Paper bottles must be made!

Plastic is causing a lot of problems to our environment in the world. For example, it is polluting the rivers and oceans. What’s more,it is harming and killing the wildlife. Plastic is a growing problem because it takes hundreds of years to break down.

Many companies around the world are trying to use other things to take the place of plastic. Coca-Cola has worked together with a Danish new factory called the Paper Bottle Company （“Paboco” for short）to make a paper bottle. Coca-Cola hopes to completely stop using plastic for its drinks bottles. It was the world’s number one plastic polluter in 2019. In one year, it uses around three million tons of plastic packaging（包装）. A lot of this is not recycled.

Can you imagine that when you go into a supermarket or a store, you will find all the plastic packaging disappear? That’s what we are going for. One Coca-Cola manager called Jackson said, “Our purpose is to create a paper bottle. This kind of bottle can be recycled like any other type of paper. A paper bottle opens up a whole new world of packaging. We believe that paper packaging has a role to play in the future.” He added that he hopes Coca- Cola will one day use only packaging from renewable（可再生的）sources that are recyclable. He said, “It is our job to find the most proper packaging solutions for people to enjoy our drinks in a way that is right for them, and that is right for our earth.”

It is not only Coca-Cola’s but also everyone else’s job to use less plastic products in our life.

We need to be responsible (负责的) for our environment. Being a frugal consumer (节俭的消费者) is one way to help. But, what exactly does that mean?

Use It Up

You can use things up instead of wasting them. Squeeze (挤) that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube. Use the last little piece of soap. Don’t throw away any bits of the biscuit at the bottom of the box.

Wear It Out

You do not always need to have new things. Suppose your sports shoes have broken laces (鞋带), but they still fit you. Repair them and wear them longer. You don’t have the latest iPhone until the old one doesn’t work any more. Then you can get a new one. Think twice before replacing something that still works.

Make It Do

When something you want is not on hand, look for something else that you already have to take its place. Suppose you are packing your lunch for tomorrow and want a butter sandwich. You are out of butter. Have a cheese sandwich instead so that you can use all of the cheese. Learn to fix broken toys instead of just throwing them away. With a little thought, you can make something do, instead of buying something new.

Do Without

Think about all those things that you would like to have. Do you really need them? How long will you really play with that new toy you saw on TV? Making the things that we want uses up your world’s resources (资源). And, getting rid of the things we don’t want any more takes up even more resources and space.

Can you believe Chengdu is short of water? In March 2022, the government said the city will face serious water shortage in 2030. Some other cities in southern China, like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, are also becoming “thirsty”. Compared with northern areas, southern areas have more rain and are close to more rivers and lakes. So why are they still short on water?

As we know, populations are growing fast in these cities. So people and factories need more and more water. Each person in Chengdu has less than 600 m³ of water each year. It’s 1/4 of the country’s average (平均). The situation in Shenzhen is worse. It’s 1/12 of the country’s average. According to the UN, it is a “real water shortage” when it’s below 500 cubic meters.

Climate (气候) change is making the water problem worse. For example, most cities in Chengdu depend on Minjiang River as its main source(来源) of water. Recent years, there isn’t enough water running into the river. The change also causes less snow in the mountains. They might provide less water in the future.

What’s more, water pollution makes it harder to get clean drinking water. Factories and farms don’t use water properly.

March 22 is World Water Day. This year, the key point is “groundwater”. We can’t see groundwater. It’s under our feet. But it plays an important role in our lives. About 98 percent of Earth’s fresh water is groundwater. But in many places, people pollute groundwater.