1 . Wondering what you can do to celebrate Earth Day on April 22? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered a comprehensive list of Earth Day activities, both fun and environmentally-conscious, to help raise awareness and make a difference. If you’re ready to learn more about joining the global celebration, initiating real change, and doing your part to save our planet, read on!

·Walk or ride your bike.

    1     Plus, it’s a great way to involve physical activity into your daily routine, benefiting both your physical and mental well-being. Even one day can make a difference, but if you can commit to walking or biking more often in the future, that’s even better!

·Use a refillable water bottle.

Consider going with a stainless-steel refillable bottle for a super long-lasting option.     2     Using a refillable water bottle, meanwhile, protects the planet, saves you money, and protects your health.

·Plant a tree.

Pick a tree species that’s native to where you live. If you’re unsure, ask an employee at your local nursery or garden department. Choose the best planting spot to meet the tree’s needs, dig a properly sized hole, and water the tree well to give it a good start.     3     Try donating to a reputable environmental non-profit that will plant trees on your behalf instead.

·Visit a local farmer’s market.

Eating locally grown food is much better for the environment. For example, locally-grown food doesn’t have to be transported long distances to end up on grocery store shelves.     4    

·     5    

See if your community is holding an environmental fair. If your community doesn’t have one planned, consider starting one yourself! It’s the perfect day to get together for a fun and educational celebration of the Earth. Any money raised can go towards a local environmental restoration project or group.

2 . Each spring, millions of people take photos among the famous cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC-some even get married there. That’s what Jody Axinn did 10 years ago.

“Now, the romantic spot is unrecognizable. The whole section is under water,” says Axinn who is revisiting the cherry trees with her family. “When I got here 10 years ago, the place was flooded regularly, but certainly not twice a day, every day.”

There are two forces working together to affect the Tidal Basin, the trees and monuments around it. The seawall around the basin, built with mud dug up from the Potomac River bottom, has sunk about five feet over the past century.

“At the same time, the water level in the basin has gone up by more than a foot because of climate change,” explains Leslie Frattaroli, manager of the National Park Service (NPS). “The Tidal Basin looks like a small lake, but it’s actually part of the Potomac River, because there are gates at the upstream and downstream ends of the basin that allow river water to rush through. Therefore, it is gradually rising along with the level of the world’s oceans.”

Combining these two factors, the water is six feet above where the seawall was originally designed to keep it out. Later this spring, the park service will start to raise parts of the walkway around the basin and along the Potomac River.

“It would be impossible to complete the $113 million project without removing the cherry trees along the water,” Leslie says. “The good news is that when the project is completed in 2027, 274 new cherry trees will be planted.”

Among the trees to be removed is a very famous little tree known as “Stumpy”. At high tide (潮汐), the base of the tree is flooded. Although it is in extremely bad conditions, its remaining three or four small branches burst into flower each spring, with the Washington Monument standing tall in the background.

3 . The Atacama Desert in northern Chile stretches from the Pacific to the Andes across an expanse of red-orange rock mountains and peaks. It’s a dream destination for tourists. But the Atacama Desert is also one of the world’s fast-growing dumps (垃圾场) of abandoned clothes. The scene in northern Chile has been shown in one online video-large amounts of abandoned clothes stretch as far as the eye can see.

Chile is home to one of South America’s largest duty-free ports-located in the coastal city of Iquique. The duty-free port was established in 1975 to help generate jobs and improve local economy. As fast fashion exploded, so did imports. Millions of tons of clothes arrive annually from all over the world.

“The free zone was a ’true transformation’ for the city’s residents,” says Bernardo Guerrero, a sociologist that studies Iquique’s history and culture. “They suddenly had access to things they could never have imagined.” Clothing began washing in and out of Iquique like waves as global fashions changed. Guerrero recalls a time when almost everybody in the city wore the same style of puffer jacket.

The free zone has also developed into a sorting site for abandoned clothes. Mehmet Yildiz, who operates a clothing import business, brings in clothes from the United States and Europe. Once the clothes reach Iquique, workers separate them into four categories according to quality. Yildiz then exports the best to other countries for resale. Clothing that the importers don’t want will be delivered a few miles outside Alto Hospicio, where it goes through another cycle of sorting and resale in street markets. Clothing that doesn’t sell at the market is sent to the desert, and much of it is made from materials that won’t biodegrade (生物降解).

As helpful as resale markets might have been in an earlier era, they’ve been flooded with the large amounts of the mounting discards. New efforts, large and small, are under way to deal with clothing waste, and attention to the mess in the desert may inspire additional projects.

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 . For uncounted generations, trillions of coral polyps (珊瑚虫) have lived and died, leaving behind a material called limestone. Throughout History, limestone was used to construct the Great Pyramid of Egypt, as well as many churches and castles.       1    . We can call them reefs (礁体). They can be even larger in scale than the most impressive buildings and structures made by humans.

    2    

Indeed, a living coral reef is remarkable, a “city beneath the sea” filled with a rich variety of life. Most coral reefs can be found in warm, shallow oceans. They occupy just a small part of the ocean floor, but host 25 percent of all ocean life. Each reef is full of colorful fish as well as coral that forms wonderful patterns. In addition to their beauty, the reefs are an important food source for fish, and for. humans.

Threats to coral reefs

    3    . For example, reefs can be damaged when the coral is taken for use in building materials or jewelry-making. Illegal fishing methods also harm reefs. These methods can help fishermen get a good catch, but their negative effects on the reefs are significant. Blast fishing involves setting off bombs in the water to kill as many fish as possible.     4     In addition, global warming has caused many reefs to become sick. A 2018 UN Report predicted that up to 99 percent of the world’s coral reefs may decline if global warming continues.   

Reasons for hope

These threats to coral reefs are very serious, but there is reason to hope that they will survive. If we take steps toward coral reef conservation, it is likely that these tiny creatures — which survived natural threats for millions of years — will be able to rebuild. As conservationist Robert Richmond says, “    5    . ”

7 . Despite the difficulties, the California coastal ecosystem is improving, largely thanks to the huge appetite sea otters (海獭) have for crabs. In a creative study, scientists revealed the return of otters to their former habitat in a Central California river mouth has slowed the decrease of the area’s river banks by up to 90%. “It would cost tens of millions of dollars for humans to rebuild these stream banks and restore these rivers. The otters are stabilizing them for free, in exchange for an all-you-can-eat crab feast,” said biology professor Brian Silliman, Ph. D. at Duke University.

Like many California river mouths, Elkhorn once was a habitat for otters, which need to eat around 20 to 25 pounds of food every day, with crabs being one of their favorite meals. But after fur traders hunted the local otter population nearly to extinction, the number of crabs exploded over the next century. Crabs dig into salt river soil, and over time can cause a salt river to wear away and collapse. Today, years after the otters returned, rivers and stream banks became more stable.

Angelini, one of the study’s authors, said that tool is an encouraging sign for her team as they face similar threats to Florida’s coastlines from sea level rise, storms, and extra nutrients overflowing into coastal waters. “All these seem unsurmountable,” Angelini said. “However, this study shows that, if we truly understand the ecosystem and know what tools to use, we can see significant benefits to the health and stability of these systems.”

The research team conducted large-scale surveys across 13 tidal (潮汐的) streams, as well as small-scale field experiments at five locations around the river mouth over a six-year period. Otters were not included in some lest sites but allowed to be used in others, using a caging system designed by Angelini.

“And all these years later, we now see these amazing results. It’s an inspiring story about the benefits of conservation and persistent, long-term research,” Angelini said.

10 . Beneath the blue waters of Trinidad and Tobago, plastic pollution is causing serious damage to marine ecosystems. Every year, over 88,600 tonnes of plastic waste is deposited(沉积)into the ocean around the Caribbean nation, harming marine life and impacting human health.

A new app is aiming to help young people in Trinidad and Tobago, along with other small island developing states, battle against the damage done by plastic pollution. Called Tide Turners, the app was developed by the United Nations Environment Programme with the help of young people. It challenges users to record their plastics consumption and develop an action plan to reduce their use of plastics. It also encourages young people to switch to reusable products and go plastic-free where possible: lifestyle changes that experts say can help stop the flow of plastic into the world’s oceans.

Reducing plastic pollution will take a joint effort from governments, businesses and, especially, youth. Children account for around 30 percent of the population in small island developing states in the Caribbean.

To tackle the plastic pollution challenge, the new app builds on UNEP’s Tide Turners Plastic Challenge Badge, which has so far engaged more than 500,000 young people in youth groups. Along with calling on youth to use less plastic, it encourages them to start campaigns and raise awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution.

In Trinidad and Tobago, Sarah Sobrian, who tested an early version of the app and advised on its development, is keen to get started. “The Tide Turners app is an incredible tool that educates and empowers us to change the situation we face,” she says. “I am incredibly eager to be a part of this and share this experience with those in my life. With this app, we can and will work together to create the impact that we have long wanted to see.”