爲了勸人們少用塑料袋 這位雜貨店主給塑料袋印上尷尬字眼

爲了減少白色污染，現在多數商店都對塑料袋收費，雖然人們嫌塑料袋太貴，但還是懶得自備環保袋。於是，加拿大溫哥華一家雜貨店的店主想出了一個奇招：給塑料袋印上讓人尷尬的文字，結果如何呢？

If concern over the climate crisis or revulsion over the contamination of the food chain are not enough to change consumer behavior, one grocery store is hoping that another emotion may persuade people to shun single-use plastic bags: shame.

如果對氣候危機的擔憂或對食物鏈污染的厭惡還不足以改變消費者行爲，一家雜貨店希望另一種情感可以說服人們避免使用一次性塑料袋——羞恥感。

Customers who don’t bring their own bags to the East West Market in Vancouver will instead have to carry their grocery home in bags reading “Wart Ointment Wholesale” or “Into the Weird Adult Video Emporium”.

在溫哥華的東西商店，如果顧客不自己帶包來裝東西，就必須用印有“去疣藥膏批發”或“詭異成人視頻商店”等文字的塑料袋將食品雜貨裝回家。

David Lee Kwen, the shop’s owner, insisted that the plan wasn’t to embarrass customers. “We wanted to give them something humorous, but also something that made them think at the same time,” he told the Guardian. “It’s human nature not to want to be told what to do.”

這家雜貨店的店主戴維·李·克文堅稱，這一計劃不是爲了讓顧客尷尬。他告訴《衛報》說：“我們想用一種幽默的方式讓顧客思考。不喜歡聽人說教是人的本性。”

Kwen initially hoped that a fee on single-use bags would discourage their use. But when the five-cent a bag charge failed to stop people using plastic, he tried a different approach.

克文最初希望對一次性袋子收費可以阻止顧客使用。然而，當5分/只的收費沒能奏效後，他嘗試了一個不同的方法。

The bags are meant to force customers to think twice about consumption habits. In a social media post, the store points out that millions of plastic bags are used once before being discarded – and are part of growing problem of plastic waste.

這些袋子是爲了迫使顧客好好思考一下自己的消費習慣。在社交媒體上的一個帖子裏，這家商店指出，數百萬的塑料袋都是隻用了一次就被丟棄，助長了日益嚴重的塑料垃圾問題。

Like countries around the world, Canada is grappling with a deluge of plastics which cannot be recycled and instead end up in landfills.

和世界各國一樣，加拿大也在努力應對氾濫成災的無法回收塑料垃圾，這些塑料最後只能被送去垃圾填埋場。

Earlier this week, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, announced plans to ban single-use plastics in 2021, including grocery bags, plastic cutlery and straws.

本週早些時候，加拿大總理賈斯廷·特魯多宣佈將從2021年開始禁用一次性塑料製品，包括購物袋、塑料餐具和吸管。

cutlery['kʌtləri]: n. 餐具

Kwen admits there may have been an unintended consequence to the bags: “Some of the customers want to collect them because they love the idea of it,” he said. But he still believes the plan is working. “Even if you have the bag, you have to explain its origin to your friends. And then, we’ve started a conversation.”

克文承認，也許會出現意想不到的結果，他說：“一些顧客想收集這些袋子，因爲他們喜歡這個創意。”但他仍然認爲這個計劃是有效的。“即使你拿了這個袋子，你也要向朋友解釋它是從哪來的。然後，對話就開始了。”

The bags, which Kwen has run in limited numbers of 1,000, cost customers five cents. It costs extra for him to print the newly designed bags so he’s hopeful customers instead opt to bring in their own.

這些袋子限量1000只，單價5分錢。克文還額外花錢來印刷新設計的袋子，希望顧客能因此選擇自備袋子。

In the meantime, he plans to transfer the images on the plastic bags to canvas bags. “We wanted to address an issue, but we’ve also made something popular, so it’s turned out great.”

與此同時，他計劃把塑料袋上的圖樣轉移到帆布袋上。“我們想解決一個問題，但我們也做出了一些受歡迎的東西，所以結果還不錯。”