【推荐1】“Few articles change owners more frequently than clothes. They travel downwards from grade to grade in the social scale with remarkable regularity,” wrote the journalist Adolphe Smith in 1877 as he traced a coat’s journey in the last century: cleaned, repaired and resold repeatedly; cut down into a smaller item; eventually recycled into new fabric. But with the improvement in people’s living standards, that model is mind-boggling in the era of fast fashion. The average British customer buys four items a month. And it is reported that 350,000 tonnes of used but still wearable clothes go to landfills in the UK each year.

Yet the gradual revival of the second-hand trade has gathered pace in the past few years. At fashion website Asos, sales of vintage clothes (古董衫) have risen by 92%. Clothing was once worn out of necessity, and now it is simply a way of life. Busy families sell used items on eBay, teenagers trade on Depop and some fashion people offer designer labels on Vestiaire Collective. Strikingly, it has become big enough business that mainstream retailers (零售商) want a slice of the action.

For some buyers and sellers, the switch to the second-hand is born of financial difficulties. Only a few have become worried about the impact of their shopping habit on the planet. But the shift is only a partial solution. Some people worry that some mainstream brands may “greenwash” — using second-hand goods to improve their image, rather than engaging more seriously with sustainability.

However, the biggest concern may be that people keep buying because they know they can resell goods, still chasing the pleasure of the next purchase but with an eased conscience (愧疚). Boohoo, a powerful fast fashion company, has seen sales and profits rise, despite concerns about environmental problems in its supply chain that led to an investigation last year.

A new Netflix series, Worn Stories, documents the emotional meanings that clothes can have: Each old item is full of memories. Actually, a handbag from a grandmother and a scarf passed on by a father are both valuable for us. A love of style is not a bad or an unimportant thing. But a committed relationship is better than a quick flash. Can we learn to appreciate our own old clothes as well as others’?

【推荐3】Home appliances and consumer electronics products witnessed strong sales during the Spring Festival holiday, as stay-at-home consumers purchased cutting-edge (尖端的) digital products to keep themselves entertained and to send wishes to family members in other cities. According to the Ministry of Commerce, sales of communication equipment and home appliances rose by 39 percent and 29. 9 percent during the seven-day holiday.

Ma Ke, a white-collar worker in Beijing, did not go back to her hometown in Wuhan, Hubei Province during the holiday. Instead, she bought a 5G smartphone and a smartwatch for her parents as New Year gifts. “My father is a fan of electronic products. He always wants to be an early user of the latest phones and smartwatches,” Ma said. Consumers like Ma are answering the local measures to stay where they work during the holiday period in a bid to reduce the potential spread of the COVID-19 (新型冠状病毒). While staying put, they are buying the latest digital products and adopting cutting-edge digital technologies. Some of them have bought new fitness device, as the stay-at-home-fitness trend is booming in China.

Sensing many consumers have not traveled during the holidays, shopping malls have also come up with new ideas to better entertain them. Shopping malls in Shenzhen and Beijing, for instance, have set robots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to issue a variety of coupons (优惠券) for dining, movies, sports and other activities to attract consumers.

Jacky Han, vice-president of marketing at tech company Cheetah Mobile, said shopping malls play a central yet complicated role in the retail ecosystem. “AI-powered robots can help merchants to convert foot traffic into intelligent data, by functioning as an interactive advertising platform and information desk and transforming the customer experiences,” Han said.

【推荐3】Buying an umbrella may seem a simple process for most people.     1     There are a few things to consider when buying an umbrella that best suits your personal needs.

You’d better first consider how often the umbrella will be used. If you live in an area with infrequent rain, then an inexpensive telescopic (折叠式) umbrella is probably the best choice. If you live in Seattle or other rainy climates, you will naturally want a very strong umbrella.     2    

If you want to make a fashion statement by using a designer umbrella, you will pay even more.     3     Designer umbrellas can be significantly more expensive with the prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

If you are selecting an umbrella for very young children, don’t spend a lot of money on it. The chances are that inappropriate use of a small umbrella will result in breakage, or frequently, umbrellas are lost at school. Perhaps the best bet for them is the Totes umbrellas, which are telescopic.     4     They are also inexpensive, usually less than 10 USD.

    5     Very large umbrellas on a small crowded street may mean taking up a bit more space than is needed for coverage and crashing one’s umbrella into others should be avoided. For those who really need the coverage, dome umbrellas which are narrow in diameter will help one avoid unnecessary collisions (碰撞) with others hurrying through the rain.

【推荐2】Sahara Marathon 2021-Around the World

The Sahara Marathon is organized by the Saharawi Ministry of Youth and Sports and a group of volunteers from different countries. During the last twenty years, thousands of runners from all continents have traveled to the Algerian desert to live the experience provided by this race and to bond with refugee families. In this unique edition of 2021, the experience will be different. The race will be held in a virtual way and the donations collected through the event will go to the most needy families in the Saharawi Camps of Tindouf.

All those people over 16 years of age (16 included) may take part in this virtual competition, as long as they are correctly registered, both in time and in form. The registered runner must download the Official Sahara Marathon APP to take the race.

The distance options selectable in the APP are: 5k, 10k, 21k and 42k. As it is a virtual test, it is very important to make sure that the chosen route allows good mobile coverage for the correct functioning of the GPS.

Registration has a cost of 15 euros, which includes participation in the race and a donation of 5 euros to refugee families. Participants can, if they choose, purchase the official pack of the test (T-shirt, scar, and bib) for the price of 25 euros.

Registration is personal and non-transferable and implies acceptance of these regulations. Runners who are not registered or run without the APP will not be admitted.