1 . Washing machines and fridges will be labelled with their carbon footprint as part of efforts to promote greener products and bring down carbon emissions (排放).

UK government want to introduce a system in which products would be labelled to show how much greenhouse gases had been given off while making the product. Officials favour a system in which labels describe the product’s emission figure along with a ranking, such as from A to G. A rating of A would represent a “zero emission” product.

In consultation papers published earlier, the government said: “The combination of the emissions figure and ranking system could give a simple way to find out the best products, as well as the raw data needed to make more detailed comparisons.” Officials hope the labelling would encourage people to buy greener products, helping to bring down carbon emissions.

The government has not set out which products the emission figures would apply to, but it is likely to eventually apply to products whose production process involves significant emissions, such as heavy goods involving steel or plastic.

The proposal is among several steps by the government to encourage UK companies to cut their emissions, alongside wider measures to boost clean energy supplies.

Officials are also considering introducing new import taxes to protect UK factories from being affected by cheap imports from competitors. Under the proposals, imported goods without costs for going green would face extra taxes. The potential so-called carbon border taxes are aimed at protecting areas such as steel and chemicals.

Matthew Germain, an expert in British Environmental Law, said the measures would mean the UK was “at least keeping step with the European Union (EU)”. The EU reached a deal in December of 2022 to charge carbon taxes on imports of iron and steel, and electricity. Countries will not be affected if they have same climate change policies to the EU.

2 . Research has revealed many benefits to being in the presence of nature, whether that’s walking in a forest, having a small garden or keeping a few household plants.

“One study showed that patients in a hospital who had plants in their rooms reported less pain, lower blood pressure, less tiredness and less anxiety than patients without plants in their rooms,” says Jenny Seham, founder and director of AIM (Arts and Integrative Medicine) in New York. She explains,“Cortisol (皮质醇)，the stress hormone, has been shown to lower with plant interaction, lowering tiredness and blood pressure. Gardening and caring for plants can help turn people away from negative thoughts or emotions.”

Houseplant collections have become a popular social media trend. Jamie Keaton Jones, a psychologist, says, “For many people, tending to plants has become a hobby. This hobby enables them to experience greater comfort and beauty from the presence of living things sharing their space.”

“Plants and exposure to greenery have been found to have many mental health benefits, such as lowering stress, decreasing feelings of depression, increasing sociability, restoring focus, improving cognitive performance, improving mood and increasing self- confidence,” says Jones.

Studies have also shown that plants and gardening increase productivity and levels of serotonin (血清素), which is responsible for uplifting mood.

“Rather than focusing on the past or worrying about the future, plant care helps one concentrate on the present moment and provides a feeling of accomplishment,” says Gayle Weill, another psychologist in Washington.

Like any new skill or hobby, taking care of houseplants comes with a learning process. Anyone starting to care for plants should be patient and allow themselves time to learn the basics, leaving room for a little trial and error.

Featuring sparkling lakes, spectacular waterfalls, and colorful leaves, Jiuzhaigou National Park in Sichuan Province is a picturesque fairyland. The park’s name,     1     means “Nine Village Valley,” originated from the nine Tibetan     2    (village) there. It is located in Jiuzhaigou County of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. It     3    (list) as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1992. The park is also home     4     3,634 species of plants and animals, including giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys,     5    (win) the good reputation of an “earthly paradise”. The national park covers     6     area of 720 square kilometers and ranges from 1,996 to 4,764 meters above sea level.

In 2017, a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake     7    (strike) Jiuzhaigou, and the scenic area was closed due to damage. After continuous reconstruction and natural     8    (recover), the park reopened to visitors in 2021. After the pandemic, the tourist destination has     9    (full) regained its former charm. Tourism facilities have also been improved     10    (provide) better services to tourists.

5 . Musa Haidar holds a coconut (椰子) to his ear and shakes it from side to side. Its sound pleases the market trader, who puts the large brown fruit back on the pile at his market stand in the suburb of Zanzibar, a city on the East African Island.

His customers are less happy, however. A coconut going for 500 shillings a few years ago today sells for 1,500 shillings. That makes it more expensive to cook curries or other dishes using coconut milk. “The prices are not normal,” says Mr. Haidar. “Coconuts have become expensive for local people.”

Why have prices gone nuts? “People are chopping (砍), chopping,” he explains. A count in 2014 found just 3.4 million coconut trees, down from 5.7 million in the late 1990s. Since hungry Zanzibaris still demand creamy fish curries and beans baked in coconut milk, falling supply has led to higher prices. Coconuts from the mainland are pricier because of high transport costs.

The logging of coconut trees reflects the urbanization wave in Zanzibar and the rest of Africa where urban sprawl is the most striking feature, cities extending outwards rather than growing upwards. Because of that, when people move to a new land, they chop down the coconut trees to make space for their new homes.

Moreover, some houses and island hotels have furniture made from coconut wood. Emmanuel Elias, a woodworker, explains that it is cheaper than the imported one. By law farmers cannot chop down fruit-bearing trees for furniture; in practice it is hard to stop them. Even if they obey the rules, many do not plant new trees, since these take at least six years to produce fruits, and fifteen years to reach maximum production levels. State subsidies (补贴) for seeds have proved no match for urban population growth.

In his workshop, Mr. Elias dusts off a solid dressing table he is selling for 400,000 shillings. He points out that it is made of coconut wood. “This is the land of coconut trees,” he says. But for how much longer?

6 . Fashion operates on desire. We want our dressing style to be unique as well as part of a group. Such wishes can be fulfilled immediately. But to overcome such a desire we need to reflect on the fragility (脆弱) of our planet. This means there should be a better way to keep the pleasures of fashion open to all of us than promoting single-use clothes as desirable.

The fashion industry has benefited from globalization to mass-produce goods at the cost of human and environmental damage. Every year, 100 billion new pieces of clothing are produced by one out of six people worldwide. Yet, only 2% of them earn a living wage. Furthermore, the industry has for too long promoted over-consumption as a good thing. About a fifth of mass-produced clothing does not even sell and ends up being buried or burned. Clothes now account for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Synthetic fibers are being found in Arctic Sea ice and in fish.

Luckily, recently the market has witnessed a new trend. New research shows that 51% of Britons tend to purchase longer-lasting clothes rather than throwaway items, up from 33% a year ago. What’s more, more brands are responding to the mood. For example, H&M and Zara have made new commitments to making clothes more environmentally friendly. John Lewis has also encouraged a culture of handing down children’s clothes.

At no other time in human history has fashion been so accessible to so many people. Technology will help fashion greener. Better regulation of supply chains will help too. There is a shift from getting rid of clothes to repairing, reusing or even renting them.

However, it is hard to see how this will be enough to make fashion truly environmentally friendly if the industry still produces more and more clothes. Obviously, more has to be done to stop the persistent demand for expansion in our society.

7 . Seafood that never sees the sea

Although 80% of the world’s seafood comes from marine harvests, there is a major shift underway toward aquaculture (水产业) now. Nearly 40% of salmon marketed today is raised in fish farms, compared with 6% a decade ago. Almost 35% of all oysters are produced in farm environments, along with 65% of freshwater fish. “The fact that world seafood supplies continue to increase at all is due almost entirely to the phenomenal growth in aquaculture,” says Anne Platt McGinn, a research associate at the Worldwatch Institute.

Biotechnology is contributing to high-yield aquaculture through transgenics—the transfer of genes from one species to another. Researchers introduce advantageous genetic features into fish, creating stronger stocks. For example, some species of fish have a protein that allows them to live in Arctic waters. By transplanting this “anti-freeze” gene into other species, researchers have created more fish that can survive in extremely cold water. Biotechnologists are attempting to improve a wide range of genetic features in fish used for aquaculture, developing fish that are larger and faster-growing, more efficient in changing feed into muscle, more tolerant of low oxygen levels in water, and better able to resist disease.

While aquaculture produces a reliable source of protein, there are a lot of environmental problems in the industry, claims McGinn. Perhaps the biggest concern is water pollution. Fish waste and uneaten food accumulate at farm sites and can float directly downstream into water supplies. McGinn charges that aquaculture also uses resources inefficiently. Fish farms need protein feed, and about 17% of ocean fish, an overharvested wild resource, becomes food for farm-raised fish. “An estimated five kilograms of oceanic fish reduced into fish meal are required to raise one kilogram of farmed ocean fish or shrimp, representing a large net protein loss,” says McGinn.

Fish farming does not have to be an inefficient or polluting industry. McGinn predicts that many consumers will choose sustainably produced fish in the future, just as they prefer dolphin-free tuna (金枪鱼) today.

8 . RINSE AND REPEAT

The water used by your household can then do double duty on a lawn or garden. Welcome to grey water recycling.

Water’s not black and white: There’s a grey zone. What goes down the drain after showers, toothbrushing, or laundry is called grey water (in contrast to black water which goes down the toilet). You wouldn’t drink it, but your plants can.

California-based Greywater Action runs workshops on reusing rainwater and drain water. Not all locations allow it, but in those that do, it’s relatively simple to set up. Here are some basics.

The easy solution

Projects that reuse grey water range from the professional to the DIY: a laundry-to-landscape system that can be made over a weekend with a few hundred dollars in parts. Install a diverter valve (分流阀) on the pipe of your washing machine. After a cycle, guide used water out through a PVC pipe to plantings.

Storage and use

Use a grey water project to rethink your landscape, suggests Greywater Action co-founder Laura Allen. Start with reducing typically thirsty lawns and then add climate-appropriate trees, bushes, and ground cover. Besides, grey water smells if it’s not used right now. Allen also advises flushing (冲洗) storage tanks daily.

Work the laws

If your city or state regulations ban the use of grey water, ask to have them reviewed. Diverting grey water can help conventional wastewater treatment systems last longer and reduce peak flow into channels. Also, it isn’t “grey” until it goes down a drain. So catch water that falls as the shower warms in a five-gallon container, then use it in your toilet tank or garden.

9 . The forest was full of shadows as Sylvie hurried through it one summer evening in June. The child hurried the cow through the dark forest to her grandmother’s home.

Suddenly the air was cut by a sharp whistle not far away. Sylvie knew it wasn’t a friendly bird’s whistle. She hid in some bushes. But she was too late.

“Hello, little girl,” a young man called out cheerfully. “I’ve lost my way. Can I spend the night at your house?” he asked.

Sylvie didn’t answer. The stranger began walking with Sylvie as she followed her cow through the forest. She was glad when she could see her grandmother standing near the farm house. The stranger explained his problem to Sylvie’s grandmother.

“Of course you can stay with us.” she said. The young man explained he was a scientist, who collected birds.

“Do you put them in a cage?” Sylvie asked.

“No,” he answered slowly, “I shoot them and preserve them with special chemicals.”

“I’ve been looking for a white heron(苍鹭),” he said, “It’s a very rare white bird.”

But Sylvie’s heart began to beat fast. She knew that strange white bird! Early the next morning, she quietly hurried through the forest. She finally reached a huge pine tree, and climbed to the top. Sylvie’s bare feet and tiny fingers grabbed the tree’s rough trunk. Sharp dry branches scratched her like cat’s claws.

Suddenly, a bird with broad white wings landed on a pine branch next to her. The white heron smoothed its feathers and called to its mate. She knew the wild bird’s secret now.

Were the birds better friends than their hunters? Who can know?