1 . Fiji has become the first country in the Pacific to recognize“waste pickers”,who collect, repurpose and sell rubbish, as environmental champions.
Who are “waste pickers”? These workers are usually women, children and migrants(移民)living in bad conditions. The job comes with many health risks, as workers are exposed to pollutants and poisonous materials,and those who work at open dumps(垃圾场)face risks caused by trucks, fires and surface falls.
They remove millions of tons of CO each year from landfills, yet they are often looked down on and treated poorly. Talking to ABC News, Tikitoro from Fiji said that her children are made fun of at school. “The students laugh and point at them” she shared.
How is Fiji responding? On July 20, 2022, in Lautoka, Fiji recognized the environmental benefits that these workers are providing. Thirty women who took part in informal waste picking were officially registered, given bank accounts and provided with protective gear to make their jobs safer.
A new name was also created for these workers: Collection Pillars of Recycling, The name came from a workshop organized with International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and the Pacific Recycling Foundation.
Amitesh Deo, founder of the Pacific Recycling Foundation, told the Fiji. Their workshop was about human rights，education,legal literacy and financial literacy. One of the key findings in that workshop was the stigma(污名)attached to waste picking, and one of the contributors to the stigma was the name ‘‘informal waste pickers’’.
With around 20 million people picking waste for a living around the world, it is important that they are treated with respect and recognized for the highly valuable work that they do.
1. What could be said about the work of picking waste?| A．It’s fruitless. | B．It’s not deserving. |
| C．It’s dangerous. | D．It’s meaningless. |
| A．She has been looked down on. |
| B．She has learned new life skills. |
| C．She has gained a sense of achievement. |
| D．She has developed a strong personality. |
| A．Experiment. | B．Effect. | C．Color. | D．Equipment. |
| A．It takes years to form. | B．It needs to be forgotten. |
| C．It is popular nationwide. | D．It should be formally named. |
