|
══════════════════【立報】═══════════════════ |
| 教 育 專 題 深 入 報 導《2004-04-23》 |
| 本期內容 | |
| ◎ 國際專題 世界地球日 | |
| 國際專題 世界地球日 | |
| 策劃、編譯■賴明芝 | |
|
咖啡渣當肥料 西雅圖花圃洋溢咖啡香 在星巴克總部所在地的西雅圖，連花圃聞起來都有咖啡香！這咁是真的？ 沒錯，走在西雅圖的街道上，不用懷疑，身旁剛剛經過的花圃，確實傳來了一股咖啡香。這是因為星巴克這個世界上最大的連鎖咖啡館，在西雅圖當地推行一個叫做「給你的花圃吃咖啡渣」（Grounds For Your Garden）的活動。根據這項活動，星巴克可以將咖啡渣回收再利用，使之成為堆肥的材料，並同時減少咖啡店裡頭的垃圾量。 星巴克號召北美地區的顧客加入這項計畫，表面上好像是幫星巴克清理垃圾筒，但實際上，卻是把咖啡渣搬回自家的花圃內製作成肥料，給家裡頭的植物增添養分。據了解，咖啡渣佔星巴克店內的垃圾量17％，以重量而言，也有40％的分量，數量相當可觀。 星巴克總部負責環境事務的經理班珮考特表示，該公司仍舊認為，「給你的花圃吃咖啡渣」這項計畫具有無限的潛力和好處。事實上，該計畫在西雅圖特別受到歡迎，由於當地氣候溫和潮濕，使得咖啡渣在堆肥方面的效果奇佳，華盛頓州420家星巴克的門市，幾乎都可以看到瘋狂熱衷於非化學肥料的園丁在向服務生討咖啡渣。 一直標榜環保取向的星巴克特地選在「地球日」的前一天為這項活動宣傳，顯然是希望能夠加強該公司在這方面的形象。事實上，星巴克決定擴大這項計畫，未來一個月，北美4千多家星巴克咖啡店，都可以索取每袋5磅裝的咖啡渣。珮考特開玩笑地說：「星巴克會免費贈送的東西可不多！」 至於拿咖啡渣當肥料的效果，究竟如何呢？由於咖啡豆屬於酸性，可能對某些植物會產生傷害，但對於常綠植物或是杜鵑花來說，卻有相當的好處。在堆肥和空氣、碳與水相互發生作用的時候，咖啡渣所釋放出來的氮是重要的成分。 坊間流傳一種說法，就是，以咖啡渣做為盆栽肥料，並不需要進行曬乾的程序，植物栽培者只需要把放涼的咖啡渣倒在盆栽上就可以了。但實際上，想要把咖啡渣當成植物的肥料，還是要經過發酵的手續比較好，此時如果再加上豆渣、雞糞或是米糠，這種厭氧性堆肥法的效果會更好。 基本上，星巴克並不會提供咖啡渣給客人，但是如果消費者主動要求的話，還是會免費供應。「給你的花圃吃咖啡渣」這項活動曝光程度較高的地方，還是在星巴克總部所在地西雅圖。台灣這方面的風聲並沒有太多，大概只有「熟客」曉得可以向店內的夥伴免費索取咖啡渣！ In Starbucks Corp.'s hometown of Seattle, even the flower beds smell like coffee, the result of a popular program to hand out spent grounds to gardeners as a nitrogen-rich mulch or compost. Under the plan, dubbed "Grounds For Your Garden," the world's largest coffee shop chain cuts its trash bill by enlisting customers to haul off a chunk of its garbage and earns praise from environmentalists for creating chemical-free fertilizer. "We continue to see a tremendous amount of interest in this particular program," Ben Packard, Starbucks director of environmental affairs, told Reuters in a recent interview. "We don't give away a lot of free things in our stores." Starbucks has handed out coffee grounds for years, but only when customers asked for it. Now in a nod toward Earth Day on April 22, Starbucks has mounted a major push, setting out five-pound bags of grounds in bins at its approximately 4,000 North American company-owned cafes. Coffee grounds make up 17 percent of Starbucks' store waste by volume or 40 percent by weight. The company has not calculated how much it saves on its trash bill through the program, but says about 25 percent of its stores had been participating. The program is especially popular in Seattle, where the mild, wet climate supports fanatical, year-round gardeners including many who shun chemicals and pass by a Starbucks store -- there are 420 in Washington state -- every few blocks. In addition, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Massachusetts and parts of Florida have similar support for recycling and have embraced grounds composting. People in colder cities show less interest, though Starbucks will reassess the demand after the current month-long promotion ends. Just how good is coffee for your garden? "It's a good way to increase good organic matter in your compost. You can use also it as a mulch with one or two inches to hold in moisture and keep weeds down," said Spencer Orman, a "master composter" who works with the organic gardening group Seattle Tilth. Coffee is acidic, which can harm some plants but benefits others like evergreens and rhododendrons. The nitrogen it releases is a key ingredient in composting along with carbon, water and air. Orman remembers Starbucks dumping a truckload of grounds at a community garden four years ago, where its fine texture helps it break down quickly. It also is particularly attractive to worms, which turn organic material into compost by eating it, and then excreting it. "I have had good results and worms love it," Orman said. Do worms, like people, get the same caffeine buzz that has addicted millions of humans? "That hasn't been documented, but I wouldn't doubt it," Orman said. 放任企業掠奪自然 布希環保政策遭抨擊 即將在年底舉行總統大選的美國政壇，日前也因為「422地球日」而有新的戰況。民主黨總統候選人凱利抨擊現任總統布希在生態環境方面，大玩骯髒污穢的手段。 凱利在陽光耀眼的佛羅里達州坦帕灣市對支持者表示，現任總統布希根本在唬弄民眾，因為布希並不把環保當成重要的政治議題，他只是在虛應故事而已。2001年，剛剛上任的美國總統布希，在加拿大魁北克參加美洲高峰會時，曾發表地球日演說，內容中他強調，美國在保護天然資源方面仍需要更加努力。2002年，他重申，美國政府將尋求用強制手段對大氣污染物進行治理。2003年，全美各大環保組織的領導人卻在華盛頓特區召開地球日聯合記者會，抗議布希政府放任企業利益掠奪國家自然資源。 實際的情況是，布希在上任後，隨即否決前柯林頓政府所支持的京都議定書，環保人士認為，布希此舉意味著對能源使用採不限制的態度，如此一來，全球的溫室效應將變得更嚴重。相形之下，民主黨的總統候選人凱利鼓勵再生資源，並且透過節省能約來抑制油價的訴求，則較能夠獲得環保人士的支持。 一份由凱利的競選陣營所公佈的報告宣稱，布希政府的生態環境紀錄導致2千1百萬噸的空氣污染，1萬名早產兒死亡和11萬2千個未處理乾淨的有毒工業廢物地點，此外，由於遭到嚴重的污染，不少河流和湖泊都無法讓人在裡頭游泳，而魚兒也無法生存於其中。 凱利強調，美國人民不必在就業和環保之間做出抉擇，兩者是可以共存的。面對支持群眾，凱利表示，在環境保護方面，他可以做的比現任總統更好，讓美國的河川和海灣能夠維持清澈的狀態。 Democratic challenger John Kerry accused President Bush on Tuesday of "playing dirty" on the environment, a new line of attack on an issue that ranks low among most voters' priorities. As two new polls showed Bush's numbers climbing despite several tough weeks in Iraq, controversial testimony from the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and revelations about the war in two new books, Kerry launched a three-day, three-state campaign swing focusing on the environment. "In three short years, this president has put the brakes on 30 years of environmental progress," Kerry told supporters gathered on the sun-splashed shores of Tampa Bay. "He thinks that empty slogans like the 'Clear Skies' initiative and the 'Healthy Forest' initiative -- that somehow names that would make George Orwell rise up and cheer -- that those names will make people forget what is really happening in our country." Almost on cue, a dolphin slipped through the water. "There he is over there," Kerry said. "He says, 'help, help, help."' A report released by the Kerry campaign claimed that Bush's environmental record had resulted in 21 million more tons of air pollution, 100,00 premature deaths, 112,000 uncleaned toxic waste sites and lakes and streams that were too polluted for fishing or swimming. "We all know when it comes to this administration and the environment, they're playing dirty," Kerry said. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee dismissed the argument that a clean environment and a strong economy were mutually exclusive. "We don't have to choose between having a job and protecting the environment," he said. "It can go hand-in-hand." Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt dismissed Kerry's remarks, say the Democratic candidate's "false attacks on the president's strong environmental record are purely political and ignore the progress that has been made under President Bush." NOT A MAJOR POLITICAL CONCERN In pressing clean water and clean air issues in Florida on Tuesday, Louisiana on Wednesday and then marking Earth Day in Texas on Thursday, the four-term Massachusetts senator risks providing ammunition for Republicans to paint him as a liberal, environmental extremist. During the 2000 White House election, Democrat Al Gore, whose political career was built to a great degree on his passion for the environment, did not make it a major part of his campaign. Polls show that the economy, health care, the Iraq war and homeland security rank much higher on voters' lists. "We need to recognize that being responsible about the environment is not some cuckoo, do-gooder, silly notion that you embrace once a year on Earth Day," Kerry said. "It's important to life itself." He offered a plan to keep oceans healthy and beaches safe that included unspecified new protections for the shoreline, targeting toxics that contaminate fisheries and endanger public health, and creating federal-state partnerships to address pollution threats. "We are going to do better than this president," Kerry said. "We are going to protect our rivers and our bays and our oceans because we want our children to enjoy them." "We don't want them to get sick because George Bush and (Vice President) Dick Cheney think their friends at the energy companies deserve to make a buck at the expense of our kids' health, our kids' future," Kerry said. Kerry said he supported oil drilling, but insisted there was no way the United States could drill its way out of dependence on foreign energy from places like Saudi Arabia. |
|
| （回目錄） | |
|
參觀立報： |
http://www.lihpao.com |
|
寫信給小編 e-mail： |
fiveguys@ms19.hinet.net |
|
立報地址： |
台北縣新店市復興路43號一樓 |