《中英對照讀新聞》New Zealand to ban plastic shopping bags from next year － 紐西蘭明年起將禁用塑膠購物袋

◎魏國金

New Zealand announced it will ban disposable plastic shopping bags by next July as the nation tries to live up to its clean-and-green image.

紐西蘭宣布，明年7月將禁用一次性塑膠購物袋，因為這個國家努力不辜負其乾淨且環保的形象。

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealanders use hundreds of millions of the bags each year and that some of them end up polluting precious coastal and marine waterways.

總理阿爾登說，紐西蘭人每年使用數億個袋子，結果其中有些污染了珍貴的海岸與海運航道。

A number of countries and states have introduced bans or restrictions on single-use plastic bags, including France, Belgium, Hawaii and California. But a major supermarket chain in Australia changed course several times this year after customers got angry about its plans to start charging shoppers for bags. Under its latest plan, customers at Coles stores will start paying for bags on Aug. 29.

許多國家與州政府已禁止或限制單次使用的塑膠袋，包括法國、比利時、夏威夷與加州等。不過，由於開始向消費者收取塑膠袋費用的計畫引發顧客不滿，澳洲一家大型連鎖超市今年數度改變措施。根據其最新計畫，科爾斯超市的消費者將從8月29日開始支付塑膠袋費用。

In New Zealand, a host on a radio station was hoping to start a consumer crusade to keep the bags after being inspired by what happened at Coles. Heather du Plessis-Allan told listeners on Newstalk ZB that plastic bags were a great invention.

在紐西蘭，一名電台主持人受到科爾斯事件的啟發，希望發動一場保住塑膠袋的消費者運動。希瑟．杜．普萊西斯—艾倫告訴Newstalk ZB電台的聽眾，塑膠袋是很棒的發明。

However, New Zealand’s Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage said that in New Zealand, the government was taking the lead so that all retailers could make the move fairly and at the same time.

不過，紐西蘭環境部副部長薩齊說，在紐西蘭，政府身先士卒，因此所有零售業者都可以正當且同時採取行動。

《新聞辭典》

disposable：用過即丟、一次性使用。例句：We should seek to reduce the use of disposable chopsticks.（我們應試圖減少免洗筷的使用。）

live up to：符合、不辜負。例句：The new house didn’t live up to her expectations.（這棟新房子不符合她的期待。）

take the lead：佔主要地位、帶頭、領先。例句：The EU took the lead in negotiating the peace deal.（歐盟在該和平協議的談判中佔主要地位。）