1 . Many European countries have been making the shift to electric vehicles and Germany has just stated that they plan to ban the sale of vehicles using gasoline and diesel as fuel by 2030.

The country is also planning to reduce its carbon footprint by 80-95% by 2050, sparking a shift to green energy in the country. Effectively, the ban will include the registration of new cars in the country as they will not allow any gasoline powered vehicle to be registered after 2030. Part of the reason why this ban is being discussed and carried out is that energy officials see that they will not reach their emissions （排放） goals by 2050 if they do not reduce a large portion of vehicle emissions.

The country is still hopeful that it will meet its emissions goals, like reducing emissions by 40% by 2020, but the acceptance of electric cars in the country has not occurred as fast as expected. Other efforts to increase the use of electric vehicles include plans to build over 1 million hybrid （混合的） and electric car battery charging stations across the country. By 2030, Germany plans on having over 6 million charging stations installed.

According to the International Business Times, electric car sales are expected to increase as Volkswagen is still recovering from its emissions scandal. There are currently around 155,000 registered hybrid and electric vehicles on German roads, dwarfed （使相形见绌） by the 45 million gasoline and diesel cars driving there now.

As countries continue setting goals of reducing emissions, greater steps need to be taken to have a noticeable effect on the surrounding environment. While the efforts are certainly not in vain, the results of such bans will likely only start to be seen by generations down the line, bettering the world for the future.

2 . Before you throw that old cell phone in the trash，or hide it away in a drawer，think again. There are actually many ways to dispose(处理)of a mobile phone that you are no longer using. First，you should be aware that in many places，throwing away cell phones is actually illegal because the batteries—especially in very old phones—can contain poisonous metals.     1    

You certainly don’t need to pay to recycle an old cell phone.     2     This had led to many charities making a small amount of money by collecting old phones. There are large organizations that will take unwanted phones. However，you might also want to think locally.

    3     And they do make a little bit on each donation. If you can’t find a large cell phone recycling program in your area，you might consider starting a small local one，perhaps for a local public schoo1.     4     As people move to bigger and better phones，or smaller and better phones，there are plenty of old cell phones just waiting for a place to land，and smart schools have provided that place.

You might also want to hang onto any accessories(配件)that you have.     5     Continuing to use accessories in good shape makes smart economic sense.

4 . International pressure may be the only way to stop the Brazilian government from taking a “suicide” path in the Amazon, one of the country’s most respected scientists has said, as the world’s biggest rainforest continues to be destroyed by thousands of deliberate fires.

The large number of fires — set illegally to clear and prepare land for crops, cattle and buildings– has resulted in the state of Amazonas to declare an emergency, created heavy smoke clouds that have drifted hundreds of miles, and raised international concerns about the destruction of a carbon sink, which refers to the use of plant photosynthesis (光合作用) to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

On Wednesday, the UK trade minister Conor Burns was shaking hands with his counterparts in Brasilia and declaring a desire to “deepen relations”. Asked about the fires, he declined to comment but reportedly said Bolsonaro’s government had ambitions to bring prosperity to its people.

Scientists say the ongoing destruction will have serious consequences for Brazil and the world.

Carlos Nobre, a senior researcher with the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of São Paulo, said the increase in cutting down forests was taking the rainforest closer to a tipping point beyond which the usually humid forest would become an extremely dry place, with serious consequences for the climate, wildlife and forest creatures.

Nobre said destruction of forests was on course to rise by 20-30% this year and was “very likely” to pass 10,000 sq km for the first time in more than 10 years. The trend has been worsening for several years, but it has accelerated under Bolsonaro, who has weakened the environment agency and expressed support for miners, farmers and loggers.

“The situation is very bad. It will be terrible,” Nobre told the Guardian. “A very large number of these fires are due to the cultural push that ministers are giving. They are pushing deforestation because it is good for the economy. Those who do illegal deforestation are feeling empowered.”

5 . Lego is considering a brick rental scheme in an attempt to cut down on plastic waste. The Danish toymaker has promised to make all its bricks from sustainable （可持续的） sources by 2030 and is ploughing significant resources into finding alternatives.

Tim Brooks, vice-president responsible for sustainability, said the company was "totally open" to the idea of a product rental scheme but acknowledged that lost pieces could cause a significant problem. He said the rental scheme was "possible" but admitted there were some "technical barriers", one of which is the complexity of some Lego kits （配套元件），many of which contain thousands of pieces.

" What are the chances of giving them to an eight-year-old child and getting them all back again?” Mr Brooks added. "There is a lot of technical thinking that needs to be done.

We are right at beginning of that.” Mr Brooks said Lego was exploring several ideas with a view to producing the highest value from products while consuming the least amount of resources. He said many would "probably never see the light of day” and there was no current plan to try a rental scheme.

Lego has come under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint amid growing international alarm about the impact of plastic waste on the environment. It manufactures 19 billion pieces per year—36,000 a minute——that are made only of plastic while much of the internal packaging is also plastic.

So far, the only breakthrough has been the development of a line of bricks made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane. The green trees, plants and flowers were first included in Lego sets late last year but account for only one-two percent of the total amount of plastic elements produced. Henrik Ostergaard Nielson, a production supervisor in Lego's factory in Billund, told the New York Times last year： "We need to learn again how to do this”

6 . At the age of seven, while his friends were spending their allowances on candy and toys, Jose Adolfo Quisocola, from Peru, came up with the creative idea of an eco-bank, which allows kids of all ages to become economically independent and financially wise while also helping the environment.

Established in 2012, The Bartselana Student Bank is the world’s first cooperative bank for kids. Whoever wants to join has to bring in at least 5 kilograms(11 pounds) of solid waste(paper or plastic) and establish a savings goal. Once accepted, all bank “partners” are required to deposit at least one additional kilogram(2.2 pounds) of recyclables on a monthly basis and obey other requirements, such as attending financial education and environmental management workshops. The waste accumulated is sold to local recycling companies, who, thanks to some clever negotiation by Jose, pay a higher-than-market rate for everything brought in by Bartselana Student Bank members. The funds received are placed in the individual’s account where they collect until his／her savings goal is reached. The account holder can then withdraw his／her money, or choose to leave it and continue to grow for a bigger target.

“At the beginning, my teachers thought I was crazy or that a child could not undertake this type of project, ” Jose recalls. “They did not understand that we are not the future of the country but its present. Luckily, I had the support of the school principal and an assistant in my classroom.”

The youngster’s persistence paid off. Today, the eco-bank, which now has the support of several local institutions, has ten educational centers and begins accepting applications from kids all across Peru. On November 20, 2018, the young boy was awarded the famous Children’s Climate Prize (CCP). “Jose’s eco-bank is a brilliant way of linking economy and climate impact, both in thought and practice. The potential impact is amazing,” a judge said.

Hopefully, Jose’s success will inspire more kids and adults to come up with new ideas that create value while helping the environment. As the boy says,” Together we can change the world…we just need an opportunity…”

8 . To meet the global climate crisis that is approaching, big lifestyle changes are required of those of us. The good news is that our way of life can remain meaningful and worthy as our consumption becomes sustainable(可持续发展的).

    1     Eat less meat and move toward a plant-based diet. This is one of the most effective things we can do because the food we now produce and consume is destroying the very ecosystems that we depend upon for survival. Here are some of the grim facts.

The U. S. uses about one-half of its land for agriculture.     2    For example, the U. S. uses over 90 million acres of good agricultural land to produce corn, which is mostly fed to livestock(家畜).

With 7.6 billion people on earth, the demand for food is enormous and constantly on the rise. It’s easy to feel we can’t make a difference.     3    We should not ignore the power of the choices we make.

Even one person can make a big difference by eating less meat and moving toward a plant-based diet and make contributions to the health of the planet as well as your own. Recognize how the food we eat is connected to other living beings. It often helps us make much wiser buying choices.     4    This way, we will help people around the world enjoy more eco-friendly and nutritious foods.

    5    When you change your diet to be more sustainable, you become visible proof that changing our food habits is doable, healthy, and enjoyable.

10 . Illegally traded endangered species that escape, forming secondary populations, offer hope to their long-term survival, a study suggests. "This first came to my attention when I read a news story about the seizure of an illegal shipment of 23 yellow crested cockatoos (小葵花凤头鹦鹉),” said Luke Gibson, a college teacher. He learned that the species was critically endangered, which surprised him.

This encouraged Dr. Gibson and his colleague to investigate (调查) how a critically endangered species had become self-sustaining outside of its natural range. They discovered 49 cases of a globally threatened species becoming established as a separate population, which they hadn’t thought of, including the yellow-crested cockatoo in their city.

“This is a species which is primarily threatened by wildlife trade,” he told BBC News. “Poachers (偷猎者) go out into the forest in its native range in eastern Indonesia and capture the bird and then ship them off, usually up to our city where there is a strong demand for pet birds. This is what has fueled the decline of this species in its native range. But it’s really interesting because that same cause also had another effect: some of the people who were keeping this species here accidentally or intentionally released them.” As a result of enough of the birds set free, it allowed a new self-sustaining population to be established in this city.

The government in of Dr. Gibson’s city has made it illegal to capture the species, even though it is a non-native species. Because the city is affluent and relatively well educated, the cases of people breaking the law are extremely rare, explained Dr Gibson, unlike in its native range in Indonesia, where capturing birds form a major source of income.

However, there can be downsides (缺点) to the newly established population of endangered species, such as a limited genetic pool, and suffering from novel diseases. It did also present a possible “very interesting” opportunity for conservationists, Dr. Gibson suggested. This would involve “harvesting” some of the newly established secondary population, which may provide a way to help slow global biodiversity loss.