Search engine outfit Google has hired a herd of goats in a bid to lower its carbon footprint. The herd of 200 goats have been bought in to clip and fertilize the grass on its Mountain View HQ rather than using lawnmowers.
搜尋引擎公司Google僱用了一群山羊，藉以減少其碳足跡。這200頭山羊，已經被帶往其（加州）山景市總部的草地除草兼施肥，而不使用除草機。
Google said it wanted to take a more "low-carbon" approach with the goats reducing the company’s contribution to air and noise pollution. It costs about the same as mowing the lawn but the goats were "a lot cuter to watch."
Google表示希望採取更「低碳」作法，利用這些山羊降低該公司導致的空氣及噪音污染。租用山羊清理草地的成本與使用割草機差不多，但山羊「看起來可愛多了」。
The move has worried PETA which has said that while they have no problem with the goats eating grass, they were concerned about how they were transported and whether they have enough shelter and water.
這項行動引發了「人道對待動物組織」憂慮，該組織已表示，他們對放羊吃草沒意見，在意的是如何運送牠們，以及牠們是否有足夠的棲身處及飲水。
Google has stretched its employee policy for the goats. Normally only employees are allowed a free organic lunch.
Google已將其員工政策延伸到這群山羊身上。通常只有員工才能享用免費有機午餐。
Yahoo has also employed goats to graze their grounds, some of them were made board members.
雅虎公司也曾僱用山羊吃草整地，其中一些羊隻還當上董事會成員。
新聞辭典
outfit： 名詞，（口語）企業；商業組織。例句：The Siemens of Germany set up a new outfit to expand its operations in China. （德國西門子公司成立一家新公司，以擴大在中國營運範圍。）
carbon footprint：名詞，碳足跡，指一個人、家庭、組織或國家所排放的溫室氣體（主要是二氧化碳）數量，也是溫室氣體排放量的通用測量標準。
graze： 動詞，（動物）吃草。例句：If wheat prices are very low, a farmer or rancher may choose to let the cattle graze the wheat all spring, instead of letting the wheat grow and producing grain.（如果小麥的價格非常低，一位農民或牧場主可以選擇讓牛群在小麥田吃上整個春天，而不是讓小麥生長結穗。）
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