日政府呼籲民衆早睡早起 減少碳排放

The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions.

The Morning Challenge campaign, unveiled by the Environment Ministry, is based on the premise that swapping late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could significantly cut the nation'scarbon footprint.

A typical family can reduce its carbon dioxide footprint by 85kg a year if everyone goes to bed and gets up one hour earlier, according to the campaign.

The amount of carbon dioxide emissions potentially saved from going to bed an hour early was the equivalent of 20 percent of annual emissions from household lights, "Many Japanese people waste electric power at night time, for example by watching TV until very late," a ministry spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph.

"But going to bed early and getting up early can avoid wasting electrical power which causes carbon dioxide emissions. If people change their lifestyle, we can save energy and reduce emissions." The campaign also proposes that people take advantage of an extra hour of morning sunlight by improving their lifestyles in general by running, doing yoga and eating a nutritious breakfast.

It is the latest initiative tackling climate change by the Japanese environment ministry, which is faced with the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25 per cent from 1990 levels within the next decade.

It was the same government department that launched the high profile Cool Biz campaign five years ago, which encourages workers to wear short-sleeved shirts and offices not to turn air con lower than 28 degrees during the summer.

日本政府日前發起一項宣傳活動，鼓勵人們早睡早起，以減少家庭的二氧化碳排放量。

這項由日本環境部開展的名爲“清晨的挑戰”的宣傳活動的依據是：早睡早起一小時可大大減少日本的碳足跡。

該活動稱，如果每人每天早睡早起一個小時，那麼一個家庭一年可減少二氧化碳排放量85千克。

這相當於一個家庭一年用電所產生的碳排放量的20%。日本環境部一名發言人告訴《每日電訊報》說：“很多日本人晚上用電都很厲害，比如看電視看到很晚。”

“但是早睡早起可以避免電能的浪費，從而減少二氧化碳排放。如果人們都能改變生活方式，我們就能節約能源，減少碳排放。”這一宣傳活動還倡議人們利用早起的一小時全面改善生活方式，比如跑步、做瑜伽、吃頓營養早餐等等。

這是日本環境部爲應對氣候變化推行的一項最新舉措。日本目前正面臨在未來十年內將二氧化碳排放量在1990年的基礎上減少25%的挑戰。

日本環境部在五年前發起了一項聲勢浩大的“清涼商務”運動，該活動鼓勵員工夏季上班時穿短袖襯衫，辦公室的空調溫度不低於28度。

Vocabulary:

tackle: to make a determined effort to deal with a difficult problem or situation 應付，處理，解決（難題或局面）

significantly: in a way that is large or important enough to have an effect on something or to be noticed 有重大意義地；顯著地；明顯地

high profile: attracts a lot of attention or publicity 高調的