【推荐1】When did you last buy something? Maybe you are looking forward to a shopping trip at the weekend, but will it make you happy? In the short term, the answer might be yes. However, some people think it might not be good for our health and happiness in the long term.

One of the busiest shopping days of the year in the USA is Black Friday (the fourth Friday of November), which has spread around the world. However, not everyone will be queuing for a bargain. In 1992, Buy Nothing Day started in Canada and now more than sixty countries take part. Their message is simple: “Participate by not participating.” For twenty-four hours on the fourth Friday of November, people do not buy anything at all. Some people choose to spend time with friends and family instead. Others join protests. But what’s the point?

Every single purchase that you make has some kind of an effect on the planet. Making the products and transporting them to the shops use a lot of natural resources. When they are no longer in fashion, the products will end up in the dustbin. All this contributes to air and water pollution, the destruction of our environment and social inequality.

The social influence of our spending habits is also serious. People in consumerist culture are more likely to suffer from financial problems and stress. In order to buy expensive products, people work long hours and therefore spend less time with family and friends.

Critics of Buy Nothing Day say it’s meaningless because people will just buy more the following day. But the organizers argue that Buy Nothing Day makes people think about the consequences of consumption and maybe make some changes to their life style.

【推荐2】Kermit the Frog, a popular puppet character from US kids show Sesame Street is probably most well-known for saying, “It’s not easy being green.” Well, our famous frog friend won’t have to worry much longer! It seems that the color green is coming back in style in 2020.

Based on fashion collections made for spring/summer 2020, it is clear that major brands have been inspired by nature’s beauty. The new designs include a variety of leaf prints and flower fashion. Models wore dresses covered in a leafy-green print. These elegant dresses were perfectly paired with shoes and accessories inspired by tropical flowers. At Versace’s fashion show in Milan, US actress Jennifer Lopez closed the show in a remake of the jungle print dress she wore to the Grammy Awards 20 years ago. The dress certainly amazed the crowd.

This new trend in seeing the color green as fashionable shouldn’t come as a surprise, though. The popularity of the color has actually been growing for a while now. In 2017, Pantone named green its color of the year as a symbol of new beginnings. Also, with an increased focus on the environment, designers and fashion brands are trying to make their clothes more eco-friendly and sustainable.

Green is a strong fashion trend for 2020 and it seems that it is here to stay. According to the famous Dutch trend forecaster, Li Edelkoort, green will be a major color of the decade. She believes the new “Green Wave” is linked to a hunger for nature. “The need for green is so powerful that it will turn around fashion and design without any doubt, it is impossible to ignore,” Edelkoort writes on her company website describing the new trend.

There is much more to green than it being just a color. Edelkoort continues, “But maybe the most important thing about green is its power to bring joy.” Maybe it’s easier to be green than Kermit originally thought.

【推荐3】A well-dressed man came to a famous jewelry shop. He explained that he wished to buy a pearl for his wife’s birthday. The price didn’t matter. Since business had been very good for him that year. After examining a nice black one that cost $5000, he paid for the pearl in cash, shook hands with the jeweler, and left.

A few days later the man returned and said that his wife liked the pearl so much that she wanted another one just like it. It had to be exactly the same size and quality, because she wanted a pair of earrings made, “Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl? ” said the man. The jeweler regretfully replied, “I would say it’s exactly impossible to find one exactly like that pearl.”

The rich man insisted that the jeweler advertise in the newspapers, offering $ 25,000 for the matching pearl. Many people answered the advertisement but nobody had a pearl that was just right.

Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came into his store. To his great surprise, she pulled the perfect pearl from her purse. “I don’t like to part with it,” she said sadly, “I got it from my mother, and my mother from hers. But I really need the money. ”