU's plan to replace traditional incandescent lightbulbs with more energy-efficient alternatives in a bid to help lower greenhouse gases. As a first step, the manufacture and import of 100-watt clear bulbs will cease in September.

The cartoon shows the funeral of a traditional 100-watt incandescent lightbulb. The funeral procession is heading for the recycling facility (as opposed to the cemetery). The 'coffin' (actually a cardboard lightbulb package) is being carried by four of the new 'compact flourescent' bulbs wearing black undertaker hats. The people lining the street bow their heads in respect and the road is strewn with roses. A sad day indeed. 

COMMENT
The EU's decision to phase out traditional lightbulbs is controversial. Some people say the new eco-bulbs cause migraines and skin problems. Others complain that they are too expensive and criticise the quality of the light they provide. Predictably, people have been hoarding the old bulbs. I suppose we will get used to the new bulbs and the technology will improve, but I for one will miss the classic old-fashioned 100-watt bulb (don't worry, I've got a few in store).

Video: Bulb Ban 'May Not Be A Bright Idea'

Some of the most popular types of lightbulbs are to be phased out across Europe from this week in an attempt to improve energy efficiency in the home. But not everyone thinks the move is a bright idea - as Emma Birchley now reports.

 

SCRIPT
REPORTER : Demand for 100-watt bulbs has been so great at Roger King’s hardware store in Hampton Hill that he’s almost sold out. Customers, he says, have been stockpiling them in tens and twenties while they still have the chance. Soon the only ones available will be the pricier, low-energy variety.
ROGER KING: They don’t like being told what to do, for a start. Many of them don’t feel that it’s actually going to help the situation of energy conservation. Many are concerned that they are not going to be able to see properly with the new type of light because it rapidly diminishes in effectiveness.
REPORTER: But from Tuesday it’ll be illegal to import most traditional-style lightbulbs and once wholesalers' current stocks are gone, that’s that.
MAN: There’s no time limit on when people have to replace their bulbs but the question will be: Why wouldn’t you? They save you money, they save energy, they could save a million tons of CO2, which is the equivalent of taking 70,000 cars off the road. There’s no reason not to.
REPORTER: Lighting makes up around a fifth of the cost of our electricity bills. But low-energy bulbs use up to 80% less electricity than standard bulbs, are said to last around ten times longer and save as much as £40 each before they need replacing. B&Q has seen a significant increase in sales since the beginning of the year. It’s about to double the range it sells. The ban means it won’t be long before all frosted and pearl lightbulbs like this disappear from shop shelves altogether. It’s also your last chance to buy 100-watt clear lightbulbs. Lower wattage versions will be around for a while, but they are being phased out by 2012. But despite evidence that the new bulbs are safe, as bright as conventional bulbs and worth the price, not everyone is convinced.
CUSTOMER 1: You know, the Big Brother attitude, everybody trying to tell each other what they should and shouldn’t be doing, and the message hasn’t really got out there, to be honest.
CUSTOMER 2: There are a lot of people who are very selfish and just think about their lifetime but we’ve got to think about our children and their children’s children.
CUSTOMER 3: The bulb seemed to be very long and stuck up above my lampshade and looked a bit peculiar, and I bought some once that had a very cold light. I didn’t like that, but if those problems are sorted out, then I’m happy with it.
REPORTER: The range is larger these days, and while some bulbs are a strange shape, many look more conventional. But there’s no denying they’re expensive. Sceptical shoppers will just have to swallow the cost and accept that maybe it’s a price worth paying to save the planet. Emma Birchley, Sky News. 

READ ALSO
• Making it illegal to sell 100-watt light bulbs is simply dimwitted (MailOnline)

Toxic Seaweed Blights French Beaches

As if swine flu wasn't enough, The Times reports that we are now at risk from toxic seaweed.

Holidaymakers have been told to keep away from beaches in northern France covered in seaweed after doctors gave warning that it could give off lethal fumes when it rots.

A stretch of beach had to be closed after a horse rider lost consciousness as a result of the putrefying algae. His horse was killed. Local residents have also been treated in hospital.

The incident was in Brittany, where green seaweed is spreading across the region’s beaches as nitrates pollute the water supply as a result of intensive agriculture.

Scientists say that as the seaweed — known locally as sea lettuce — decomposes, it forms an impermeable white crust under which hydrogen sulphide accumulates. When the crust is broken, the gas is released. Full story >>

Video: Gap And Levi Act Over Pollution Claims

Clothing brands Gap and Levi Strauss are taking urgent action after a Sunday Times investigation revealed their manufacturing operations were blamed for causing pollution in the African state of Lesotho. Sky's Africa correspondent Emma Hurd reports.

ARTICLES
• African dream turns sour for orphan army (TimesOnline)
• Clothing Giants Promise Action On Toxic Waste (Sky News)