10 Ways to Save the Planet in polish

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Lesson Transcript

Hello everybody, this is Marzena.

Welcome to Polish Top Words.

Today we will learn ten ways to save the planet in Polish.

So here we go.

utylizować

to recycle

So our first word is utylizować.

utylizować, or to recycle.

So for example, you can say: "Czy u was się utylizuje śmieci?"

Czy u was się utylizuje śmieci?

Do you recycle at home?

Exactly.

Do you recycle at home?

Um, I guess if you recycle or not, it really depends on the country.

And then even in the country.

Within the country, it depends on the household.

Uh, we do recycle in Poland, though it's not, uh, like every day.

There are like special recycle bins,

so people usually separate garbage and then they take it out

every now and then.

And I guess as everywhere else, there are people who do it and then people who don't.

There is no special fines or anything for people who,

who are not doing it, though I guess a lot of people try to,

uh, 'cause it's just easier.

There are those big rec- big recycle bins and you can go and

throw your garbage anytime you want.

And if you recycle, then there is less garbage at your house as well.

So I, I guess that's, that's something easy to do.

wolontariusz

volunteer

And our next word is wolontariusz.

wolontariusz

Wolontariusz means volunteer.

And for example, you can say: "Potrzebujemy więcej wolontariuszy."

Potrzebujemy więcej wolontariuszy.

We need more volunteers.

As you may already noticed, first of all,

wolontariusz comes from English, so it's very close.

The, the, the sound is very close to volunteer.

wolontariusz

And the second thing you may have noticed,

it's, it's a masculine noun, so you can use it for girls and

for guys.

But if you wanna have the specific, like, feminine form, you would say wolontariuszka.

So wolontariusz, wolontariusz is for guys,

but you can use it for both, uh,

male and female.

And if you want a female form is wolontariuszka.

wolontariuszka

And in Poland it's very common to,

to be a volunteer when you are in high school or,

uh, maybe elementary school or junior high.

Uh, I was volunteering a lot, doing different stuff like,

uh, well, helping at school, that would be one thing,

but then helping organizing big, bigger events or even in some

charity work and so on.

That's actually very common.

Like the, uh, big, uh, Christmas charity orchestra,

you know, the Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy event that is

organized everywhere.

Uh, I think that's very common to be a wolontariusz or wolontariuszka there.

ochraniać

to protect

And the next word is ochraniać.

ochraniać means to protect.

And you can say, for example: "Jak ochronić się przed wirusami?"

Jak ochronić się przed wirusami?

Which basically means how do you protect yourself against viruses?

So first of all, the word ochraniać,

uh, comes from chronić, which are very similar words.

So chronić means to protect, and ochraniać is protect as well,

but, uh, the image is more like protecting the environment or

protecting somebody.

chronić can be broader.

You can say: ochraniać środowisko, which means to protect the environment.

ochraniać środowisko.

You can also change it easily to the, the other, uh, protect, which is chronić.

So you can say: chronić środowisko, uh, as well.

And to give you another example, you can say:

Musimy chronić środowisko.

We need to protect the environment.

Or you can say: "Musimy ochraniać środowisko."

Musimy ochraniać środowisko.

We need to protect the environment.

Yeah.

So both ochraniać and chronić, they both mean to protect.

And you can use one or the other in most cases.

używać ponownie

to reuse

Another one we have is a phrase: używać ponownie.

Używać ponownie means to reuse.

Actually, używać means to use something,

and ponownie means for the second time or again.

And yeah, in English we are lucky enough, we have a word for that to reuse something.

In Polish we, we just say: używać ponownie.

And you can say, for example:

Tego można używać ponownie.

You can reuse this. Tego można używać ponownie.

And I guess there is this big movement for, for things you can reuse.

So we don't really use like pla-plastic forks or plastic knives

or spoons and even plastic bags.

You know, in Poland you have to pay for that.

If you want to get a plastic bag, you have to pay additional few groszy.

So it's not a big money, but people kind of become more aware

that first of all, it costs money to produce it and it costs

even more money to get rid of it.

And usually you don't get rid of it and it's just, uh, polluting our, our environment.

So yeah.

So I guess we have less and less plastic bags in Poland.

chronić

to conserve

And our next word is chronić.

chronić

To conserve.

So remember when we were talking about ochraniać,

we said it's to protect and we said ochraniać is very close

to chronić, and that's true.

But chronić has another translation and we can translate it into to conserve.

So a very good example for that would be "Musimy chronić zasoby naturalne."

Musimy chronić zasoby naturalne.

We need to conserve natural resources.

That's something that has been a big issue not only in Poland,

but I guess all around the world.

And even though the government may be not doing a lot,

people are very aware of, of, uh,

the need to protect or to conserve natural resources.

And there is a big movement.

Uh, and I guess young people are being more and more aware of how important it is.

Uh, so we try to protect, we try to conserve our natural

resources in Poland as much as we can,

even though it's not very often.

Um, there may be no special government program to do so.

Like, normal people are trying to help and trying to,

to protect and trying to share the awareness of how important

it is.

zmniejszyć ilość śmieci

to reduce trash

Another very important thing to do is zmniejszyć ilość śmieci.

zmniejszyć ilość śmieci means to reduce the trash,

and that's something you can do by your own as well.

So one thing that has been done in Poland is,

as I said before, you have to pay for your plastic bag and

people stopped buying those plastic bags because now they are aware

that it costs money and then it costs money to utilize it,

right?

So-- and that's another like garbage that we don't need.

So that's one thing we are doing to, to just zmniejszyć ilość śmieci.

So for example, you can use it in a sentence like, "Należy zmniejszyć ilość śmieci."

Należy zmniejszyć ilość śmieci.

We need to reduce the amount of garbage.

troszczyć się o środowisko

to care for the environment

Now our next one is an obvious one,

yet some people really tend to neglect it,

and that's troszczyć się o środowisko.

to care for the environment

To care for the environment.

So troszczyć się means to care.

And then środowisko is the environment.

All together, troszczyć się o środowisko means to care for the environment.

And you can use it in a sentence like, "Wszyscy musimy troszczyć się o środowisko."

Wszyscy musimy troszczyć się o środowisko.

We all need to care for the environment.

And true as it is, we, we often tend to like forget about it.

And I guess in Poland right now,

the biggest problem is that during the winter it's very cold and,

uh, you've got the central heating system,

but very often you just burn stuff and then in your fireplace and,

you know, even in the central heating,

if you have a house, you will just burn things in the fireplace.

And if it's coal, it's okay.

But a lot of people, they don't have money to buy one, so they will just burn trash.

And that's, that's becoming a big issue right now in Poland.

We have big, uh, big pollution issues, uh, during the winter.

używać produktów przyjaznych dla środowiska

to use eco-friendly products

Our next word, or actually a phrase, is używać produktów przyjaznych dla środowiska.

używać produktów przyjaznych dla środowiska

to use eco-friendly products

So używać, as you probably already know, is to use something.

And then produkt

is a product.

Uh, and then środowisko is environment.

So produkt przyjazny dla środowiska means eco-friendly product.

Przyjazny means like, uh, friendly or, or nice to you.

So produkt przyjazny dla środowiska means eco-friendly product.

And in a sentence you would use it like,

Czy używasz produktów przyjaznych dla środowiska?

Do you use eco-friendly products?

Now the thing is that eco-friendly products are usually more,

more expensive than the normal ones.

And I guess even though it's better than it used to be,

uh, still a lot of people, they cannot afford it.

So they just buy those cheap products that are not necessarily eco-friendly.

And we still have, uh, issues with that in Poland, and I guess all around the world.

But more and more people, especially in big cities,

uh, they kind of becoming aware of how important it is,

and they don't really-- I mean, they,

they don't mind spending a little bit more,

uh, if that's, uh, if that's going to solve some issues

regarding environment and environment pollution.

segregować śmieci

to separate garbage

And our next one is segregować śmieci,

to separate garbage.

So segregować means to separate, to divide by categories, and śmieci is garbage.

And you can say: "U mnie w domu segreguje się śmieci."

U mnie w domu segreguje się śmieci, which means, "In my house, we separate garbage."

In Poland, we do separate garbage.

Uh, although of course it really depends on the household.

It depends on where you live, if you even have access to

those big garbage bins where you can separate

throw away plastic bottles or, like,

glass bottles or, or cans.

Uh, but if you do have access to that,

and I guess more and more people do,

uh, then I guess most people will do it,

uh, will separate it, 'cause it makes,

uh, well, recycling easier, but it also makes your garbage

problem easier, by which I mean that you are going to throw

away that in the-- those big bins that are,

um, being there on the street.

So you have relatively less garbage at home,

so it's easier for you to, to separate them and then to throw

it away in those public bins that are over there,

sitting over there just waiting for you to do it.

oczyszczać, to clean

So our next word may sound familiar, and it's oczyszczać, oczyszczać, to clean.

You probably have, uh, heard the word czysty, czysty, clean as an adjective.

So czysty, uh, we transform it a little bit and we have czyścić,

so to clean something, and then we put the O in front of it

and it's oczyszczać.

And the difference between czyścić and oczyszczać is that while

czyścić is, like, you know, to clean your house,

uh, or to clean your plates, or to clean your,

uh, even, even your clothes, while oczyszczać is more for bigger

things.

So like to clean the rivers or,

or the sea, uh, or something like that,

or, or water, like drinking water.

That's oczyszczać.

It's like for bigger purposes.

And, uh, for example, you can say:

Musimy oczyścić powietrze.

We need to clean the air.

In this particular sentence, oczyścić is the only word you could use.

You couldn't use czyścić, like to clean,

because that's just for the small things,

that you are, you know, cleaning your house or,

as I said, cleaning your plates or something like that.

And not for bigger things like, you know,

the air or sea water or,

or water, drinking water or something like this.

Thank you for watching.

Today you learned ten ways to save the planet in Polish.

Please let us know what you think in the comments.

Thank you and see you again next time.

Woo-hoo.

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