1 . Latin America’s first renewable fuel-powered, garbage-trapping wheel is cleaning one of Panama’s dirtiest rivers. It is powered by water and solar energy. It pulls waste out of the Juan Diaz River. Most of the waste comes from the capital area of Panama City where about 2 million people live. Thousands of kilograms of garbage flow down the river into the ocean each year.

As the leader of the project, Robert Getman said, “Cleaning beaches is good, but it is more effective and cheaper to trap garbage in rivers because when it reaches the ocean, the environmental and economic cost becomes too high.”

The Juan Diaz River is one of the most polluted in Panama. Waste systems in the area are poor, and land development is not well supervised (监督). The river also passes through Panama City, one of Central America’s largest cities. Still, the waterway and its mangrove trees are home to wildlife like turtles and birds. According to this situation, the environmental group Marea Verde launched the wheel in late September, which is named Wanda Diaz. By the middle of October, it had gathered 28. 6 cubic meters of plastic bottles from the water. Over five years, Marea Verde projects have slowed the spread of waste along the Juan Diaz River and other Panama’s rivers. Several years ago, the group launched its “Barrier or Trash” technology, a floating device. It captured more than 100 metric tons of waste in the Matias Hernandez River within two years.

The Baltimore Bay “Trashwheel” in the United States is the model for Marea Verde’s machine, Wanda Diaz. However, Wanda Diaz is more advanced and superior in terms of technology, and it even has cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) that can recognize and sort different plastics.

“We want each of us to raise awareness that we can prevent the death of the Juan Diaz River, ”said Marea Verde’s leader Sandy Watemberg. She expressed her hope that the wheel would also help many more other rivers. But she also pointed out that those who accustomed themselves to single-use plastics needed to rethink their behavior.

3 . It used to be that a “green classroom” referred to the colour of paint on the wall. But today’s green classrooms are greener than that! New “green” classrooms help schools save money and provide clean environments where students learn better.

Many classrooms are going green by adding solar panels to their roofs. The solar panels collect energy from the sun and use it to power lights and computers. The panels help make green classrooms grid-neutral, which means the panels create at least as much electricity as the classrooms use. In addition, new lighting and air systems can be programmed to lower energy costs and water use.

Many new “green” classrooms are built by using recycled materials. Some even use pieces of material from blue jeans to insulate walls and roofs. The old-jean insulation cuts heat and air conditioning bills.

Green schools feature many other new ideas. Some classrooms are painted using special odor-free paints that help improve indoor air. Some use no glues that add chemical smells to the air. Others use triple-pane windows and skylights to help keep classrooms warm in cold weather and let in lots of natural daylight.

Experts say the benefits of building greener classrooms go beyond cost savings. Studies show that a healthful environment with good air quality can cut colds and flu by more than 50 percent. That means fewer sick days for students and teachers. Studies have shown that natural light and other green features improve student learning and test scores too.

4 . All sorts of items become litter but two of the most common and most dangerous are cigarette butts and plastic bags. Litter is a big problem for our environment but it is a problem that individuals can easily do something about. Not littering at all or cleaning up litter, such as cigarette butts and plastic bags, greatly improves the quality of our environment.

Although cigarette butts are small, they are bad for the environment. Over 1,600 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in China and large quantities of the butts are thrown away. Worldwide, about 4.5 trillion butts are littered every year. Apart from the fact that butts spoil the beauty of the environment, they contain some very toxic chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they decrease the quality of the water and endanger plants and animals that live there. Because there are so many butts and because they can take up to 5 years to break down, the toxic chemicals add up to a large amount. So, if people have to smoke, they should not throw away the butts but put them in the rubbish bin instead.

Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is a danger to the environment. There are several reasons for this. They are made from oil and gas, which are non-renewable resources. If they are not recycled, these resources are lost to us. In China, 2 billion plastic bags are used every day. An enormous number of these become litter. This is a huge problem because they last from 20 to 1,000 years in the environment. They float easily in air and water and travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches and oceans. Plastic bags kill up to one million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year worldwide. When the animal dies and breaks down, the plastic bag can become free again to kill another animal. It is up to people not to let plastic bags become litter. It would be better if they used fewer and recycled them.

Cleaning up your cigarette butts and plastic bags would improve the environment. The earth would be a better place because it would be less polluted. And we would know that we were doing something to look after our planet. However, I believe the best solution would be not to smoke or use plastic bags at all.

In recent year, more and more people often wear a mask when they walked their dogs. Interestingly, their dogs which also wear a mask. That is why air pollution has become more and more serious in some areas, which have led to severe consequences. To solve this problem, firstly of all, we should raise the public awareness protecting the environment. Secondly, the government ought to punish the illegal acts severely. Thirdly, we must do my best in our daily life to protecting the environment. Only in this way can human beings and animals share a pleasant planet or live a happy life.

8 . Many people have realized that air pollution can cause damage to people’s health.    1    Air pollution can affect an animal’s health. Make yourself know of the types of air pollution and discover ways how you can help your pets.

How does pollution affect animals？

All animals, whatever their size, can be affected by pollution. Experts agree that pollution affects animals in the same way as it does humans.    2    Not only do animals breathe in harmful gases from pollution, but pollutants (污染物) are also absorbed through the skin and come from food and water.

Types of air pollution.

    3    And it’s important to get familiar with air pollution that affects the health of both animals and humans.

Acid Rain (酸雨)—When water drops in clouds combine with acidic air pollutants, the water turns acidic.    4    

Global Warming—The planet is warming due to greenhouses gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor. These gases are released into the atmosphere from air pollution.

    5    

You can keep the pets in your home safe from air pollutants by keeping fresh air entering your room and purifying (净化) air with equipment. Unfortunately, this doesn’t protect wildlife, but it’s a step in the right direction to protect your beloved pet’s health. Besides, you should also use less energy, reuse and recycle as much as possible.

9 . It should be one of the main goals in today's society to reduce plastic consumption. Though many believe recycling will solve the problem, it's actually the opposite. In 2013,254 million tons of trash was produced in the U.S. alone, and only around 30% was recycled. This means the rest ended up in a landfill and will stay there for up to 1000 years.

Recently, China has stopped importing trash from all over the world. Before this, over 30% of the world's waste would end up in China, causing a popular belief that Asian countries are those responsible for creating the majority of the waste in the world. Now, Asian countries are looking for new ideas to avoid the plastic. One of those ideas was a new, eco-friendly way to pack their goods by avoiding plastic packaging.

One of Perfect Homes Chiangmai's team members, Sam, noticed a creative way to reduce plastic that a supermarket called Rimping Supermarket was using and decided to capture their shelves with his phone. Little did he know that people all around the world would absolutely love this idea. “I just stepped in to get a few items while we were waiting to sign some contracts with our lawyer, who was delayed. I noticed the vegetables wrapped in banana leaves and simply liked the idea. So I took a few pictures and posted them online,” he said. With more than 3.5million views and over 17 thousand shares, the idea becomes something people can encourage more supermarkets to implement.

Some have noticed that not everything on the shelves is completely plastic-free. Many products come to the supermarkets pre-packaged and many companies are interested in wrapping their products in plastic since it is the cheapest and the easiest option. It's now up to the shoppers to show the supermarket which they prefer. If everyone opts for the banana leaf packaging, they will probably stop storing the items in plastic.

10 . On Sept. 21, 2020, scientists announced that Arctic sea ice has already lost two-thirds of its amount over the past four decades. It is part of a shocking trend in polar heating that is already seeing impacts across the globe.

Throughout the spring and summer, Arctic sea ice melted away faster than it usually does, causing the largest loss of Arctic sea ice cover since satellite records began in the 1970s. This year's minimum was reached on September 15, at 3.74 million m² compared with the previous low—4.17 million m²—set in 2007.

What's causing this loss of sea ice? The short answer is our heating climate. A recent study showed that the influence of heat has more than doubled over the past decade or so, which means the melting of nearly a meter thickness of sea ice each year.

The biggest effects of the loss of Arctic sea ice, of course, will be felt locally: from the more possible snowfall to more storms with stronger winds. These will also cause waves as well as rising temperatures. In fact, the increased temperatures transformed northern forests into tinderboxes ready to burn. That melt also means polar bears are losing critical habitat and Inuit hunters are losing ice to preserve their traditions and culture.

On a larger scale, the greatest impact may be the changes in the Arctic 's ability io function as a cooling system for the global ocean. A warmer Arctic will affect the temperature differences between the northern polar region and areas further south. That may, in turn, create stronger heat waves, droughts, floods and potential impacts on farming. And all of us will be more exposed to the disastrous effects of climate breakdown.

We need to hit the reset button right now on how we look after each other and Arctic sea ice to help our planet cope with the climate breakdown.