Why Is Recycling Important?
When you throw things away, you might be very glad to do it. Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. The things we throw away have to go somewhere－usually they go off to be buried underground in a landfill (垃圾填埋) or burnt in an incinerator (焚化炉). Landfills can be terribly polluting. They look awful, they smell terrible, they take up space that could be used for better things, and they sometimes create harmful soil and water pollution that can kill fish in our rivers and seas.
One of the worst things about landfills is that they're wasting a huge amount of useful material. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of resources to make things, and when we throw those things in a landfill, at the end of their lives, we're also saying goodbye to all the energy and resources instead of burying it in landfills. That certainly has advantages: it reduces the amount of waste that has to be buried and we can get useful energy from it. But it can also produce harmful air pollution, and burning almost anything adds to the problem of global warming and climate change.
The trouble is, we're all in the habit of throwing things away. In the early part of 20th century, people used materials much more wisely－especially in World War Ⅱ, but in recent decades we've become a throwaway society. We tend to buy new things instead of getting old ones repaired. A lot of men use single-use razors (剃须刀), for example, instead of buying reusable ones, while a lot of women wear single-use stockings. Partly this is to do with the great convenience of throwaway items. It's also because they're cheap. But wasteful period in our history is coming to an end.
We're finally starting to realize that our lifestyle is creating problems for future generations. Earth is soon going to be running on empty if we carry on as we are. Americans have a much richer life than almost anyone else on Earth. What happens when people in developing countries such as India and China decide they want to live the same way as us? According to the environmentalists, we'd need two Earths to satisfy all their needs.
Why Is Recycling Important | |
Ways to deal with rubbish | •Bury rubbish underground in a land fill. •rubbish in an incinerator. |
Disadvantages of the landfill | •It looks terrible and smells bad. •It too much space which could be put to better use. •It pollutes soil and water. •Large amounts of materials are wasted. |
The advantages and disadvantages of burning rubbish | •The waste that needs to be buried is after burning. •It can useful energy. |
•It causes air pollution. •It has a bad on global warming and climate change. | |
The problem | •People are used to things away. •Both men and women prefer single-use products because they are and more convenient. |
The writer's concern | •The lifestyle of Americans now will create a for future generation. •If people all over the world their lives in the same way as Americans, the Earth will be ruined very quickly. |
