【推荐1】The widespread use of plastic bottles produces a large amount of pollution.     1     Still, should you ever take a sip from your reusable water bottle and find that your drink tastes more funky (恶臭的) than fresh, fear not. Here is our guide for how to clean a water bottle.

The dishwasher

    2     Some can be destroyed by the high temperature while being washed. If your water bottle is dishwasher safe, lucky you. Simply break it down into its component parts and put it in the dishwasher. It will be clean and thoroughly sanitized (消毒).

Soap and water

Not sure whether your water bottle will hold up okay in the dishwasher?     3     Simply use a bottle brush to scrub it with dish soap and hot water. If your water bottle has a straw (吸管) feature, use a set of small cleaning brushes to thoroughly clean the mouthpiece and the straw.

Baking soda

While a thorough washing with soap and water will likely leave your water bottle fresh and clean, there are some instances in which stubborn smells might stick around. Good news: You can use baking soda. All you need to do is add one teaspoon of the stuff to your bottle, fill it up with hot water and let the water bottle sit overnight. When the soaking (浸泡) is complete, give your water bottle a good rinse (冲洗).     4    

Vinegar

Vinegar can also do a bang-up job of getting your water bottle clean. This method simply involves filling your water bottle with equal parts of white vinegar and water.     5     Give it a quick rinse the next morning and your water bottle will be good as new.

【推荐2】The environment has never been more in need of a helping hand from us. Schools, in particular, are in a great position to educate future generations and make sure that good environmental habits are learned and adopted from an early age. So, ranging from energy efficiency to recycling, here are our tips to make your school more eco-friendly and sustainable.

☆    1    

Sending waste to landfill to slowly rot away isn’t the best use of the world’s resources. Plus, the space available for landfill is rapidly running out. Instead, boost recycling by providing appropriate and appealing facilities with clear signage (标识).     2    .

☆Turn off the lights and fit energy-efficient light bulbs

Saving energy used for lighting is one of the easiest things that we can do.     3    . Turn off lights when they’re not needed. Signage asking people to turn off the lights can act as a useful reminder.

☆Go paperless

    4    , with paper now being seen as outdated in many cases. This is good news for the environment, but it sometimes needs people to change how they do things. Look into options for creating and using fewer paper-based administration systems at school and think twice before printing or photocopying all those A4 pages, for example.

☆Reject plastic water bottles

Recent television programs and campaigns have raised the issue of waste plastic towards the top of the environmental agenda. In some ways, this isn’t surprising because, again, it is relatively easy for everyone to make a difference to the environment with minimal effort.     5    . Just stop buying brand-new water bottles that are used once and then recycled, and reuse existing bottles and containers instead.

【推荐1】When my friend offered me a spider plant sprout, I decided to try something I'd never done before: commit to becoming a plant person. After doing research and changing my perspective, I can proudly say I am succeeding.     1    .

Start with Easy Plants

    2    . Just water and sunlight, right? Apparently not. I focused my efforts on easy plants, which have basic needs, and aren't as temperamental as some other plants.

Research

It might seem like a pain but doing a little research can be the difference between your plant surviving and thriving. Looking up how much sunlight the plant needs, how often to water it,     3     and if it requires any special care can help you to be a good plant person.

    4    

Too much water can drown the plant. Not watering your plant enough can cause it to dry out and die very quickly. You'd better make a watering schedule to make sure you don't over or under water your plants.

Cater to the Plant

Just after a few weeks, I noticed the plant leaves were losing their green color. I found spider plants don't do well with intense afternoon sunlight. So I completely rearranged all my plants in my living room to cater to their specific sunlight needs.     5    .

【推荐3】Hawk Salvage, located in the historic neighborhood on Grand Avenue, is the place to find one-of-a-kind things. The store features a collection of curious things of the past and, most recently, a huge selection of rare and unique houseplants.

Founded by Greg Hawk, who has traveled from coast to coast finding items for his store, Hawk Salvage is like a well-kept history museum, its walls and display cases were filled with ancient art and historical photos. Even the space is a slice of history — it served as an automotive garage in the1940s. The front of the shop is home to lots of greenery.

On October 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the store will host its first-ever community plant swap, where plant parents can bring their plants and trade them for new plants. Visitors can learn tips and tricks from other fellow plant lovers and enjoy live music, artist demonstrations, food trucks and more. It will be a plant party for the ages, Hawk says. To take part in the plant swap, guests must bring at least one live and healthy plant to trade for another plant of equal size.

Because his regular picking trips was put on hold, Hawk, who is also interested in gardening,   started propagating(繁殖)plants. “I started looking at houseplants and it just opened up this huge can of worms of all the cool things that are out there, and now I find myself with more plants than I want to take care of.” he says. Hosting an event where he could clear away some of his plants while reconnecting the community is a win-win situation, he adds.

Hawk says the event is open to everyone. His advice for new plant fans? “Be patient. Buy something simple to start with. Everything dies, so you’re going to kill plants — it’s part of the process,” he says. “I think the biggest tip that I would give is not to be afraid to experiment with your plants.”