9 . The Last Straw?

Every second, the world uses 160,000 plastic bags — that is a total of over five trillion per year. Up to 99 percent of these plastic bags hang around for at least 1,000 years and pollute Earth. And yet, plastic bags are hardly a necessity in our lives. Of all the changes we could make to create a more sustainable lifestyle, a total ban on plastic bags should be simple.

At the beginning of 2021, Shanghai put in effect a ban on all plastic bags in shopping malls and supermarkets, as well as a ban on non-degradable plastics in many other areas. Over the years, individuals and companies have worked to replace plastic items, such as cups and straws, with paper ones.     1    .

Customers complain that paper straws often become soft and break before they can finish their hot drinks. Experts, however, have repeatedly stressed plastic substitutes (替代品) are not the ultimate solution, and that our consumption habits need a bigger change.

In college, one of my environmental science professors promoted a type of waste-free living. She carried around a small glass jar with her, and in it was all her trash she collected for the entire year. She was able to do this by bringing her own cup to Starbucks, her own bags to the shops, and never buying anything that came wrapped in plastic. Her food waste also became compost.     2    .

Plastic bags are incredibly easy to forget about when they become increasingly common.     3    . Once they are in the trash, we take it for granted that they are someone else’s problem. The sad fact is that plastic bags break down into microplastics which then get mixed into the air, soil and water, and eventually end up in plants, animals, and our very own human bodies. So what are you going to do about them?

10 .

The connection we have to cats is so strong it feels almost as though they can read our thoughts, study our moods, and even judge how to behave based on our needs. But what really goes on in their sweet, furry heads?

Research suggests that cats don’t necessarily see us as any different from them. While cats understand that their human caretakers are larger than they are, they continue to behave around us in the same way as if they were around other cats. The only key difference is that cats meow to humans, not other cats.

Owners wondering about what the cats are thinking about should turn to cat body language. Since these are the ways your cat primarily communicates with you, studying their body language can help you understand then on a deeper level and you may start with tails:

We may think we have great insight into “cat thinking”, but we may never fully understand them. There exist lots of misunderstandings about cats, most notably:

*Cats try to be alien and prefer to be alone. No! They are actually social animals who hope for close relationship.

*Purring (making a low continuous sound) only means happiness…In fact, it can also suggest pressure, fear, or pain.   Keep an eye out for illness, and be prepared in the case of an unexpected accident.

*Cats scratch (抓) to anger people. Wrong again! Cats need to act out this to give themselves great pleasure and comfort.

A recent study concluded that cats, when given a choice between playing with certain toys or having interactive fun with a human being, decisively choose to play with a person. For us here at Cat Care of Vinings, it’s two-sided!

As always, please call us with any questions or concerns. Or, let us know what you believe cat thinking is all about!