世．界．之•窗－Pay as You Trash 韓國丟棄食物要付費

工商時報【Nikki Lu】 閱讀暖身糧食浪費近年來引發世界關注，全世界每年產出的食物有三分之一遭到浪費，卻有七億人口面臨飢餓問題，處理浪費糧食也耗費高昂金額與環境代價。一些國家開始積極面對糧食浪費，法國規定超市須將未賣出食物捐給慈善團體，在韓國，政府則要求丟棄食物要按重量付費。進入本文前，請先想想以下單字怎麼說：A.過度的 B.瀝乾 C.高達（數字、金額） In a bid to control the nation's growing problem with food wastage, the South Korean government has started a unique initiative ─ "Pay as You Trash". Residents are required to separate their food waste from the rest of their trash and dump it separately in a centralised bin. And in order to access the bin, they actually need to pay by the kilo. 韓國政府實施了一項獨特措施─「丟棄食物者付費」，以控制國內惡化的食物浪費問題。民眾必須將垃圾中的食物區分出來，丟置到集中垃圾箱。而使用這個垃圾箱，可是得按垃圾重量付費的。 Even before the pay-by-weight system was introduced, South Koreans were still being charged for food waste ─ the cost was simply divided equally among the tenants of each apartment block. The new system is not only fair, but is also designed to make consumers really (1) feel the pinch of (A) excessive waste. The more food they (2) toss out, the more they end up paying. 秤重收費系統啟動前，韓國人也必須為食物垃圾付費，費用由社區住戶平均分攤。而系統不只更公平，它的設計也讓浪費食物的消費者感到吃不消。丟掉越多食物，就要付越多。 And it's working ─ residents like Seoul housewife Ms. Kwan are now adopting innovative methods to avoid food waste. She makes sure to (B) strain all the liquid out of leftover food before throwing it away. She also separates fresh produce and other food items into smaller portions so that only the required amount of ingredients are used per meal. While prepping vegetables, she tries to make use of as much of the edible parts as possible, in an effort to minimize waste. 這項措施確實奏效了，權太太是首爾的家庭主婦，像她這樣的居民藉著創新的方法避免食物浪費。把廚餘丟掉前，她一定把水分瀝乾。同時她也將食材分成小份，這樣一來每餐只會用到所需份量。而準備蔬菜時，可食用部分都會盡可能留下，以將食物浪費減到最低。 "People used to buy a lot of food and throw away leftovers without much care," said Yu Gwang Mo, a government official from Seoul's Mapo district. "After realising they have to pay for how much they throw, they have started to control their food purchase." 「人們過去會買大量食物，輕易丟棄剩菜，」首爾麻浦區的政府官員Yu Gwang Mo說。「知道丟棄的食物都要付費後，就開始控制食物購買量。」 Restaurants and other food-based businesses are also actively trying to reduce their pay-by-weight disposal bill, by having their own food waste processor ─ a machine that converts food scraps into dried powder that can be used as fertilizer. Some restaurants are actively trying to reduce the amount of food they waste by donating leftovers to the poor and hungry. 餐廳與其他食品行業也積極嘗試透過食物處理機，降低食物垃圾的帳單數字─處理機可以將廚餘轉變為脫水乾粉，做為肥料。一些餐廳也將剩餘食物捐給貧困、飢餓者，以減少浪費。 According to official surveys, food waste in South Korea accounts for 28 percent of total waste by volume. 30 percent of this comes from leftovers, while 5 percent of the wasted food is thrown away uneaten. In smaller restaurants, leftovers account for 68 percent of all food wasted. Disposal of this kind of waste costs the government a (C) whopping 800 billion won per year. Through various initiatives such as "Pay as You Trash", the government has managed to cut food waste from 5.1 million tons in 2008 to 4.82 million tons in 2014. 官方調查顯示，韓國食物垃圾中，食物佔了28％。其中30％是廚餘，而5％是完全未食用的食物。小型餐廳中的食物垃圾中，剩菜佔了68％。處理這類垃圾每年花費政府8,000億韓元。 透過「丟棄食物者付費」等各項措施，韓國政府將食物垃圾從2008年的510萬噸降至2014年的482萬噸。 世界公民，這是商業英語的last mile！ 很多人都說，英文好薪水會加倍，可以換到外商工作、可以更輕鬆溝通……英文確實可以為你做很多很多事，但是，它能為你的人生帶來的最大祝福是：找回失去的自信、耐心、膽量……還有，花了二十年還在跟英文纏鬥的人。人生不要一輩子都在跟英文纏鬥吧，要嘛放棄它不要有罪惡感，要不就征服它帶來成就感，英文學習的最後一站，報名電話（台北）02-27215033、（新竹）03-5782199，www.core-corner.com。