商務禮節美語第179期:節能環保 Go Green(1)

公司總裁Tim召集部門經理開會，討論公司可以採取哪些節能環保的措施。

Tim: Good morning folks, thanks for joining us. In light of the recent economic downturn, we thought we should pow-wow some ways we can conserve energy. This is Henry Peterson, a consultant with GreenOffices Inc.

Henry: Hi everyone. As Tim mentioned, not only is saving energy good for the environment, it's also a good way to keep costs that's a win-win situation for everyone. I'm sure some of you have suggestions for ways we could become "greener." Anyone?

總裁Tim說，今天召集大家開會，商量如何節省能源開支。參加會議的還有節能專家Henry Peterson. Henry說，節能既環保，又能減少開支，是雙贏之舉，a win-win situation，辦公室節能有哪些措施呢？

Faith: I think we could easily cut down on "vampire power." Our computers and other electronic devices actually continue to suck power, even when they are switched off.

H: Good one! The online encyclopedia Wikipedia claims that "vampire power" or "standby power" is responsible for using as much as 10% of electricity consumption.

Dana: We could unplug the equipment or put in power strips that can completely turn off power.

T: Just could save 10 or 15 % on our energy bill just by unplugging our computers!

Faith提議削減vampire power吸血鬼功率，又稱standby power，因爲即使電腦關機，只要電源不拔，電腦就會繼續耗電，Dana建議拔掉電源或是採用可以切斷電源的接線板Power strip。

H: And that's just the beginning! You see these lights above us? These use LED bulbs that are 10 times more efficient than the bulbs you are using in the rest of the office.

F: But they're pretty pricey, aren't they?

H: Yes, they cost more, but you'll find that they pay for themselves.

Henry承認，LED燈泡價格確實要貴一些，但是，they pay for themselves非常划算。

D: I've got one that will require a bit of sacrifice. We really don't need to use bottled water for meetings. We could also get rid of paper cups for the water cooler and everyone could use their own mug instead.

F: Ahhh... I love bottled water... but I agree, Dana's idea is certainly more environmentally friendly.

H: Yep. Sometimes going green does require that we change our mindset. It's funny how many of us are very conscientious at home. We recycle and reuse, but when we get to the office, we sometimes become very wasteful.

Dana建議公司取消瓶裝水，不用紙杯子，得到大家的認可。 Henry指出，工作場所節能需要改變思維，change our mindset。