豆知识 2011-10-09&10-15 电子设备的故事 (3/3)

 Imagine that instead of all this toxic¹ e-waste piling up in our garages and the streets of Guiyu, we sent it to the garages of the CEOs who made it. You can bet that they’d be on the phone to their designers pretty fast demanding they stop designing for the dump. 

 

 

 

Making companies deal with their e-waste is called Extended Producer Responsibility or Product Take-back. If all these old gadgets² were their problem, it would be cheaper for them to just design them longer lasting³, less toxic, and more recyclable in the first place. They could even make them modular so that when one part broke, they could just send us a new piece instead of taking back the whole broken mess. 

 

 

 

Already take-back laws are popping up all over Europe and Asia. In the U.S. many cities and states are passing similar laws. These laws need to be protected and strengthened. It’s time to get these brainiacs on our side. With take-back laws and citizen action to demand greener products, we can start a race to the top, where designers compete to make long-lasting, toxic-free products. 

 

 

 

So let’s have a green Moore’s law. How about the use of toxic chemicals will be cut in half every 18 months? The number of workers poisoned will decline⁴ at an ever faster rate? We need to give these designers a challenge they can rise to and do what they do best. Innovate⁵! Already, some of them are realizing they’re too smart to be dump designers and are figuring out how to make computers without PVC or toxic flame retardants. Good Job, guys!

 

 

 

But we can do even more. When we take our e-waste to recyclers, we can make sure they don’t export it to developing countries. And when we do need to buy new gadgets, we can choose greener products. But the truth is we are never going to just shop our way out of this problem, because the choices available to us at the store are limited by the choices of designers and policy makers⁶ outside of the store. That’s why we need to join with others to demand stronger laws on toxic chemicals and on banning e-waste exports.

 

 

 

There are billions of people out there who want access to the incredible⁷ web of information and entertainment that electronics⁸ offer. But it’s the access they want, not all the toxic garbage. So, let’s get our brains working on sending that old design for the dump mentality⁹ to the dump where it belongs and instead building an electronics industry and a global society that’s designed to last.

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

5 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

8 electronics   

n.电子器件，电子学，电子技术

参考例句：

• About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
• He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。

9 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。