Rubbish or trash is a major kind of environmental pollution. Each person produces about two kilograms of rubbish a day. We are making waste products faster than nature can break them down (分解) .

This adds up to trouble for the environment. Where does all trash go? What can be done to help deal with the rubbish? How can we make less rubbish?

Rubbish isn’t just the smelly rotting (腐烂的) fruits, vegetables or meat that we throw away in our homes. Those are only a small part of all the trash we throw away. We create other more kinds of waste, in construction, in mining (采矿) and in our factories. Did you ever wonder what happened to your rubbish? Most are burned or buried in landfills (废物填埋场). Less than a quarter of our waste is recycled (回收) .

With a population of 1.41 billion, rubbish is a big problem for China. Chinese cities create around 148 million tons of garbage every year. The number is growing at around 10 percent each year. Once, we used about 3 billion plastic shopping bags every day in China. The result was a great waste of resources and serious pollution. So we did something about that. Now we use more cloth bags and shopping baskets when we shop.

In the coming years, China will build waste-to-energy plants in cities to clean up the rubbish and change them to energy. But there’s a lot more that needs to be done. And everyone can play a part.

Trash (垃圾) for Toilet Use

In recent years, tourism has developed rapidly in West China. This has led to a huge increase in trash. Most of it has been left behind by tourists. In 2021, photos of plastic waste along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (青藏公路) were shared online. This made local people worried about the local environment.

Local governments (当地政府) and nonprofits (非营利组织) have tried many different ways to deal with this problem. One project uses a new idea: trash for toilet use. The project sets up special restrooms in scenic areas. There’s one such restroom on Mount Zheduo (折多山).To use it, visitors must throw an empty plastic bottle into an intelligent box. The box will then give them a “green coin.” They can use the green coin to unlock the door of the restroom.

The project began last November. “Tens of thousands of visitors have taken part in it,” the nonprofit Green River said in a post on Weibo. “Millions of pieces of trash have been collected.” For some visitors, however, the project is confusing. One of them shared his experience on social media. “It’s a good idea,” he said. “But it’s impossible for visitors to always have an empty bottle on hand.” What do you think of this project?

At 8,844.43 meters high, Mount Qomolangma is the tallest mountain on Earth. While it is famous for its beautiful views, parts of the mountain are facing a problem: garbage. Every year, thousands of visitors throw away tons of garbage. The garbage found on Mount Qomolangma has caused serious pollution. It is bad for water farther down in the mountain’s valley （山谷）. The polluted water and soil on the mountain has already been a cause of environmental concern （担 忧）in China, Nepal and India.

According to the UN, over 140 tons of garbage has been left on the mountain. To deal with the garbage, China started to limit the number of people who were allowed to climb up the north side of the mountain in 2019. Only 300 people will be allowed to climb it, and only during spring.

Local residents （居民）collected about 8. 4 tons of garbage at heights of 5,200 meters and above in 2018. The local government is also setting up stations to sort（分类），recycle and break down garbage collected from the mountain. A group of artists will also try to turn the garbage into artwork. They will show these works of art to remind people not to leave garbage behind when climbing the mountain.

The focus is for the mountain to be climbed in a scientific and green way. Nowadays, people ——including mountaineers and local people ——are more aware （意识到） of the importance of environmental protection.