【推荐3】According to scientific research, willpower is not a talent that a lucky few are born with.     1    . Here are a few ways to increase your willpower.

You should identify your "willpower profile". Some people are introverts (性格内向) while others are extroverts (性格外向). Introverts tend to get engineered by thoughts and ideas.     2    . For extroverts, signing up for a group where everyone has a common goal can help.

    3    . What can you do about such conflicts? Don't work on multiple resolutions. Intentions are most effective when you work on one goal at a time. People trying to work on many intentions at once are less successful.

People who are not moving towards their goal are often afraid of something they imagine may happen. Researchers recommend paying attention to "physical responses", such as feeling mysteriously tired or queasy (感到恶心的), when faced with taking action on your goal. Chances are that you might be too anxious.

Researchers found that study participants suddenly discovered extra self-control to do a task after they were told they would be paid for their effort or that their effort would benefit others. So knowing your "why" can help you get out of bed for a morning run.     5    .

【推荐2】It can be hard to convince homeowners to use less water on their lawns (草坪), particularly during a hot and dry summer. But tell them it’s a competition for the ugliest lawn, and suddenly they may be more willing to give up using the sprinkler(洒水器).

This clever strategy was employed by the government of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island located in the Baltic Sea. Gotland sees its population double during the summer months as tourists arrive. This puts pressure on the island’s already-limited water supply, which is projected to decrease by 13% between 2021 and 2050, as demand is expected to rise by 40% by 2045.

The campaign, called “Gotland’s Ugliest Lawn”, urged homeowners to compete for the saddest, deadest and brownest yard. They were asked to avoid watering for an entire season, then post a photo of the lawn using a label that linked it to the campaign.

Mimmi Gibson, the acting marketing and brand manager at Region Gotland, said that “the ugliest lawn contest would remind the islanders not to waste water, and to talk about ways they can adapt their gardens to suit the existing conditions and the climate crisis”.

The winner for this year was announced in mid-August, and it’s Marcus Norstrom, who did not water his lawn once throughout the entire summer. His photo shows a large brown space   with some sparse yellow grasses sticking out——the kind of yard in which you would not want to walk barefoot (赤脚地)for risk of hurting your feet. The government must be feeling pleased ; its strategy has worked.

It’s an interesting strategy which attempts to normalize and even celebrate dead grass. It is reasonable to assume that the more people see it around their communities, the more acceptable it will become. They may also grow curious when they realize there are other ways to create and maintain an attractive-looking yard, even without irrigation(灌溉).

【推荐3】Throwing those unwanted leftovers or unused ingredients into the trash doesn’t just hurt your wallet—it also costs the climate. When food is wasted, so are the natural and human resources that go into producing, processing, transporting and storing it.    1    Food waste is a big problem. These small changes can help.

    2    Try to look around your kitchen and see what you can make with it before heading to the grocery store, because so many things can be substituted with what you already have. In other words, you don’t have to stick exactly to the recipe if it means buying a brand new jar of something that’ll just end up sitting in the back of the fridge.    3    

Cho, host of the YouTube channel, says her most common food-waste problem is one likely shared by many. “I’ll buy a bunch of items and then put them in my refrigerator and then I simply forgot about it” she says, calling it an issue of space management.    4    . Armed with glass containers and dry-erase markers, she says it allows her to quickly assess which ingredients she’s working with, then figure out how to use them.

Once you have the ingredients you need, make sure you’re using them to the fullest extent. For one, that means using all parts of the vegetable, reminding people that broccoli stems are “perfectly eatable” and carrot tops “make a wonderful stir-fry.” Like a red onion, if you have half of it that you’re not going to be using, for example, you’ll season it. And seasoned onions are great on a toast.    5    You can also give vegetables a second life by seasoning them.