Does Recycling Work For Plastic?
Dealing with plastic waste is always a tough problem. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), half of the world’s plastic waste ends up in a landfill, 19% burned, and another 22% escapes waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites.
So environmentalists suggest plastic waste should be recycled properly, which proves an effective way to handle other waste like paper, cardboard, metal and glass. However, a new study by Greenpeace, and reporting in the Boston Globe, suggests that recycling plastic is a “myth” and raises a major question about the future: does recycling work? Unfortunately, the short answer is “not really.”
There’s been a lot of debate over what really happens to recycled plastic. But scientists say that recycling plastic waste has mostly failed because it’s very difficult to collect and nearly impossible to sort. Because plastic is often made from harmful materials, it can be harmful to the environment to reprocess.
Much of the solution falls on big companies to change the way they do business. The way forward seems to be mostly to cut down on companies’ reliance on plastic packaging, and to move toward reusable packaging and packaging-free alternatives. Above all, companies need to phase out all single-use plastics. For the consumer, living more plastic-free is the only real solution available. Avoiding drinks in plastic containers, using a travel mug or reusable water bottle, bringing your own reusable bag, buying in bulk and cutting back on pre-packaged foods are all a good start.
But in the end, corporate America needs a deeper commitment to the plastic waste problem. “Companies must take action now to get rid of single-use plastics and packaging and not rely on false solutions such as recycling,” says Greenpeace.
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Are Oceans Silent?
Most sea creatures, from whales and dolphins to fish, sharks and shrimps, respond to sound, and many can produce it. They use it to hunt and to hide, find mates and food, send messages and give warnings, establish territories, warn off competitors, confuse their targets, deceive enemies, and sense changes in water and conditions. Marine animals click bones, grind teeth and belch gases (磨牙打嗝); use special organs to make various noises. Far from the ‘silent deep’, the oceans are so noisy.
Into this age-long confused noise, in the blink of an evolutionary eye, has entered a new thunder: the trembling sound of mighty engines as 46,220 large ships passed the world’s shipping courses. Scientists say that background noise in the ocean has increased roughly by 15 decibels (分贝) in the past 50 years. It may not sound like much in overall terms, but it is enough, according to many marine biologists, to mask the normal sounds of ocean life going about its business. At its most intense, some even say noise causes whales to become disoriented, dolphins to suffer from ‘the bends’, fish to go deaf, leave their breeding grounds or fail to form groups—enough to disorganize the basic biology of two thirds of the planet.
“Undersea noise pollution is like the death of a thousand cuts”, says Sylvia Earie, chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Each sound in itself may not be a matter of critical concern, but taken all together, the noise from shipping, earthquake-related surveys, and military activity is creating a totally different environment than existed even 50 years ago. That high level of noise is bound to have a hard, sweeping impact on life in the sea.
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91. The Problem of Packaging
A large source of rubbish is packaging material. It often makes up more than 30 percent of the total. To understand why this is true, think of the packaging commonly used for a simple product, such as toothpaste. The packaging includes not only the tube for the toothpaste, but also the box for the tube. This box is put into a plastic wrapper. Then, the boxes are transported in a cardboard container.
Most packaging material ends up in a landfill after it is thrown away. Though necessary, landfills take up valuable space, often stink, and can leak harmful substances into the soil. Landfills not included, the production of packaging material itself is a major source of air and water pollution.
People are now trying to solve the problems caused by packaging materials. In 1991, Germany took the lead by requiring companies to recycle the packaging used for their goods. To do this, the companies set up recycling bins in every neighborhood. Consumers now separate their rubbish into three categories—metal, plastic and paper cartons. They then put it into the appropriate bin. The rubbish sorted, it is transported to recycling company for processing.
The programme worked well at first. However, the amount of rubbish has begun to increase again. One reason for this is that many consumers no longer reduce waste because they think the problem is solved. It seems that to properly deal with the problem of rubbish, everyone must remain alert and do their part.
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如今，随着网购和物流业的发展包装的浪费现象十分严重。请你具体说明包装的浪费现象，并提出建议。你的文章必须包括：
1). 生活中此类浪费现象的具体表现；
2). 你对减少该现象的具体建议。
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Does Kilimanjaro Still Have Its Beauty?
Kilimanjaro is a watershed (分水岭)between Tanzania and Kenya. It is a volcano and a snowy mountain. Surrounded by mountain forests, Kilimanjaro is home to numerous mammals, some of which are endangered. Kilimanjaro was established as a national park in 1968 and was added to the World Heritage List in 1981. In the Tanzanians’ mind, Kilimanjaro is not just a bright mountain, and it is also an interesting mountain. Kilimanjaro is a world-famous tourist resort with the world's explorers and mountain enthusiasts gathering there.
Every year about 40,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They bring with them lots of waste. The crowds might damage the beauty of the place. The glaciers are disappearing, changing the face of Kilimanjaro. Hearing these stories, I’m wondering about the place-other destinations are described as purer natural experiences.
However, I soon discover that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of camps among tons of rubbish. I find a clean mountain, with toilets at camps and along the paths. The environmental challenges are significant but the efforts made by the Tanzania National Park Authority seem to be paying off.
The best of a Kilimanjaro experience, in my opinion, isn’t reaching the top. Mountains are regarded as spiritual places by many cultures. This view is especially evident on Kilimanjaro as climbers go through five ecosystems in the space of a few kilometers. At the base is a rainforest. It ends suddenly at 3, 000 meters, giving way to lands of low growing plants. Further up, the weather changes—low clouds envelope the mountainsides covered with thick grass. I count twelve shades of green from where I stand. Above 4, 000 meters is the highland desert: gravel (砾石)，stones and rocks. Finally, you climb into an arctic-like zone with permanent snow and the glaciers that may soon disappear.
Does Kilimanjaro deserve its reputation as a crowded mountain with lines of tourists ruining the atmosphere of peace? I found the opposite to be true.
Solving the Problem of E-Waste
One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste - electronic items that are broken and not recycled.
Tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded chiefly because we lack the skills to repair them. Fortunately, now solutions are being found to give e-waste a new life.
There's a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. A Restart Project in London, is one that many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that "this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault.
As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic appliances. It's thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining.
These projects make total sense --- collections of e-waste for recycling are depressing or even decreasing" according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no laws, much of it just gets dumped. However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.
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Coco-Cola’s Innovative Solution to Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing problem of the 21st Century with plastic waste almost everywhere. It is estimated that just in 2016, the world produced over 320 million tons of plastic, and this number is set to double by 2034.
Plastic waste even makes its way into our oceans with 8 million pieces of plastic pollution per day polluting our waters and destroying the habitat for hundreds of species. It is now believed that there may be around 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean weighing in total up to 269,000 tons. It’s been crystal clear for a long time that the situation is horrible and something needs to be done, and fast. Luckily, Coca-Cola stepped up to the challenge and came up with one innovative and rather effective solution. The firm is replacing its plastic wrapping in Europe with a new paper board technology.
This new tech is called the KeelClip and it is a first for the non-alcohol ready-to-drink (NARTD) industry. Using KeelClips, Coca-Cola aims to remove all plastic wrap from its can multipacks in all? European Union markets by the end of 2021. The firm is optimistic that the move will save 2,000 tons of plastic and 3,000 tons of CO2 annually.
“Innovation is a key principle of our sustainable packaging work and the application of this fully recyclable paperboard KeelClipTM, which is composed of a top board that the cans clip into and central cardboard ‘keel’ — similar to a ship’s keel — that stabilizes the pack, is another example of how we are delivering on our commitment to remove all unnecessary and hard to recycle single- use plastic from our products. We hope this eco-friendly initative is a conscious approach to dealing with plastic pollution,” said Joe Franses, Vice President, Sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners.
Lower Oxygen Levels Threaten Marine Life
Oxygen in the oceans is being lost at an alarming rate, with “dead zones” expanding rapidly and hundreds more areas showing oxygen dangerously exhausted, putting sharks, tuna, marlin and other large fish species at particular risk. Dead zones, where oxygen is effectively absent, have quadrupled(翻两番) in extent in the last half-century, and there are also at least 700 areas where oxygen is at dangerously low levels, up from 45 when research was undertaken in the 1960s.
The reasons behind this environmental collapse are multiple. Among all, pollutants generated by the industrial world have been the most destructive force to cause the unbalance, including a rising tide of plastic waste, as well as other pollutants. Seas are about 26% more acidic than in pre-industrial times because of absorbing the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with damaging impacts on shellfish in particular.
Low oxygen levels are also associated with global heating, because the warmer water holds less oxygen and the heating causes stratification(分层), so there is less of the vital mixing of oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor layers. Oceans are expected to lose about 3-4% of their oxygen by the end of this century, but the impact will be much greater in the levels closest to the surface, where many species are concentrated, and in the mid to high latitudes.
Another major cause for lower oxygen is intensive farming. When excess artificial fertilizer from crops, or wastes from the meat industry, runs off the land and into rivers and seas, it feeds algae(藻类) which bloom and then cause oxygen consumption as they die and decay.
The problem of dead zones has been known about for decades, but little has been done to tackle it. Now is high time to take actions and help the oceans function better.
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