Companies are continuously producing more and more electronic devices. Every new model is designed to be more sophisticated than its predecessor so that people buy it. Therefore, devices are often used for only a few years.

So what happens to all these gadgets when they’re thrown away? Have you ever wondered where old electronic devices end up after their last usage?

In many countries e-waste is collected by local authorities or just taken back by the sellers. What happens then? Are they recycled?

Recycling electronic gadgets is difficult and very expensive. On top of that not everything is reusable and some of the devices may contain toxic materials. As a result, in many cases e-waste is exported to some Asian or African developing countries. In these countries, at the expens of their health, underpaid workers handle and dismantle the devices completely. Moreover a big portion of the exported e-waste isn’t recycled whatsoever. The waste is just simply dumped, thereby creating colossal dumpsters in the open air.

In addition, these open air dumpsters put the local people at risk of poisoning and the surrounding environment is heavily threatened too.

Is it possible to do anything to help? Might we be able to keep our phones and laptops for another year instead of changing them for the latest versions?

Michele L.

Agricultural pollution has many different sources. Fertilizers and chemical pesticides are the most polluting items in agriculture. The fertilizers are based on nitrogen which is a gas that produces strong greenhouse gases. It can also pollute water. Chemical pesticides, on the other hand, can pollute air, water and our food with some residues. In order to reduce agricultural pollution, we can use the orgnaic agricultural which does not use chemical products and respects the biodiversity of the crop.

This kind of agriculture is based on some important techniques such as:

- Improving and incrementing organic fertility by using biological fertilizers and recycling leftovers from previous crops

- Rotating the crops so that one product is alternating with two others in order to give soil back the necessary substances

- Creating edges to increase biodiversity and protecting the culture hosting animals which kill parasites

- Using natural pesticides or specific insects to kill plants or insects which can damage the crop.

The average of total organic area in Europe is 7.5%. In Italy it is higher than in Europe, in fact it is 15.5%.

There is still a lot to do to improve these low numbers, which are so low because this type of agriculture is more expensive and more difficult than the traditional one.

Sofia R.

Nathan Grossman, a swedish film director, has been working on the critically-acclaimed and impactful biographical documentary “I am Greta: force of nature” since the young activist, Greta Thunberg, started to catch the attention of the media and the news. The film was released in November 2020 and its première has been presented at the 77th Venice International Film Festival.

The film shows with an artistic tone the journey the Swedish teenage girl with a passion for good change has gone through for the past three years, the love, but also the hate she received, but mainly the people who have always been on her side and who have believed in her.

Strong images make this film artistic and capable of attracting the viewer’s attention and of raising awareness on various issues, first of all climate change: multiple and long silences give us a peek of the world seen from the point of view of a girl who has suffered from depression and who is, by now, well-known for being diagnosed with Asperger syndrome and for whom she receives many critics and insults.

All in all, the film strongly emphasises the need of the younger generations to make a change and politicians’ rejection and mockery, by showing the moving, but also aggressive words Greta exposes during conferences and the great distress she feels towards our ever-declining future.

Sara G.