1 . If you’re a teenager, you are in a very powerful position. Starting good money habits now will put you ahead for the rest of your life. Here are money tips for you.

Understand the power of time.

You probably aren’t making a ton of money right now, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is time.     1     Let’s look at an example: At the end of your summer job, you have $1000. You invest it at a rate of return of 5%. At the end of those 50 years, you will have $11,467.49.

Start a money saving habit.

If you start the habit of saving money now, that habit will always be with you. Every dollar you get, whether it’s a gift, an allowance, or pay from a job, get into the habit of saving a part of it. Half of it would be ideal.     2     The older you get, the harder it can seem to save even 10% of your money.

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There is so much information available on the Internet. You can find articles that will teach you how to make $100 fast. There are also so many personal finance books to choose from to learn about where to start. You can talk to your parents for advice on money management, too.

Avoid FOMO.

FOMO is fear of missing out on all the fun.     4     It’s important, though, to give up what you want now for what you want most. What you want now is to take the money you made at your summer job and go on Spring Break. What you want most is to graduate debt free or to be able to quit a job you hate because you have a big emergency fund to see you through to your next job. You may not like it when you’re eighteen.     5    

2 . In an effort to control the nation’s growing problem with food wastage, the South Korean government has started a unique new plan—“Pay as You Trash (丢弃)”. Residents are required to separate their food waste from the rest of their rubbish and throw it separately into a centralized dustbin. And to access the bin, they actually need to pay by the kilo!

As of now, the South Korean government has three methods in place to charge citizens for the food thrown away. One is through an RFID (Radio Frequency identification) card—when users tap this card over a specially designed food waste bin, the lid (盖子) will open. This waste is automatically weighed and recorded in the user’s account. The user needs to settle this bill on a monthly basis.

The second billing method is through pre-paid garbage bags. For example, in Seoul, a 10-liter garbage bag costs around 1dollar. There’s also a bar code management system in place, in which citizens throw food waste directly into compost bins (堆肥桶) and pay for it by purchasing barcode stickers (条形码贴条) attached to the bin.

Nearly every suburban area in the nation is equipped with one of these three payment systems. Even before the pay-by-weight system was introduced, South Koreans were still being charged for food waste—the cost was simply divided equally among the residents of each apartment block. The new system is not only fair, but is also designed to make consumers feel the pinch of excessive (过度的) waste. The more food they throw out, the more they end up paying.

Citizens1ike Seoul housewife Ms Kwan are now adopting creative methods to avoid food waste. She makes sure to remove all the liquid out of leftover food before throwing it away. While preparing vegetables, she tries to use as much as the eatable parts as possible.

“Because I’m worried about the fees, I’m more careful about food waste now,” Ms Kwan said. “Our food waste has become much less than before.”

7 . There are energy savings to be made from all recyclable materials, sometimes huge savings. Recycling plastics and aluminum, for instance, uses only 5% to 10% as much energy as producing new plastic or smelting (提炼) aluminum.

Long before most of us even noticed what we now call “the environment”, Buckminster Fuller said, “Pollution is nothing but the resources (资源) we are not harvesting. We allow them to be left around because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” To take one example, let’s compare the throwaway economy with a recycling economy as we feed a cat for life.

Say your cat weigh 5kg and eats one can of food each day. Each empty can of its food weights 40g. In a throwaway economy, you would throw away 5,475 cans over the cats 15-year lifetime. That’s 219kg of steel — more than a fifth of a ton and more than 40 times the cat’s weight.

In a recycling economy, we would make one set of 100 cans to start with, then replace them over and over again with recycled cans. Since almost 3% of the metal is lost during reprocessing, we’d have to make an extra 10 cans each year. But in all, only 150 cans will be used up over the cat’s lifetime — and we’ll still have 100 left over for the next cat.

Instead of using up 219kg of steel, we’ve used only 6kg. And because the process of recycling steel is less polluting than making new steel, we’ve also achieved the following significant savings:in energy use — 47% to 74%; in air pollution — 85%; in water pollution — 35%; in water use — 40%.

8 . The over 48,000 orange trees in Seville, Spain, not only fill the city’s air with the pleasant smell of orange blossoms in spring, but they also produce over 16,500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that makes the capital of southern Spain’s Andalusia region Europe’s top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh. While some of the produce is used to make orange jam and an alcoholic drink, most of it ends up in Seville’s landfills (填埋场). However, that may change soon thanks to a clever idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.

The trial programme is being launched by the city’s council and park department in cooperation with Emasesa, Seville’s water supply and sanitation (卫生) division. Juice from 38. 6 tons of oranges will be left to ferment (发酵) in a specialised facility. The methane (甲烷) released from the fermented liquid will be captured and used to drive a generator to produce clean power. The officials estimate the test run will produce about 1,500 kWh of energy – enough to run one of Emasesa’s water purification plants. To ensure there is no waste, the orange skins, peels, and flesh will be used as fertiliser.

“It’s not just about saving money. The oranges are a problem for the city, and we’re producing added value from waste,” said Benigno Lopez, head of Emasesa’s environmental department.

If successful, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity produced back into its power transmission network. In trial runs, one ton of oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy – enough to cover the daily electricity needs of five homes. The project team estimates that if all the fruit is recycled, it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000 residences.

“This project will help us to reach our targets for reducing emissions, energy self-sufficiency, and the circular economy,” Juan Espadas Cejas, mayor of Seville, said in the press conference announcing the trial programme.

9 . Food is part of who we are. We all need it, survive because of it and derive happiness from it. So if food matters so much, why do we let so much of it go rotten in our fridges, or get thrown out in our stores? Sadly, we love food, but we don’t take care of it.     1     Here are ways to help us love our food better and grow respect for the world behind what we eat.

• Reduce your food waste.

Buy only the food you need, store food wisely, donate excess and turn leftover food into the next day’s meals. When we waste food, all the resources used for growing, processing, transporting and marketing that food are wasted too.     2    

• Support your local food producers.

Chefs get awards, stars and recognition for their creations. But what about our farmers?     3     Shop at your local markets and get to know your farmers. Giving them your business is giving them your recognition and respect.

• Adopt a healthier, more sustainable diet.

    4     We get energy and maintain health from good food. We normally don’t care the power that food and nutrition have over our bodies. Too much of it, or too much of only one kind of it, can lead to obesity, deficiencies or diet-related diseases.

•     5    

By treating each meal with pride, we respect the farmers who produced it, and the resources that went into it. Respect can be passed on. Talk to the people around and to the next generation about making informed, healthy and sustainable food choices.

Respecting food means appreciating the back-story of food. When we know the full picture, it is easier to see what our food really stands for and how precious it really is.

10 . ECycling refers to the recycling of electronic items, which are becoming a common problem in American home and throughout the world. The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, has actually started a program to help and motivate the recycling of electronics.

To get the program to the regional and neighborhood levels, the EPA directed “Plug-In to eCycling Partners”. These partnerships support electronic reusing programs in individual communities. They provide local governments, retailers and manufacturers with opportunities to reuse and recycle their items. Those who make and offer electronic devices then promote programs and opportunities for consumers to reuse their second-hand electronic products. One of the EPA’s goals is to enlighten customers about why the recycling of electronics is so important. They likewise wish to make eCycling chances easily accessible to specific consumers and their family electronics. According to the EPA, the eCycling program has actually been quite successful. In 2008, the EPA collected 66.5 million pounds of electronic devices through their Plug-In Partners.

Local governments have actually likewise got on board and passed laws intended to handle used electronic devices. Huge corporations have actually introduced eCycling programs at their local retail stores. One seller offers customers small, medium and big boxes for sale, which the customers then load with used electronics and go back to the store. Typically, customers bring their recyclable electronics to a location. When the electronic items are gathered by the EPA (typically this is done by the Partners), they are reused or recycled.

Reused items are repaired and refurbished, and passed on to others as a contribution. You can repair or recondition your very own electronic devices too, extending the life of the items and conserving the energy of making new materials. Reusing electronic devices includes making use of the products and parts of the items. These materials and parts are then made use of to produce another item. This is more efficient than making items from new materials.

Some items that are commonly eCycled consist of televisions, computer monitors, printers, notebook computer, keyboards and cable televisions. Less usual items include copying machines, CD players, voice mail machines, computer hard drives, mobile telephones, remote controls, radios, batteries, telephones, facsimile machines and computer games. Occasionally, electronic items such as microwaves, fans, vacuums, smoke alarms, and toasters are eCycled.

As the eCycling program continues, you or your organization may want to get involved. Check the EPA’s internet site (www.epa.gov) for regional eCycling programs, or for details on how your company can participate. Their website has links to organizations that are taking part in the eCycling program.