More companies and recyclers are taking steps to ensure that old electronic devices such as TVs and computers aren’t sent to poor countries.

The Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based non-profit that largely exposed the overseas discarding (丢弃) of US electronic waste, on Thursday launched a programme to use third-party employees to certify (证实) recyclers who don’t export dangerous electronic waste.

The so-called e-Steward recyclers will also agree not to discard the waste in US landfills and agree to meet other criteria. The certification is intended to provide companies and consumers with some assurance that the waste, which can include toxins (毒素) such as lead and mercury, is disposed of safely.

The Government Accountability Office, in a 2008 report, declared that US electronic waste was often disposed of unsafely in such countries as India. There, workers recycle gold, silver and copper from the waste, often in open-air acid baths.

The Basel Network also says it won assurances from 13 organizations, including Samsung, Bank of America, Wells Far-go, that they’ll use e-Steward recyclers whenever possible. Wells Fargo had already been using recyclers who declared not to export. So far, Basel has certified three recyclers and seven sites.

Before e-stewards, even, companies that wanted to avoid export of electronic waste had to “hope for the best”, when, they handed their waste to recyclers, says Robert Houghton, president of Ohio-based recycler Redemtech. It is an e-Steward that counts major companies among its customers. “Now, they can get some proof,” Houghton says.

Basel’s standards compete with another set launched in January. It was made by industry and backed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

That standard, called R-2, doesn’t ban the export of dangerous electronic waste but requires that it be handled safely. Instead of a ban, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries says, efforts should be made to help poor countries develop safe recycling.

If, for some reason, you had 2,010 empty plastic bottles, what would you do? You’d probably sell them cheaply, right? But Xia Yu collected 2,010 bottles and built a boat with them. As you read this, Xia is, in fact, on a river somewhere in Anhui, slowly going towards his destination: the Expo Garden in Shanghai. 2,010 plastic bottles were to celebrate Expo (世博会) 2010 Shanghai. On the opening day of the Expo, Xia, together with five friends, went on a 1, 500km journey from Xiangtan to the Expo Garden, in spite of the doubt whether they’ll make it. After all, the boat they are on can hardly be called a boat. It cost only 2,000 yuan to build in a month.

What’s keeping Xia going is a major cause behind the trip. “We are examining water pollution through our journey and trying to promote a low-carbon (低碳) lifestyle. Before we started, no one believed we could sail the boat to the Dongting Lake. But we made it.” But as they expected, the journey has not always been smooth. Of the six from Xiangtan, four gave up. As of the press time (到发稿时), only Xia and his friend Huang Ying were on the boat. Huang suffered from a disease when they reached Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, Xia said, “There are so many things that can stop us from making it to Shanghai, like the weather, health, and sometimes swift river water”.

The boat was produced in a factory according to our design, and perhaps it’s not in a very good condition. But, Xia said, “we are wearing life jackets. Some boats passing by offered help”. What is more of a reward for Xia and Huang is that the Yangtze River turned out much cleaner than they had expected. Although Xia and Huang are uncertain about the journey ahead, they are quite happy with what they have already achieved. After all, it’s not the destination that counts. It’s always the course that matters the most.

Most of us don’t like to think too much about rubbish.【小题1】. However, household waste is a major contributor to our planet’s waste problem. Like it or not, it needs to be managed if we are to have a brighter green future.

When it comes to being responsible for our own rubbish, the best way to approach it is by following the three golden rules of waste management, or the ‘3 Rs’-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

“The order is important.【小题2】 ,” says Eugene Tay, Director of Green Future Solutions in Singapore. “Recycling still affects the environment and should be done last after reduce and reuse.”

But, when our efforts to reduce and reuse still result in an overflowing rubbish bin, the advantages of recycling cannot be ignored. “【小题3】,” says Amy Ho, Managing Director of World Wide Fund For Nature in Singapore. “The damage to our environment could then be slowed down as a result. ”

In fact, by recycling just one plastic bottle, you are saving not just the material to make a new one, but you also stop it from getting thrown into a landfill(垃圾掩埋场)for up to 700 years-and that’s before it even starts to rot. 【小题4】.

Recycling is so important that we really have no excuse not to do the simplest of household tasks that will make a difference.

“【小题5】 , ”says Ho. “Starting with recycling grey water for gardening purposes, to recycling materials such as glass, paper and iron-it all reduces the use of raw materials.”