第1526期:The problem with disposable coffee

Millions of us grab a coffee on our way to work. And when we do, it probably comes served in a branded, disposable, cardboard coffee cup. Once the coffee is done, just pop the cup into a recycling bin and forget about it. The cup will be taken away and turned into a new one for you to use again tomorrow. The system works, right?数以百万计的人在上班的路上喝杯咖啡。当我们这样做时，它可能会装在一个品牌的一次性纸板咖啡杯中。咖啡煮好后，只需将杯子放入回收箱即可，然后忘记它。杯子会被拿走，变成一个新的，让你明天再用。系统有效，对吧？There’s a hitch. In the UK, we throw away an estimated 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year. And despite being recyclable in theory, in practice only very few of them are dealt with in a way that makes them sustainable. This makes them a bit of an obstacle. What throws a spanner in the works is the layer of polyethylene that makes the cup waterproof, and the lid, which is most often made of polystyrene. As a result, most of the cups end up in landfill.有一个障碍。在英国，我们每年丢弃大约 25 亿个一次性咖啡杯。尽管理论上是可回收的，但在实践中，只有极少数以可持续的方式处理。这使他们有点障碍。在作品中使用扳手的是使杯子防水的聚乙烯层和通常由聚苯乙烯制成的盖子。结果，大多数杯子最终被填埋。But there are efforts underway to tackle this issue. One company, Biome Bioplastics, has come up with a fully compostable, recyclable cup that uses natural materials, such as potato starch, as waterproofing. Mr Mines, its chief executive, believes that this is the first time bioplastic has been used for disposable cups and lids that have to cope with hot liquid. And they're still fully recyclable.但正在努力解决这个问题。一家名为 Biome Bioplastics 的公司提出了一种完全可堆肥、可回收的杯子，该杯子使用马铃薯淀粉等天然材料作为防水材料。其首席执行官 Mines 先生认为，这是首次将生物塑料用于必须应对高温液体的一次性杯子和盖子。而且它们仍然是完全可回收的。Another feasible solution has been proposed by Frugalpac, who have patented a cup with a lightly-attached plastic lining. This can be easily separated during the recycling and ‘offers a more pragmatic solution' than changing our current recycling habits, says Frugalpac’s founder Martin Myerscough.Frugalpac 提出了另一种可行的解决方案，他们为带有轻微连接塑料衬里的杯子申请了专利。Frugalpac 的创始人 Martin Myerscough 说，这可以在回收过程中轻松分离，并且比改变我们当前的回收习惯“提供更实用的解决方案”。Safia Qureshi says India has provided the inspiration for her solution. She puts forward that we use returnable and reusable cups, which are tracked and collected by her company Cup Club. They will be responsible for collecting, washing and redistributing the clean cups to participating retailers.Safia Qureshi 说印度为她的解决方案提供了灵感。她提出我们使用可回收和可重复使用的杯子，这些杯子由她的公司杯子俱乐部跟踪和收集。他们将负责收集、清洗干净的杯子并将其重新分发给参与的零售商。One final example of lateral thinking comes from Cupffee. This trio from Bulgaria have combined cereals to form a cup which can be eaten once the drink is finished. It is apparently sweet and crisp, can hold a coffee for up to 40 minutes and will biodegrade within weeks.横向思维的最后一个例子来自 Cupffee。这个来自保加利亚的三人组合将谷物组合成一个杯子，一旦喝完就可以食用。它显然又甜又脆，可以容纳长达 40 分钟的咖啡，并且会在数周内生物降解。Whether any of these innovative ideas are a perfect fit for this disposable issue, only time will tell. It’s possible that a more viable solution has yet to be ventured, though it may not be long in coming. All it may require is a little more thinking outside the box… or should that be coffee cup?这些创新想法中的任何一个是否非常适合这个一次性问题，只有时间会证明一切。一个更可行的解决方案可能还没有被冒险，尽管它可能很快就会到来。它可能需要的只是更多地跳出框框思考……还是应该是咖啡杯？词汇表hitch 小问题in theory 理论上obstacle 障碍throw a spanner in the works 从中捣乱，打乱计划tackle 解决，处理issue 问题come up with 提出、想出（主意）feasible 行得通的，可行的propose 提出offer a solution 给出解决方案pragmatic 实用的，重实效的inspiration 灵感put forward 提出（建议、想法等）lateral thinking 横向思维，发散式思维perfect fit 完美的答案viable 可行的，可望成功的venture 冒险去做，大胆尝试thinking outside the box 以新的眼光看问题，跳出传统思维框架

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