【推荐1】The global movement to get rid of plastic has led to concern about single-use plastic tea bags, with many people now considering them wasteful and potentially dangerous. New research by a team at McGill University found that a tea bag soaked (浸泡) in 95℃ water released 11.6 billion units of microplastics and 3.1 billion smaller nanoplastic particles (微粒). The researchers are suggesting that dipping into boiling water makes the tea bags release higher numbers of plastic particles or poisonous substances.

This quantity of microplastics is larger than the amount consumed by a person in an entire year, so the question remains whether the consumption of microplastics is harmful to the human body. Worryingly, when exposed to these levels of microplastics, water fleas (水蚤) were noted to show body and behavior abnormalities. For a nation that consumes up to 60.2 billion cups of tea a year, this has caused concern. While there is no evidence that these micro-plastics affect human health, the UN has said more research is needed to fully understand the effect microplastics have on the body.

It is not only plastic tea bags that contain chemicals. 96 per cent of paper tea bags sold in the UK contain polypropylene—a chemical used to close the openings. This chemical can makeup 25 per cent of the bag.

Some brands such as the Co-op and PG Tips had already adopted 100 per cent compostable (可堆肥的) ten bags due to public pressure. While Lidl is exploring the alternative for biological tea bags. Yorkshire Tea is aiming to switch to plant-based materials by the end of the year. The most eco-friendly tea, however, remains loose leaf in a pot or cup.

【推荐2】When hydrogen(氢气) burns, the only by-product is water—which is why hydrogen has been an attractive zero-carbon energy source for decades. Yet the traditional process for producing hydrogen, in which fossil fuels are exposed to steam, is not even remotely zero-carbon. Hydrogen produced this way is called gray hydrogen; if the CO₂ is captured and sequestered (封存), it is called blue hydrogen.

Green hydrogen is different. It is produced through electrolysis (电解), in which machines split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with no other by-products. Historically, electrolysis required so much electricity that it made little sense to produce hydrogen that way. The situation is changing for two reasons. First, significant amounts of excess renewable electricity have become available at grid(输电网)scale; rather than storing excess electricity in arrays of batteries, the extra electricity can be used to drive the electrolysis of water, “storing” the electricity in the form of hydrogen. Second, electrolyzers are getting more efficient.

Current renewable technologies such as solar and wind can decarbonize (脱碳) the energy sector by as much as 85 percent by replacing gas and coal with clean electricity. Other parts of the economy, such as shipping and producing, are harder to electrify because they often require fuel that is high in energy density (密度) or heat at high temperatures. Green hydrogen has potential in these sectors. The Energy Transitions Commission, an industry group, says green hydrogen is one of four technologies necessary for meeting The Paris Agreement goal of decreasing more than 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide a year from the most challenging industrial sectors, among them mining, construction and chemicals.

Although green hydrogen is still on the early stage of its development, countries—especially those with cheap renewable energy—are investing in the technology. Australia wants to export hydrogen that it would produce using its plentiful solar and wind power, Chile has plans for hydrogen in the country’s dry north, where solar electricity is abundant. China aims to put one million hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on the road by 2030. All of which is why, earlier this year, Goldman predicted that green hydrogen will become a $ 12-tilion market by 2050.

【推荐3】Before I begin with my speech on Rainwater Harvesting, let me first extend warm thanks to all the parents for coming together under one roof and making our event a success. As we have been taught in our school the benefits of rainwater harvesting, all the children decided to spread the knowledge amongst their families and friends and enlighten everyone about its benefits.

Rainwater harvesting is an interesting method to collect and store rainwater for such uses as landscape irrigation, animal raising, gardening, etc. When the rain comes, we never make any efforts towards preserving that water. The water can be collected from different hard surfaces, like terrace and/or other artificial aboveground tough surfaces. If the climate is dry, such as that in South Australia, the technique of rainwater harvesting can prove to be extremely beneficial for the environment.

There are many rural households that have to conserve all the water for their property and rainwater more often than not offers comparatively a better quality supply to the household than river, dams or bore water. Rainwater harvesting however is not only meant for rural regions as many urban households too are joined to a reticulated(网状的) , treated source of water supply. This method of rainwater harvesting can considerably bring down the use of main water sources.

Now, what are the advantages of rainwater harvesting? One of the major benefits is that it will help you bring down your water bills, secondly you will have an alternative source of water supply during the situation of water crisis and thirdly it will help you maintain your green, blossoming garden. Excessive dependency on climate as well as tank size is not right and so rainwater harvesting can help reduce the burden drastically on the main sources of water. Rainwater harvesting also helps overcome the fear of storm water runoff; thus reducing the risk of local flooding or scouring of brooks. You can collect rainwater from various rooftops, based on what quality of rainwater is required.

【推荐3】Art and magic often go hand in hand. These four new releases explore the magic of the arts and art of magic.

Indigo’s mom used to be a celebrated artist. Finishing the painting series — Wolfwood, which shows four teenagers in a terrifying jungle, can make her famous and wealthy again, but she is unwilling to. Desperate, Indigo begins working on the paintings herself, but soon she realizes there’s a horrifying reason why her mother stopped painting Wolfwood.

Twins Chris and Clem’s family once ruled over the magic world in New Orleans until a horrible incident ended that forever, and since then the family has suffered and Chris has sworn off magic. Then they discover their mother is being slowly killed by a curse (诅咒). The twins begin to pick apart the secrets and lies, and realize the only way to make things right is to fight for justice.

Joan Sands has a special bond with metal. She uses her powers to help her goldsmith father in his workshop and to tend the stage weapons used by William Shakespeare’s acting company. When some evil powers flood London, Joan discovers she may be the only one to stop them and that she must decide how to protect the people she loves.

In a world where anger can grow into curses, you might end up turned into a frog. A boy named Kellen can unravel (解除) your curse, setting you free. With the mysterious power, he tries to right the wrongs with his companion Nettle, which in turn made himself cursed. So they must go into the unpredictable wilds to seek out the truth behind curses once and for all.