【推荐2】Do you believe in green living? Read the following blog (博客) and replies about a fun, easy and creative way to make your lifestyle greener.

Posted by Gina at 8:32 a.m. on 11th February, 2021 New uses for old clothing What do you think of the “new” hat I made for my sister? It used to be my mom’s sweater. Nowadays, we’re more wasteful than ever—buying, using and throwing things away without thinking about the costs. We need to start living more responsibly (负责任地) but how? One answer is to upcycle (再生利用). I started upcycling clothing. Making new things out of old clothes is the best way to mix my talent and my interest. Do you upcycle? If so, what new things have you made? If not, why not give it a try?

Reply Terry B   Posted at 9:08 a. m. on 11th February, 2021 Why don’t you give your old clothes to people in need? I even gave away the most expensive things I don’t wear anymore. So I can help the environment while giving something useful to people in need. Reply Gina   Posted at 9:28 a. m. on 11th February, 2021 Good point! I’m talking about only the oldest clothing in your room—the clothes that are too old to be owned by others. The same idea goes for food waste at restaurants and supermarkets before upcycling food that can still be eaten, for example, using it to make soil. We should give it to those in need.

Reply Betty 99 Posted at 10:28 a. m. on 11th February, 2021 I’ve made the shopping bags out of T-shirts and the dog toys out of socks. Upcycling clothing is a fun hobby, but the most important thing is that it makes me feel like I’m leaving less wastefully.

【推荐3】When your pen is broken, the battery (电池) in your toy runs out, or you have some leftover (吃剩的) food, what do you do with these things? You will probably throw them all into one bin. But actually, all kinds of rubbish need to be sorted (分类) separately.

Garbage (垃圾) sorting is a big problem worldwide. In recent years, some Chinese cities have been working hard on it.

Shanghai has worked with Alipay to create a “green account (账户)” service for people. Account holders get points by sorting their garbage. Through the Alipay app, they can exchange the points for milk, phone cards and other products. The city is asking all of people to sort their garbage into four groups: wet, recyclable, harmful and dry.

Wet waste is also known as kitchen waste. “They are the things that you don’t want but that pigs can eat.” Guangzhou Daily explained.

Newspaper, metal, glass and other things that can be reused are recyclable waste.

Harmful waste includes things like medicine and batteries.

Finally, any waste that’s not wet, recyclable or harmful will go in the “dry waste” bin.

Many other Chinese cities are also doing this method to sort their garbage. For example. Shenzhen has been sorting its garbage into the same four groups since 2012. Students there also receive garbage-sorting guidebooks that they must study. China is improving its garbage-sorting efforts. There is still a long way to go. But it’s never too late to learn how to sort your garbage properly and protect the environment.

If you don’t sort your garbage, all of it will go to a landfill (垃圾填埋场) and be buried together. These landfills can take up large areas of ground that could be used for planting trees and crops. The electronic waste you throw away, such as batteries, may pollute the soil and groundwater (地下水). Other pieces of garbage, like the metal part of a pen, can be used to make other things if they are properly recycled.