【推荐3】Ford is turning McDonald's coffee waste into headlights

Ford is recently including coffee chaff — coffee bean skin that comes off during the roasting process — into the plastic headlights housing (大灯外壳) used in some cars. It has asked McDonald's, which doesn't roast its own coffee, to connect it with suppliers.

In recent years, as consumers become more concerned about plastic pollution and carbon emissions, companies have made sweeping commitments to reduce their impacts on the environment. They've also been developing new, sustainable materials to build consumer products.

Traditionally, Ford uses plastic and talc (滑石粉) to make its headlights housing. The coffee version is more sustainable because it's lighter and doesn't use the talc which, as a mineral, isn't renewable. Coffee chaff, on the other hand, is widely available, and much of it goes to waste. Eventually, Ford hopes to use the material for more parts.

Ford decided to work with coffee chaff a few years ago. But it's been experimenting with organic materials for over a decade. The auto company has been using soy-based foam (泡沫) in its cushions since 2011. It also uses waste from wheat, coconut, tomato and other plants in its cars in order to help meet some of its sustainability goals, which include using more renewable materials. Once the Ford team figured out how coffee chaff could be used to build car parts, it reached out to McDonald's because of the restaurant chain's scale and its sustainability goals. Like Ford, McDonald's also wants to bring renewable and recycled materials into its products. The partnership between Ford and McDonald's is an example of how brands with different projects can work together.

“We've conventionally thought of cooperation as within the food industry,” said Lan Olson, senior director of Global Sustainability at McDonald's. “The Ford partnership can help McDonald's see what kind of larger impacts are possible, when it works with a company in another field. This is just scratching the surface of trying to understand what's possible,” Olson said.

【推荐1】In recent years, Ethiopia has become a regional leader in solid waste management. Last year, the country transformed the landfill (垃圾填埋场) in Addis Ababa into a new waste-to-energy plant, the first such project on the continent. The plant incinerates up to 1, 400 tonnes of waste every day, about 80 percent of the city's rubbish, supplying the capital with 25 percent of its household electricity needs.

However, despite these important steps, challenges remain in Ethiopia. Although the country has permitted the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions, laws and policies for environmentally sound management of hazardous (有害的) wastes are still not effective in pre- venting littering waste illegally.

To help Ethiopia meet these challenges, the Chemicals and Waste Management Program is supporting the country with a three-year project to enhance its capacity for sound management of hazardous wastes.

In the initial stages, a project management unit will be formed, made up of many representatives from government departments and private organizations. This unit will be responsible for reviewing and assessing Ethiopia's current legal system, which, despite numerous advances in recent years, does not specifically target the recycling of hazardous waste. Once legal gaps are identified, the project will seek to update existing policies and strategies.

Many people in Ethiopia are not aware of the possible effect of environmental damage and the need to report such crimes to the police. To resolve this pressing issue, Ethiopia will be conducting a series of capacity-building activities, including creating awareness-raising programs, training trainers and providing equipment.

Ethiopia will also work to establish a national mechanism for chemicals and waste management by engaging government departments and civil society groups. Authorities will also make budgetary provisions (预算拨款) in national, regional and institutional planning to ensure funding for these activities is sustainable even after the project's completion.

【推荐2】The process of mountaintop removal mining (MTR) has caused permanent damage to Appalachia. Although the law requires that mining companies restore the mountaintops after the mining has been completed, the 1.5 million acres of mountains that have already been removed cannot be regrown, rebuilt, or replaced. The companies do secure the rock formations to prevent erosion and landslides, but their efforts cannot recreate the once-beautiful mountain landscape. Furthermore, while companies are usually cautious about securing the rock formations, they seem less interested in restoring the native plants. MTR operations clear enormous areas of forests; some experts estimate that over 2,000 square miles of forests in the Appalachian region will have been razed by mining companies by the end of this year. Instead of replanting the native trees and shrubs that have been cleared, many companies chose to plant cheap, fast-growing plants.

Environmental threats are not only created in preparing a mountaintop for mining, but they also continue once the coal has been extracted. After the explosion, the excess mountaintop——which miners refer to as “overburden”——is usually dumped into nearby valleys or streams. The overburden contains a variety of poisonous substances, including explosive residue, silica, and coal dust. Over 700 miles of streams in Appalachia have been polluted by this dumping. Although the mining companies have built structures known as “sludge dams” that are intended to contain the runoff, these dams may easily burst or leak, sending thousands of gallons of poisonous chemicals into drinking water.

While the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental protection bills can theoretically be enforced to protect Appalachia, local lawmakers have been unwilling to take action for fear of upsetting those who believe that the jobs created by MTR are vital to the community. However, instead of bringing jobs and prosperity to poor Appalachian communities, MTR companies actually bring destruction and poverty. MTR does not involve the amount of human labor required by traditional sub surface mining. Despite the poverty. MTR does not involve the amount of human labor required by traditional sub-surface mining. Despite the fact that coal production has increased between 1950 and 2004. the human labor force working in these mines has sharply decreased. In the 1950s, there were approximately 130,000 people employed by the mining companies; by 2004, that number had decreased to 16,00. Moreover, while the coal companies may make enormous profits from MTR, Appalachian communities located near the mines suffer increased rates of kidney cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, chronic pulmonary disorders and vision problems.

【推荐3】People use plastic bags to carry items like food and clothes, which are bought from shops. Plastic bags are commonly used, even though we know they can damage the environment.

There are many root causes to attribute the problem of plastic bag waste in Nigeria and other countries. Several European countries have adopted a fee for plastic bags, taking into account the negative effect of plastic bags on agricultural production. Even though charging a levy on plastic bags has a positive effect on protecting and preserving the fertility of agricultural land, the dominant usage of plastic bags itself would negate (使无效) the benefits or advantages of the levy.

The major impact of plastic bags on the environment is that it takes many years to for them to decompose. In addition, toxic substances are released into the soil when plastic bags perish under sunlight and, if plastic bags are burned, they release a toxic substance into the air causing ambient air pollution. Animals often confuse the bags for food and consume them, therefore blocking their digestive processes. Animals becoming entanglement in marine debris, including plastic bags, may cause starvation, choking, laceration, infection, reduced reproductive success, and mortality. There were instances where large endangered tortoises were found to have suffocated because of the mistaken swallowing of plastic bags combined with seaweed.

The presence of plastics in the marine environment poses several challenges that hinder economic development. Trapped plastic bags along coastlines produces an environmental challenge that has detrimental effects on tourism. Economic losses are linked to lower tourism earnings, adverse effects on tourist activities, and harm to the marine environment. Trapped shoreline plastic has a negative effect on shipping infrastructure, energy production, fishing, and aquaculture.

Plastic bags pose a threat not only to marine life, but also to agricultural land. Plastic bags are accountable for the dilapidation of the atmosphere and agricultural land, which has inadvertently used up precious earth resources, in particular oil. This now poses a major challenge to environmental and agricultural production. Discarded plastic bags that have already made their way into the field are not only particularly detrimental to farming but also severely harmful. The consequence of this would be the environmental deterioration of the so-called developed global society.

It is very unfortunate that, although plastic bags have been seen to have reduced agricultural production worldwide, there has been little significant awareness-raising initiatives to undertake proper, effective and concrete proactive action. Indeed, few serious scientific investigations have been made by international organisations and the international community to reduce the ever-increasing consumption of plastic bags.

【推荐1】Stepping outside the railway station early on an morning, visitors are met with the view of the cold air joining the water, forming a thick, soft blanket of fog over the Grand Canal (运河), the “main street” of Venice. The church of San Simeone Piccolo and the neighboring buildings appear to be floating on the water of the lagoon. It’s a sight that has welcomed millions of visitors from all over the world since the great days of the Serenissima, when the city ruled as one of Europe’s economic superpowers.

Yet, the breath-taking beauty that inspired countless painters, writers and artists over the centuries remains at risk of being lost forever. Like the Abu Simbel temples, the city’s survival is threatened (威胁) by rising water levels. The increase in sea level has caused flooding to be a regular thing.

After 1966, the year of the worst flooding in Venice’s history, UNESCO and the Italian Government started a major project to save the city. Huge movable flood gates were used to protect the lowest areas from flooding. Thirty years later there is agreement on the successful results both of the technical achievements and international cooperation.

But Venice still needs attentive care, and its continued survival calls for careful watch. The city remains threatened on several aspects -mass tourism, the potential damage of city development and the steady stream of large ships crushing its weak foundations.

International pressure around the status of Venice led to the Italian Government’s decision in2021 to ban large ships from the city center. This decision came a few days after UNESCO announced its decision to put the city on its World Heritage in Danger list. Until a suitable docking place (码头) is developed, large ships will be allowed to pull up in Marghera, an industrial suburb of Venice. Such decisions show the difficulty of protecting historic cities and cultural heritage urban centers, which in this particular situation called for specially-made measures and techniques different from those made for the safeguarding of the Egyptian temples.