2 . When Abdus Salam looks across the garbage-filled river near his home in one of the major clothing producing districts in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, he remembers a time before the factories moved in. “When I was young there were no clothing factories here. We used to catch fish in the river,” he said. The river beside him is now black like ink. Waste from nearby clothing factories has polluted the water.

Fashion is responsible for up to one-fifth of industrial water pollution, thanks in part to weak management and enforcement in producer countries like Bangladesh, the world’s second biggest clothing producing country, where wastewater is commonly discharged directly into rivers and streams. The wastewater not only hurts the environment, but pollutes drinking water sources.

Once in waterways, poisonous chemicals from dyes (染料) build up to the point where light is prevented from coming through the surface, reducing plants’ ability to photosynthesize (进行光合作用). This lowers oxygen levels in the water, killing plants and animals. These chemicals and heavy metals can also build up in the body, increasing the risk of serious illnesses and skin problems. What’s worse, chemical-rich water is also used to water crops, with one recent study finding that dyes were present in vegetables and fruit grown aiound Savaz, just north of Dhaka.

Luckily, change is coming. In Bangladesh, there are signs clothing producers are taking environmental responsibility more seriously, with brands committing to initiatives, such as the Partnership for Cleaner Textile, that tackle water, energy and chemical use in the industry. Shahab Uddin of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said a range of measures were being taken to address pollution, including updating conservation and environmental laws, giving fines to polluters, setting up centralized treatment plants, and working with international development partners to improve wastewater treatment. And under a new environmental policy called Zero Liquid Discharge, dyeing, finishing and washing industries must submit a time-bound plan to reduce, recycle and reuse wastewater.

“There is definitely room for further improvement. These challenges cannot be solved overnight,” Uddin added.

3 . As newer, more advanced technologies come out, huge amounts of electronics (电子产品) are thrown away, instead of being reused. These goods often end up in landfills, where the chemicals inside them may be a danger to the environment. Electronics can contain harmful materials. If these materials get into the ground or water, the pollution can cause serious problems. Most electronics require metals. These metals must be mined from the Earth. Often the mining process creates serious pollution.

A group known as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum is trying to make people more aware of the problems of e-waste. Recently, the WEEE Forum asked researchers from the United Nations (UN) to study a kind of e-waste that’s often not noticed because people don’t consider the goods to be electronics. The WEEE Forum calls this kind “unable-to-be-seen” e-waste.

The UN study shows that about 1/6 of all e-waste is “unable-to-be-seen”. Though it’s “unable-to-be-seen”, it’s certainly not a small amount. The “unable-to-be-seen” e-waste weighs about 9 billion kilograms. The WEEE Forum says that if this e-waste were put into 40-ton trucks and the trucks were then lined up, the line of trucks would be about 5,630 kilometers long.

The surprising kind leading the “unable-to-be-seen” e-waste group was toys. Worldwide, roughly 7.3 billion electronic toys are thrown away each year. These include goods like car racing sets, electric trains, and musical toys. They also include toys with electronic parts, like dolls that speak or games with electronic timers. In all, toys make up about 35% of “unable-to-be-seen” e-waste. But the problem is far larger than just toys. The report also shows that other everyday goods like home alarms, smoke alarms, power tools, and computer cables (电缆) are also big sources of “unable-to-be-seen” e-waste.

The WEEE Forum is hoping that as more people and governments become aware of e-waste, they will make a much greater effort to make sure electronics get reused.

4 . Levi Draheim, 11 years old, and 20 other young people have accused(控告)the us encouraging the climate change. For more than a century, human activities have been increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That has caused a host of effects globally, from changes in weather to ice melting at the poles.

Levi lives in Satellite Beach,Fla. He once had to leave his home because of strong storms. He rains flooded the town’s streets. And he had trouble breathing during red tides, which can develop wt harmful ocean algae(海藻)grow out of control.

Climate change is making these events more frequent. Levi and his family also have another climate-change-related problem. Sea level is rising. “If climate change worsens, the island that I live or will be gone,” he explained.

The young people say the US government allowed the use of fossil fuels(矿物燃料). Burning those fuels gives off greenhouse gases, driving climate change. The youths want the government to solve the problem of pollution. So they took the government to court in 2015.

The case has had several hold-ups. In the beginning, the government asked the trial court(初审法庭) to refuse to accept the case. The court didn’t do that. Then they turned to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. That court said the case could go ahead, and the Supreme Court agreed. Both sides did work to get ready for trial. But the government again tried to get the case thrown out without a trial.

Finally, trial was set to start on October 29, 2018. But on October 19; the US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts told the trial court to hold up. The youths’ lawyers objected. On November 2, the Supreme Court finally agreed that the trial could go forward. Right now, it is hard to say when that what happen.

9 . As Plastic Chokes the Ocean, Technology Can Help

Some 8 million tons of non-recyclable (不可回收的) plastic end up in the ocean each year. At an alarming rate, the seas may have more plastic than fish by the middle of the century.     1    

Require a global solution to a global problem.     2     The developed countries and most of developing countries show their leadership in this process by setting goals, encouraging other member states, and offering support for poor countries.

    3     Although they are helpful to protect clean water and air, as it is known, non-recyclable plastic is widely used in the markets. Therefore, non-recyclable plastic still can be bought in our daily life. Its disappearance needs much more time and efforts.

Pay more attention to the new studies on plastic and technologies. Some of researchers are aiming to make replacements for plastic.     4     For example, “interceptors” can remove river pollution before it reaches the ocean.

Expect more responsibility from manufacturers.     5     As a start, they should be encouraged to simplify complex packaging. And their working with world governments will support poorer nations to improve waste collection and landfill (垃圾场) management.

The world doesn’t have enough time in trying to solve the problem. The sooner these efforts start, the better.

10 . A handful of old mobile phones lay in a grey bucket. These outdated devices, which are about to be chopped into thousands of pieces, will be given a second life as recycled e-waste. But many phones won't.

According to the latest estimates, the world gets rid of approximately 50 million tonnes of waste annually. E-waste is full of dangerous materials that can cause damage to human health and the environment if not managed properly. But only 20 percent of global e-waste is recycled.The rest ends up in landfill, or burned—or is not recycled at all.

And yet,Switzerland is a good example of how to deal with the growing environmental issue. The country collects and recycles roughly 7S percent of this discarded material. This is thanks to a strong voluntary take-back system, where consumers can take e-waste to a reclining collection point or any electronic shop retailer（零售商）. A recycling station can be found within at most 300 meters from any residential area. Everyone gets involved. Switzerland's e-waste system is unique and can't be easily copied-due to a strong recycling culture within the country.

However, Switzerland faces the same global challenges as every nation.The built-in lithium batteries（锂电池）aren't easy to take out. The only way to remove these potentially dangerous components is with a bar and hammer. This poses a significant risk to those handling the goods. As such, producers need to be more transparent(信息透明的) and show more clearly where the harmful substances are, and how they can be removed.

Once the battery is removed, e-waste is sorted into different component parts—-metals, plastics and other materials. Roughly 70 percent of the device can be recycled. The material that cannot be recycled is used for other purposes like construction material or is burned to generate energy. Mobile phones—from a material perspective (角度), from a value perspective，and also from an environmental impact perspective -are very important.

For the past 15 years, Switzerland has been actively encouraging and supporting electrical waste disposal practices. They are happy to share their knowledge, experience, lessons learned, and they are happy if other people pick up on it.