肺炎疫情改變了人類，地球卻得到了喘息

2019年12月31日，當全世界的人類沉浸在跨年的喜悅中，台灣首先向世界衛生組織(WHO)去函警告某不明肺炎可能人傳人的消息開始至今，世界仍未能有效控制疫情的蔓延與病毒的變異。在此期間，人類面臨過恐慌、醫療資源短缺、重症死亡人數增加、封城令限制行動、緊急研發疫苗...都顯示著人類在這波Covid-19新冠肺炎的威脅下，我們從剛開始的害怕、慌亂轉而開始應變並積極面對疫情。這種生物本能的反應顯示出我們的脆弱但最終能做出「改變」，而「改變」就是人類最大的優勢。

 

然而，當新冠疫情擴散迫使全世界經濟按下停止鍵，人類破天荒地採用Stay At Home的方式來拯救地球時，地球上卻有更多的生物因此得到了暫時的喘息，甚至可以說它們在此期間歡欣鼓舞地活著，因為人類不見了。《這一年，地球變得不一樣》是2021年4月由Apple TV+隨著「世界地球日」與「Covid-19滿周年」所推出的紀錄影片。影片中記錄著人類因為疫情被禁制活動的關係，忠實呈現出世界各地自然生態的改變。

在疫情蔓延、各地封城的關係，在短短數天時間，洛杉磯創下40年最佳的空氣品質；中國上空的空氣有毒物質也減半；連空汙最嚴重的印度，它的賈朗達爾城也在封城12天後改善了30年來的空汙霧霾，並能夠看到200多公里以外的喜馬拉雅山，而讓當地居民興奮不已。因為人類的活動限制而減少了船隻的使用，海中的噪音減少也讓海洋生物如座頭鯨與海豚這些水中生物能夠增加溝通距離並因此增加覓食量。沙灘上玩水曬日光浴的人潮因疫情限制而顯得空曠冷清，赤蠵龜與企鵝也因此能夠增加育兒數量與餵食次數以增加幼龜、小企鵝的存活率。甚至，當疫情屆滿一年之後，研究人員發現該年的全球二氧化碳含量下降6%，地表也因為人類旅行、工業活動的減少而地殼活動減半。片後這些動物研究學者並呼籲人類需盡快找到合適的方式與大自然共存。

 

在這紀錄片中得到很多體會，想經由《這一年，我們變得不一樣》這篇文章向這齣由Apple TV+與BBC所推出的紀錄片致敬，並衷心建議有更多人能觀看這部僅48分鐘的影片。以下，小編貼上它的官方預告片讓大家能夠小小體驗一下。

影片來源：Apple TV+, 《這一年，地球變得不一樣》官方預告片

 

與地球共存，保留自然資源給下一代

自有人類以來，我們與自然界的競爭至今都未停歇，只不過從前掠奪的對象是人類或其他生物物種，而現在改為爭奪自然資源的不同而已。原本，若對於自然資源取用的狀態能夠有所平衡，那麼地球資源還可能有機會恢復或長遠使用。但根據統計，尤其是1950年至今的70年內，地球總人口已由25億人增加到現在的近79億人，因此人類對於自然資源的需求已經超越地球所能承受的極限了。石油剩40年存量、黃金白銀也即將在20年左右開採殆盡；沒錯，我們正留給下一代一個枯竭的未來。所以，我們必須開始思考如何在滿足需求的狀況下同時減少或停止對「地下資源（原始礦產）」的擴張式掠奪了。

 

首先，先舉幾個「減少使用資源」的例子吧！根據統計，1台共享汽車約可替代20台家用車，也就是說在需求不變的狀況下，可以減少95%的資源浪費與廢棄物產生。這就是共享經濟能為地球改善資源不足的替代例子。另外，以台灣Youbike共享單車為例，每台共享單車每天能夠服務約12人次，這是巴黎、紐約、倫敦共享單車服務次數的2~3倍。所以，共享經濟並非遙不可及，只是需要改變我們的物品使用心態（付費使用物品代替購買擁有物品）而已。

 

自己的垃圾自己收拾，地上資源的再利用

再來，若想能夠更進一步地有效降低甚至停止對「地下資源（原始礦產）」的依賴，我們就要開始習慣使用「地上資源（回收資源）」了！所謂的地上資源簡單來說就是我們已經使用或已經製造出來的物品，當這些物品一旦毀壞並且無法再行修復時，就應該再被拆卸分類，回歸變成可用資源。雖然這些回收資源因為種類的差異不一定都能「同級回收」，例如輪胎的回收就是屬於「降級回收」的好例子，輪胎回收後可分類成金屬絲與橡膠，雖然這些回收橡膠無法再次製作成輪胎販售，但卻能夠降級來製作成運動場等設施的PU跑道，進而降低或減緩廢棄物直接進入焚燒、掩埋的最終階段。此外，當然有許多可以「同級回收」的資源，這裡最好的例子就是貴金屬了。我們在"台灣也有豐富金礦｜mittag jewelry採用全環保「有機金」、「有機銀」"一文中也有提到，如黃金、白銀等高價值金屬除了可以從許多的回收首飾中取得，還能夠從回收的主機板、手機、晶片、電視、電腦螢幕、太陽能板等零件中提取，並且提煉至與礦產金銀完全相同的純度，這就是許多世界先進國家正在做的「城市礦山」，以這樣的方式停止對原始礦產的依賴並已行之有年，歐洲國家就是這個方面的先驅。而在亞洲來說，日本與台灣也是有潛力加入這樣的「循環經濟」行列。因為我們已經有了完整的回收體系與技術，唯一的差別就是歐美與亞洲消費者的接受度了。接下來，透過下方的影片來跟您分享台灣先進的回收體系吧！

影片來源：The DoDo Man 嘟嘟人

 

別以為新的比較好！付出的代價超乎你想像

剛剛，我們已經了解包含一般金屬與貴金屬的回收資源並不會與礦區所開採的金屬有任何差別，除了能夠保留礦產以外還能保護環境不被破壞，而且，使用回收方式來獲取貴金屬還有一個您不一定知道的優點，那就是「開採效率」優於採礦。以金礦開採為例，每1公噸礦脈的黃金含量約為0.3~1公克，但是若以1公噸的回收行動電話可以提煉出280公克黃金、以1公噸的回收個人電腦可得92公克的黃金。可以說，與其開發礦山，還遠遠不及從手機與個人電腦「挖礦」來的有效率。而且，金礦開採若要獲取足夠的黃金數量來支撐其商業規模，您可以想想這樣的礦區規模與所帶來的環境破壞會是多麼的巨大！

 

這一年我們變得不一樣｜「改變」是生存最好的方法

在2020年初的新冠肺炎引發國際的恐慌與危機，讓更多的人開始加入並正視這個攸關人類未來生活的議題—永續環境。2020年5月6日由法國「世界報」（Le Monde）刊登的一篇給世界各國領袖的公開信『Please, let’s not go back to normal （拜託！讓我們別回到正常生活）』，其署名是來自國際巨星瑪丹娜和諾貝爾和平獎得主尤努斯等200位國際科學家與各界名人，他們一同呼籲各國領袖與全世界的公民，在未來疫情降溫並開始解除防疫封鎖之後，千萬別回到正常生活，而是必須拋棄現行卻不具永續性的邏輯，來檢視生活中什麼才是真正必要的。信中還提及我們一直以來追求消費主義，企業沉迷在增加生產能力，讓我們忽略了包含動物、植物和許多人類生命本身的價值。並呼籲這樣的經濟模式必須改變，以助於拯救地球。

 

這一年我們變得不一樣，這一年我們必須開始變得不一樣，因為新冠肺炎造成全球的影響是給人類一個反省的機會，而「改變」是人類能夠生存下去的最大優勢，改變我們與地球和生物的相處模式，改變我們對自然資源任意取用的心態，改變我們對物品線性使用的習慣，開始用永續的角度來審查我們購買的商品，檢視商品的原料來源、製程、使用以及最後回收處理是否符合永續的理念，都是我們需要多加思考的。know more, buy less, choose better, last longer. 知道多一點、購買少一點、選擇好一點、使用久一點；選擇「永續資源製作的商品」遠比這次全球以「Stay At Home」封城、限制人類行動的方式拯救地球來的簡單得多，您說是嗎？

 

#這一年地球變得不一樣
#世界地球日
#共享經濟
#循環經濟
#城市礦山

 

 

 

 

The year we changed

by mittag jewelry

 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed mankind, but the earth has a respite

 

On December 31, 2019, when people all over the world were immersed in the joy of the New Year’s Eve, Taiwan first sent a letter to the WHO to warn that an unknown pneumonia may be transmitted from person to person. So far, the world has not been able to effectively control the epidemic, the spread and the mutation of the virus. During this period, mankind has faced panic, shortage of medical resources, increase in the number of deaths, lockdown orders to restrict movement, emergency research and development of vaccines... all show that mankind is under the threat of this wave of Covid-19. The fear and panic turned to respond and actively face the epidemic. This biological instinctive response shows that we are fragile but can ultimately make "change", and "change" is the greatest advantage of mankind.

 

However, when the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic forced the world economy to press the stop button, and mankind used the "Stay At Home'' method to save the earth for an unprecedented attempt, more creatures on the earth got a temporary respite, and it can even be said that they are happily alive because human beings were gone during this period. "The Year Earth Changed" is a documentary film released by Apple TV+ on "Earth Day '' and "Covid-19 Anniversary" in April 2021. The film records the relationship between human activities being prohibited due to the epidemic, and faithfully presents the changes in natural ecology around the world.

 

With the spread of the epidemic and the lockdown of cities, in just a few days, Los Angeles has achieved the best air quality in 40 years; the air toxic substances over China have also been halved; even in India, where has the most serious air pollution, after the Jalandhar city was closed for 12 days, the air pollution and haze for 30 years have been reduced, and the Himalayas can be seen from more than 200 kilometers away, which made the local residents so excited. Due to the restriction of human activities, the use of boats has been reduced, and the reduction in noise in the sea also allows marine life such as humpback whales and dolphins to increase communication distance and thus increase foraging. The crowds playing in the water and sunbathing on the beach are no more popular due to the epidemic restrictions, loggerhead turtles and penguins can therefore increase the number of parenting and feeding times to increase the survival rate of young turtles and young penguins. Even one year after the epidemic happened, researchers found that the global carbon dioxide content dropped by 6% that year, and the earth's crustal movement was also halved due to the reduction of human travel and industrial activities. By the end of the film, these animal specialists also appealed to humans to find a suitable way to coexist with nature as soon as possible.

 

We have gained a lot of understanding from this documentary, and would like to pay tribute to this documentary launched by Apple TV+ and BBC through the article ''This year we changed'', and sincerely suggest that more people can watch this 48-minute film. Below, we posted its official trailer so that everyone can have a little experience.

sourced from: The Year Earth Changed — Official Trailer | Apple TV+

 

 

Coexist with the earth and preserve natural resources for the next generation

 

Since the beginning of mankind, our competition with nature has not stopped, but the object of predation in the past was humans or other biological species, but now it is competing for natural resources. If the access for natural resources can be balanced, then the earth's resources may also have a chance to recover or be used in the long term. However, according to statistics, especially within 70 years from 1950 to the present, the total population of the earth has increased from 2.5 billion people to nearly 7.9 billion people now. Therefore, human demand for natural resources has exceeded the limit that the earth can bear. With 40 years of oil remaining, and in about 20 years gold and silver will be exhausted; yes, we are leaving a depleted future for the next generation. Therefore, we must start to think about how to reduce or stop the expansionary plunder of "underground resources (primitive minerals)" while meeting demand.

 

First of all, let's give a few examples of "reducing the use of resources"! According to statistics, one shared car can replace about 20 family cars, which means that under the condition of constant demand, it can reduce resource waste generation by 95%. This is an example of the sharing economy that can reduce the planet’s lack of resources. In addition, taking Taiwan's Youbike as an example, each shared bicycle can serve about 12 people per day, which is 2 to 3 times the number of shared bicycle services in Paris, New York, and London. Therefore, the sharing economy is not out of reach, it just needs to change our mentality of using items (paying to use items instead of buying to own items).

 

 

Clean up our own garbage and reuse ground resources

 

Furthermore, if we want to further effectively reduce or even stop our dependence on "underground resources (primitive minerals)", we must start to get used to using "ground resources (recycled resources)"! The so-called above-ground resources are simply the items we have used or manufactured. Once these items are destroyed and can no longer be repaired, they should be disassembled and classified and returned to usable resources. Although these recycled resources may not be "recycled at the same level" due to the difference in types, for example, the recycling of tires is a good example of "downcycling". After recycling, tires can be classified into metal wires and rubber, although these recycled rubber cannot be made into tires again, but they can be downgraded to be made into PU runways for sports fields and other facilities, thereby reducing or slowing down the final stage of incineration and burial of waste directly. In addition, there are of course many resources that can be "same level cycling". The best example here is precious metals. We also mentioned in the article "Taiwan has rich gold mines｜mittag jewelry adopts "organic gold and silver". High-value metals such as gold and silver can be obtained from recycled jewelry, but also can be extracted from recycled motherboards, mobile phones, chips, TVs, computer screens, solar panels etc..., and refined to the same purity level as mineral gold and silver. This is the "urban mine" that many advanced countries are doing in the world. The way to stop digging primitive minerals has been done for many years, and European countries are pioneers in this regard. In Asia, Japan and Taiwan also have the potential to join the groups of such a "circular economy". Because we already have a complete recycling system and technology, the only difference is the acceptance by consumers in Europe, America and Asia. Next, let us share with you Taiwan’s advanced recycling system through the video below!

sourced from: The DoDo Man

 

 

Stopping thinking that the new one is better! The price paid is beyond your imagination

 

We have just learned that the recycled resources containing general metals and precious metals will not be any different from the metals mined in the mining area. In addition to retaining minerals, it can also protect the environment from damage. The advantage you may not know is that "mining efficiency" of using recycling to obtain precious metals is better than mining. Taking gold mining as an example, the gold content is about 0.3 to 1 gram per 1 metric ton of gold mine, but if 1 metric ton of recycled mobile phones can be used to extract 280 grams of gold, and 1 metric ton of recycled personal computers can yield 92 grams of gold. It can be said that instead of digging mines, it is far less efficient than "mining" from mobile phones and personal computers. Moreover, if gold mining is to obtain enough gold to support its commercial scale, you can think about the scale of such a mining area and how great the environmental damage it will bring!

 

 

This year we became different | "Change" is the best way to survive

 

The COVID-19 caused international panic and crisis at the beginning of 2020, and more people began to join and face this issue, which is the concern of human life in the future sustainable environment. An open letter “Please, let's not go back to normal”published by Le Monde in France on May 6, 2020. It was from international superstar Madonna, Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus and 200 international scientists and celebrities . They all called on leaders of all countries and citizens of the world to stop returning to normal after the epidemic cools down in the future, instead, we must abandon the current but not sustainable logic to examine what is really necessary in life. The letter also mentions that we have been pursuing consumerism, enterprises are addicted to increasing production capacity, which makes us ignore the value of animals, plants and many human lives themselves. And called for such an economic model must be changed to save the planet.

 

This year we have become different, and this year we must start to become different, because the global impact of the COVID-19 is an opportunity for mankind to reflect, and "change" is the greatest advantage that mankind can survive, changing our mode of getting along with the earth and living creatures, changing our mentality of arbitrary use of natural resources, changing our habit of linear use of goods, and began to review the products we buy from a sustainable perspective, and examine the source of raw materials, manufacturing processes, and use of goods. As well as whether the final recycling process is consistent with the concept of sustainability, we need to think more about it. Know more, buy less, choose better, last longer. Choosing "products made with sustainable resources" is far easier to save the planet by "staying at home", do you agree?

#TheYearEarthChanged
#EarthDay 
#SharingEconomy
#CircularEconomy
#UrbanMine