A great deal of personal protective equipment （PPE）— for example, disposable masks, rubber gloves — has been used since the pandemic began. It is estimated that medical waste, including masks which take 450 years to decompose （分解）in nature, has increased by 60 percent during the pandemic. A survey by Indonesian Institute of Sciences （LIPI） Research Centre found that masks and other healthcare garbage made up 16 percent of the total floating in the Cilincing and Marunda river in Jakarta Bay in March and April last year. Finding ways to change this is top of mind for some researchers.

The team at LIPI is experimenting with the disposable masks containing polypropylene （聚丙烯）a type of plastic that is tough but stretchable, which makes good raw material to produce various plastic products. At RMIT university in Melbourne, Australia, researchers are making a mix of mask pellets （颗粒），which help to add hardness and strength, and process building rubble （砾石）designed to be used for base layer of roads and pavements. One kilometer of a two-lane road will use around 3 million masks, preventing 93 tons of waste from going to landfill.

For the broader demand in mask recycling, TerraCycle, a waste management and recycling company, offers a Zero Waste Box that works like a recycling bin for used safety and protective equipment. Waste from hospital and medical centers is not included. The box comes with prepaid return label. Once full, it can be sent back to the company. All Zero Waste Boxes are quarantined（隔离）on arrival for a minimum of 72 hours to protect the workers handling the waste, separating the collected waste into fibers and plastics mechanically or manually. At last they will be transported to the company’s various third-party partners to manufacture a variety of new products including outdoor furniture, watering cans and storage containers, etc.

“To adopt the new recycling methods on a large scale would require a steady supply of waste masks in order to keep the machine running”, an official from the Plastic Recycling Association said, “but this never means those innovations are white elephants.”

Mike Myers is a teacher at Chauncey Rose High School in Terre Haute,Indiana.Last year,he taught his students about the world’s rainforests.They learned that rainforests are important because the plants and animals of the rainforests give us food,wood,and medicine.

Destruction of the world’s rainforests is a serious problem.Unluckily,rainforests are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute!As part of a class project,Myers’ students bought three acres of the rainforest in Central America.They paid $25 per acre.The students hope that the land they bought will be protected and not destroyed.The students became so interested in rainforests that they decided to get a closer look at a real rainforest.

So last June, Myers and four of his students took a boat ride down a river.They saw alligators and crocodiles.In the middle of the week,a guide took Myers and his students into the rainforest.“The monkeys were not happy that we were in their forest.They broke small branches off the trees and threw them at us,” one of the students said,“It was a great learning experience for all of us,” said Myers.

Each student chose something specific about Costa Rica to study involving the plants,animals,food,and culture.During the last few days the group had time to do fun activities.They went whitewater rafting and horseback riding,and visited Costa Rica’s active volcano.

Myers hopes to make the trip every year with a different group of kids.

On Monday, 2023, people across Kenya took part in the country’s first national tree-planting holiday. The holiday was created by Kenya’s president to encourage people to plant trees as part of a plan to fight the climate crisis.

Kenya is famous for its beautiful forests and wildlife. But large areas of Kenya’s forests have been cut down. Those trees would normally help absorb carbon dioxide. 【小题1】

Currently, just 7% of Kenya is covered by trees. Kenya has been seriously affected by the climate crisis. The country has been hit by a severe drought, and the area’s rain patterns have been changing for the worse.

An app is created to help organize the tree planting. 【小题2】 It helps people collect seedlings, find places to plant, and record their efforts. The app will also help the government track how many trees have been planted in different areas around the country.

On Monday, people all over Kenya turned out in large numbers to take part in the holiday. In the capital, Nairobi, hundreds of people joined in, even though it was raining. 【小题3】 But the government had a goal of planting several hundred million more before the end of December.

【小题4】 But some people were upset because the holiday was announced too late for them to be able to take part. Still others have criticized the government for a decision made earlier this year to end a ba n on cutting down older trees. 【小题5】 Some hope that it will happen every year.