【推荐1】At 22, I’d been working as a zookeeper at Perth Zoo for just over a year. I’d been working with crocodiles, but I’d always loved elephants. They were such intelligent animals. So, as soon as the job came up to care for them, I jumped at the opportunity.

The pair, Tricia and Tanya, both aged around 14, were wary (警惕的) of me at first. They even started roaring at me on the first night I locked them up in their enclosure (圈占地), and Tricia tried to pin me against a wall! But I’d spent long enough working with animals to know you should never show any weakness. “I’m not afraid of you two,” I told them in a loud voice. Over the following weeks, they started warming to me, so I introduced some games. I’d get them to run after me around the yard, screaming at the top of their lungs. I’d also hide from them in the blind spot directly behind their ears. Tricia turned out to be a real gentle giant. Soon every time I walked into the enclosure, she’d be sniffing (嗅) me all over, flapping her ears and trying to pull me close with her trunk. We’d formed a close bond.

It was hard saying goodbye when my wife and I moved to Darwin. “I’ll miss you,” I told them, rubbing their trunks. Years passed and I worked with a lot of different animals in wildlife parks. But I never forgot about Tricia and Tanya.

When I turned 72, my family decided to book a breakfast with the elephants at Perth Zoo for a family celebration. “You wouldn’t believe it, but Tricia’s still there,” my brother-in-law told me. “She’ll be celebrating her 60th birthday!” More than four decades had passed since I worked with Tricia. I wondered if she’d remember me. I was excited when we left our home in Bakers Hill, WA, for the special breakfast. My brother-in-law had told them about our history, so Tricia’s keeper, Kirsty, invited me into the enclosure. I got teary when I saw her. “Happy birthday! Do you miss me?” I asked. I was overjoyed when Tricia started flapping her ears and sniffing me all over. It felt like no time had passed.

Then Tricia started urinating (小便). “Now that’s a sure sign she remembers you,” Kirsty said, “When they urinate, they’re greeting you, so it’s pretty special to see that.”

【推荐1】The days of the bedroom fitting room are numbered. Online retail giant (零售巨头) Boohoo has become the latest in a string of retailers to start charging shoppers for returns.

By offering free returns in the first place, companies, such as Boohoo, created entirely new behaviour around shopping. A 2018 study found that 9% of UK consumers buy clothes to post on social media, only to return them straight after. Almost one in five 35-to 44-year-olds admit to doing it, and men, apparently, do it more than women.

However, when clothes are returned, they’re likely to be thrown away rather than resold. This is because processing returns is time-consuming and costly. Buttons need to be rebuttoned, labels need to be reattached, products need refolding and rebagging, and then they must be put back   into the system for sale. So it is clearly a cheaper and easier solution for businesses to send the whole lot to landfills (垃圾填埋场). It’s really a great waste of resources, not to mention an insult (冒 犯) to the skilled people who put their time into making each product, but it’s the reality of modern fashion.

When clothes don’t become rubbish, there’s still the impact of the extra shipping to consider, as well as the packaging waste. About 180bn plastic bags are produced every year to store, protect and transport clothes, and less than 15% of them are collected for recycling.

The impact of returns is a fairly well-kept secret, likely to keep people shopping guilt-free (没有负罪感地). But even if it was widely known, it wouldn’t guarantee people would stop treating returns thoughtlessly. After all, other environmental and human impacts of fast fashion are out there for all to see and yet the industry continues to thrive.

Hopefully, charging for returns is expected to change people’s behavior. Without free returns on the table, shoppers may think twice about buying 10 items when they know they’ll only keep five or buying clothes purely for social media content. And with the arrival of return charges, the clothes we already have might also start to look a little more appealing.

【推荐2】Forget about “military-style travel” during which people tend to visit as many places as possible in the least amount of time. A more relaxed and leisurely alternative, such as “Citywalk”, is becoming the norm among urban youngsters.

Unlike military-style travel, Citywalk is about wandering around a city on foot, feeling the atmosphere and finding unusual things that even a resident of the city might not have noticed before. It can be a special event where people start a journey led by tour guides or simply explore the streets.

Such walks generally avoid famous scenic spots and shopping centers, and take you to places where you can have real interactions with the local people, eat at small but authentic restaurants, and gain a deeper understanding of the history and culture of the city.

Citywalkers have shared their carefully planned routes on social media platforms. Their posts usually include how long the walk is going to take, and interesting places and restaurants along the way. Some posts are more like a food tour.

Nan Xi, who recently moved from Beijing to Shanghai, said “I think Shanghai is a city perfect for Citywalk. There are big trees along the streets and shops selling different products, which is ideal for couples and friends to walk together and take photos.” After several Citywalk experiences, she signed up for a two-and-a-half-hour Citywalk priced at 88 yuan per person. A tour guide narrated the history of the buildings and streets along the way. “If it were me walking alone, I would simply find the streets artistic, but the tour that day helped me gain a better understanding of how Western culture blends in with the local culture in Shanghai,” she said. Another surprising benefit of the walk was that she has made friends with two of her fellow walkers.

Lin Yi, a manager for an online platform for self-guided tours, said Citywalk can help travelers learn about local culture and live as local people do, feeling the vibes of a city. People who participate in Citywalks usually have similar tastes, and can have in-depth discussions with each other, he said.