You can use your ship to explore the world map. You can discover supplies to bring back to your island, other settlements to trade with, world mines to exploit, and more.
Soil water level is replenished by rain and this is mostly sufficient for crops with low water demands (such as potatoes). However, rain is not a reliable water source and crops can yield less or even dry out and die when not having enough water.
Farms grow crops, and <b>crops</b> can be used in various places but mainly to feed your people. But crops don’t grow for free, they consume <b>water</b> and <b>fertility</b>.
Your population's health decreases if you emit pollution (air or water). Pollution on your island is global, so moving smoke stacks farther from your settlement won’t help. It is a good idea to keep your eye on how much pollution you emit.
Captain, we have found the island we’ve been searching for, it was not on the map! Our ship took a lot of damage and will need major repairs in order to sail again but we should be safe here.
This does not relate to efficiency of this sorting plant. Instead it defines how efficiently your island converts waste into recyclables in places like maintenance depots and settlement. So for instance 40% efficiency means that 40% of the iron used in maintenance ends up in recyclables. What is not converted into recyclables gets wasted. Note that postponing processing of recyclables due to expectations of future increase in efficiency won't help as the conversion is done when recyclables are created not when they are sorted. Efficiency can be increased via research and edicts.