1 .     1     They create carbon dioxide and shade. They provide shelter to animals and insects. The wood they provide is used for buildings and other products we humans use and need.

Trees are so important that some people have made it their goal to protect them. We can call these people ‌“tree hugger”. It describes people who support the protection of forests. Today, the term ‌“tree hugger” describes a person who is an environmentalist.     2     For example, someone who wants to save a rare butterfly species or cut greenhouse gases could also be described as a tree hugger.

However, calling someone a ‌“tree hugger” is not always seen as a praise.     3     ‌“Tree hugger” described someone who was overly concerned about protecting trees, animals and other parts of the natural world.

Some tree huggers do go to extremes to protect trees. Take, for example, an American woman named Julia Lorraine Hill. For 738 days from December 10, 1997 and December 18, 1999, Hill lived in Luna, a Redwood tree in northern California’s Humboldt County. Luna is huge, measuring nearly 61 meters tall and about 12 meters across, which has stood in Humboldt County for more than 1,000 years.     4     So, Hill did what any extreme tree hugger would—she moved in! As the website explains, Hill’s main goal was ‌“to bring international attention to the importance of protecting and restoring natural resources.” So, we can safely call Hill a tree hugger.     5    

3 . The African penguin lives on St. Croix island off the east coast of South Africa. A new study has found that they are leaving their natural environment to escape noisy ship refueling (补给燃料) activities.

The African penguins once mainly raised babies on this island. But the population has dropped sharply since South Africa started permitting ships in the area to refuel at sea six years ago, the study found.

Lorien Pichegru is acting director of the Coastal and Marine Research Institute at Nelson Mandela University, which led the study. She said the organization had found that noise levels in the area had doubled since the refueling activities began. Scientists say high noise levels affect the ability of penguins to find and catch other animals for food. Noise also makes it more difficult for them to communicate with each other and map travel paths. ‌“This year we are at 1,200 breeding pairs at St Croix from 8,500 pairs in 2016,” Pichegru said.

The study recently appeared in the publication Science of the Total Environment. The researchers said the study is the first to explore the effects of ocean traffic noise pollution on a seabird.

Nelson Mandela University’s study collected some data to estimate underwater noise from passing ships. Oil-covered penguins were found in 2019 in Algoa Bay after an oil spill from ship-to-ship refueling. Environmental groups have called for the activities to be banned in the bay.

Pichegru said penguins in the area were already struggling to survive because of a series of issues, including industrial fishing activities. She added that the refueling activities did not kill all the penguins. However, ‌“It was just the thing that made the whole ecology tip over and then the penguins couldn’t cope with that,” she said.

5 . As seabird biologist Bonnie Slaton slides off a small boat and walks through high water, the brown pelicans (鹈鹕) spread their wings overhead until she reaches Raccoon Island. The narrow island is a small piece of land separating the American state of Louisiana from the Gulf of Mexico. During the seabird breeding (繁殖) season, the placer, one of the few remaining places of safety for the pelicans, is full of noise.

Twelve years ago, there were 15 low-lying islands with breeding areas for Louisiana’s state bird. However, today, only about six islands in southeastern Louisiana have brown pelican nests and the rest have disappeared underwater.

Slaton and other scientists set u cameras to observe pelican nests on the island. The cameras show that in recent years the pelicans have faced some natural disasters. The main killer of them is flooding, which can wash away all the nests, as happened in April 2021. The disappearing islands are the location of a story of successful conservation. For many years, scientists have worked to bring the pelicans beck from tally dying off.

Mike Carloss is a state wildlife biologist in Louisiana. He said he never saw brown pelicans as a child in the 1960s. Their populations had been killed by the use of DDT, a kind of farm chemical. It thinned eggshells and prevented pelicans from giving birth to young birds. The beloved birds were completely gone from Louisiana, only appearing on the state flag. But a long-running effort to save them led to the birds’ return. After DDT was stopped in the U.S. in 1972, biologists brought young pelicans from nearby Florida to let them inhabit empty islands across the Gull of Mexico again. More than 1,200 pelicans have been set free in southeastern Louisiana over 13 years.

The brown pelicans can live more than 20 years. So, the final effect of disappearing breeding areas is uncertain and it will sill take time to become clear. And the future for pelicans is uncertain on the islands.

8 . There are several reasons to use canvas (帆布) grocery bags or reusable grocery bags made from other materials. Some environmental organizations have been pushing for the use of such bags.     1    

From an environmental aspect, canvas grocery bags are better choices than paper or plastic bags.     2     Besides, turning to reusable supplies is viewed as greener than using disposable (一次性的) products, many of which wind up in landfills.

Plastic grocery bags have a number of environmental disadvantages. When plastic grocery bags end up in the natural environment, they can cause a wide range of problems. Animals may choke on or be caught in such bags.     3     While the bags may eventually break down, they can poison a wide range of sea creatures along the way.

As anyone who has had a bag broken open in the parking lot knows, it can be very upsetting to lose a lot of groceries to a poorly-constructed grocery bag.     4     They can also be easily washed in the event of leaks or spills.

    5     For example, they can be used to pick up books at the library or carry other shopping, and they make great beach bags because of their washability. For people who don’t want to carry around a grocery store logo, canvas grocery bags can be turned inside out and left plain or painted with new designs.

9 . The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.

We ________ at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags in order to prevent plastic in the ________ and to help preserving the endangered turtles living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we ________ all our shopping in our arms and left.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more ________ about my impact and pushed me to adopt different habits to live and ________ more sustainably.

Our trip to Borneo was another life-changing ________ that has strengthened my resolution to a zero-waste lifestyle. While traveling in some countries, we came to know that ________ drinking water was always a challenge. So we had to travel with our water bottle, and we ________ to avoid using plastic during our trip.

Besides, we were also ________ impressed by our stay on Libaran Island. A sustainable turtle conservation ________ and the community had made big efforts to ________ the beaches and creatively reuse plastic for ten years. Despite that, the shore is ________ daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides.

Facing this global issue ________, raised in me a feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into ________: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Small changes can ________ a difference!