1 . Imagine a world where nothing ends up in landfill. Instead, everything can be reused and recycled, creating products that never reach their “end of life”. According to a recent report by the Circle Economy Foundation, only 7.2% of all used materials are being cycled back to be reused and recycled without creating waste.

An Italian company aims to change this by creating furniture products made from a plastic-like biomaterial, which is fully organic and biodegradable (可生物降解的), and can be used over and over again. Using fruit peel, orange seeds and coffee grounds collected from businesses in Italy, the company can redistribute products to the same businesses for use in their offices, instead of furniture made from common plastic. If, by mistake, any of the material ends up in the ocean, it doesn’t produce any microplastics.

Each product is made through a four-step process. First, the food waste is dried and crushed into a very fine powder. Then, the powder is mixed with a biodegradable plastic alternative known as polyhydroxybutyrat (PHB), with the fruit waste making the PHB more study (坚固的). The material is then turned into a filament (细丝) and, using a spool, put into a 3D printer.

Because a lot of food waste would be buried and incinerated in the landfill, which would produce lots of carbon dioxide, Reusing fruit peel and coffee grounds decrease carbon dioxide from the production of plastic, according to the director of operations in the company. He adds that the biomaterial is as sturdy as wood, and won’t begin to break down unless it’s touched by water, bacteria or acidity.

Despite its eco-friendly benefits, the biomaterial is expensive. It costs probably six times more than common plastic, and it is a very difficult and expensive process, so this is why many companies aren’t doing it.

However, the director is hopeful that in a few years, as-more consumers and businesses are forced to face the damage that unsustainable plastic is doing to the planet, the biomaterial will be much more widely used. “We really believe this is the material of the future,” says the director. “Little by little, a step at a time.”

Today, giant pandas are one of the world's most well-known animals. And they are     1     (global) recognized as being a leading symbol of both China and nature conservation in general. But global interest     2     the animal only took off early in the 20th century.

The idea of the WWF's logo(标志)     3     (come) from Chi-Chi: a giant panda that arrived at London Zoo in 1961 — the same year that WWF     4     (create).

Aware of the need for a recognisable symbol that would break through all language barriers(障碍), WWF's founders agreed that the big, furry bear with her special black and white coat would make a great logo. The first sketches(草图) were done by the British environmentalist and     5     (art), Gerald Watterson.

Based on these, Sir Peter Scott, one of WWF's founders, drew     6     first logo. He said at the time that “we wanted an animal that was beautiful,     7     (endanger), and loved by many people in the world for     8     (it) attractive qualities. We also wanted an animal that had an impact(影响力) in black and white     9     (save) money on printing costs.”

The panda has since become a symbol not just for WWF,     10     for the conservation movement as a whole.

5 . How to Go Green

The idea of “going green” means that you’ll try to reduce your impact on the environment. It’s a great way to improve the planet.     1    .

Walk or bike to places if you live close enough.

    2    , so they’re not a friend to the environment. Walking or biking instead of using a car is a great way to save natural resources while saving you money. When possible, walk or bike to work, school or shops.

    3    .

Communicate digitally whenever possible, and only print out items when you absolutely must. When you do use paper, recycle it or save it to reuse the other side of it.

Buy second-hand products or borrow items instead of buying something new.

Buying things produces more waste and pollution, so try not to buy things you don’t need. When you do need something, shop at local second-hand market or use online resale shops.    4    .

Skip products that have a lot of packaging.

Products that come with a lot of packaging are bad for the environment because the packaging is waste. Even if you recycle the package, it’s still an unnecessary waste of resources.    5    . This can keep more trash out of landfills and save natural resources.

6 . Island Getaways

Beautiful beaches, rich cultures and untouched pockets of wilderness are just a few attractive characteristics of the best island vacations. Each of the islands listed here has something extra that keeps travelers charmed.

Principe

West of Africa's mainland, small Principe offers blue seas, yellow beaches, jungle peaks, whale-watching with received plantations to visit and locals to meet. Pleasant eco-resorts help, too. Principe is amazingly safe and welcoming to visitors, particularly ecotourists, for whom the advancing jungle is a delight.

Bryher

The handsomest of the Isles of Scilly, 25 miles from Land's End, Bryher accompanies rose gardens with a windy wild coastal path. You can follow the coastal path visiting the charming beaches including Rushy Bay which is a must with fine white sand and clear waler. You can also take a hike up one of the hills to enjoy amazing views across Scilly and out to a Bishop Rock Lighthouse witnessing the past glory.

Astypalea

Butterfly-shaped Astypalea, an unspoilt Greek island, which banned cigarettes in 2019. Pretty yellow beaches as well as churches in the math town. Chora Chora, the island's capital, built on a hill with a breathtaking view of the Aegean Sen. On the top of the hill overlooking the village, sits Querini castle which used to protect the island during the Middle Ages, but now it is the main attraction of Astypalea.

Dominica

Commonly known as The Nature Island, Dominica sticks out up from the shiny waters of the Caribbean to serve as a fairy land for travelers seeking thrills in a place that lime has forgotten. The best-kept secrets of the Caribbean arc lush rainforests, towering mountains, rushing rivers and welcoming waterfalls with volcanic wonders adding unique beauty to Dominica.

7 . For Caribbean box jellyfish (水母), learning is literally a no-brainer.

In a new experiment, these animals learned to spot and avoid obstacles (障碍物) despite having no central brain, researchers report in Current Biology. This is the first evidence that jellyfish can make mental connections between events and change their behavior accordingly. “Maybe learning doesn’t need a very complex nervous system, but rather, learning is an essential part of nerve cells,” says Jan Bielecki, a neuroethologist at Kiel University in Germany. If so, the new finding could help trace how learning evolved in animals.

Bielecki and his colleagues wondered if Caribbean box jellyfish could learn that low-contrast objects, which might at first seem distant, were actually close by. The team put 12 jellyfish into a round tank surrounded by low-contrast, gray and white stripes. A camera filmed the animals’ behavior for about seven minutes.

At first, the jellyfish seemed to interpret the gray stripes as distant roots and swam into the tank wall. But those collisions (碰撞) seemed to lead the jellyfish to treat the gray stripes more like close roots in dirty water, and the animals started avoiding them. The jellies’ average distance from the tank wall increased from about 2.5 centimeters in the first couple of minutes to about 3.6 centimeters in the final couple of minutes. Their average collisions into the wall dropped from 1.8 per minute to 0.78 per minute.

“I found that really amazing,” says Nagayasu Nakanishi, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, who has studied jellyfish nervous systems but was not involved in the new work. “I never thought jellyfish could really learn.”

Neurobiologist Björn Brembs views the results more cautiously, noting the small number of jellyfish tested and the variability in their performance. “I want this to be true, as it would be very cool,” says Brembs. Experiments with more jellyfish could convince him that the animals really do learn.

8 . Where does food waste go? In most countries around the world, it goes into landfills (垃圾填埋场). But not in South Korea. The country banned food waste in landfills nearly 20 years ago and today, it is turned into animal feed, fertilizers and fuel.

Around the globe, 1.4 billion tons of food is thrown away every year. The waste goes into landfills where it can pollute the land and water as well as releasing methane — a greenhouse gas — into the air. In fact, food waste is the third-largest source of methane in the US.

The system that is in place in South Korea keeps almost 100 percent of unused food out of landfills. While other cities and local governments have put similar plans in place, it is not done anywhere else on a country-wide basis.

There are two reasons why South Korea passed laws to carry out mandatory (强制性的) recycling of food waste. First, the country’s cooking tradition of numerous small dishes resulted in large amounts of uneaten food. This food waste went into landfills. But the country’s mountainous geography didn’t allow for enough landfills to be built. That’s why the government forced recycling of paper and plastic in 1995 but food waste continued to be buried in landfills. But it was the neighbors of these landfills that demanded that another solution be found due to the very unpleasant smell from rotting food. The government banned organic waste from landfills in 2005. Another law that was passed in 2013 banned dumping liquid food waste in the ocean.

The system is not free but most of the cost is absorbed by the country. People can buy yellow recycling bags that are picked up on the roadside and some local governments have placed autonomous food waste collectors that require residents to pay a weight-based fee by using cards.

The food waste is collected from the bins every day except Sunday. Some of it is used to make animal feed or fertilizers and some is used to make fuel.

9 . Imagine mountains enveloped in silver water, shining in the spring sun. Summer sees the mountains turn bright green with growing rice. During autumn, these mountains are gold, and in winter they are covered with white frost.     1    

These terraces (梯田) were built by the local Zhuang and Yao people. Starting in the Yuan Dynasty, work on the terraces took hundreds of years.     2     Reaching as far as the eye can see, these terraces cover tall mountains, often from the bottom to the very top.

    3     Firstly, there are few large flat areas of land in the region. Building the terraces could increase the areas to grow rice. Secondly, although the region has plenty of rain, the mountains are steep (陡峭) and the soil is shallow. The fat terraces help catch the rainwater and prevent the soil from being washed away.

But perhaps the most important is the way people have worked in peace with nature. The terraces are cleverly designed, with hundreds of waterways connecting with each other. During the rainy season, rainwater moves down the mountains and into the terraces along these waterways. The sun heats the water and turns it into vapour (水蒸气).     4     These terraces also provide a perfect environment for birds and fish, some of which feed on insects harmful to crops.

Although modern technology helps produce more crops, these terraces still mean a lot to the local people for whom traditions hold much value.     5     Thus, new generations continue to use ancient methods of agriculture to maintain the terraces. Today, the Longji Rice Terraces attract thousands of visitors to admire this great wonder created by people and nature working together.