1 . Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet’s heath.

One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen (花粉) is their food. Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants’ seeds. Planting non-native species creates so-called “food deserts” for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.

Doug Taamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse of the environment. “Plant choice matters,” he said. “The plants we choose to landscape our properties should be determined by how much life can live there.”

Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.

Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere — the living parts of the Earth — would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.

In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.

3 . Leila Taheri used to go to the Welsh Harp wetland as a schoolgirl. At that time, the 160-hectare nature ______ was home to various birds, also Taheri’s perfect playground. She ______ played baseball there, forgetting to go home.

In August, 2020, 37-year-old Taheri ______ the wetland and the kind of dump-like (垃圾场般的) surroundings ______ Taheri. Because of pollution, birds populations had been ______. To make things worse, the nearby residents paid little attention to the wetland.

A strong ______ to do something controlled her. Taheri decided to begin with a litter pick. She ______ her neighbors to join in. In one month, they ______ 70 bags of rubbish. Then, Taheri expanded the work into more general environmental activism. ______ monthly litter picks, they also worked with some bird protection organizations. Currently, they are trying to ______ a planned bridge across the wetland, for it will destroy birds’ habitat despite the advantage of ______ the locals a few minutes’ walk.

Taheri’s efforts ______. More and more locals are now more environmentally ______, more involved, and have come to see the value of her work. She makes a real ______ not only to the Welsh Harp, and but for the wider community. Just as Taheri says,“Don’t stand______, do something about it.”

5 . Plastic is widely used and long-lasting, finding its way into every corner of our lives. But the very qualities that make plastic so useful also make it a huge problem. Cheap and disposable (一次性的), plastic has been a symbol of our throwaway culture. As a result, vast quantities of plastic pollute our world. A truckload of plastic enters the ocean every single minute and UK supermarkets produce 800, 000 tons every year. With production increasing, that’s set to rise.

The UK produces huge plastic waste per person, and a huge amount of it is sent to countries that aren’t equipped to deal with it. Greenpeace (绿色和平组织) investigators found British plastic waste being put and burned in Turkey — on the roadside, near waterways, and in the open air, and people nearby have reported serious health problems.

Bottles, pots, and food bowls are immediately obvious, but other types of plastic pollution can be harder to discern. When plastic breaks down, it doesn’t disappear. Instead, it gets smaller, creating tiny particles called microplastics. Even clothes made from man-made materials leave microplastic fibers when they’re washed.

Bits of plastic have been found in the oceans, on deserted islands, and even in Antarctica. Turtles, dolphins, and seabirds can be injured by large pieces of plastic. It can even be mistaken for food. Microplastics are just as damaging. Eaten by everything from microscopic zooplankton (浮游动物) to giant blue whales, they enter the food chain and carry harmful poisonous substances. Microplastics have even been found in human waste.

We’re just beginning to realize the scale of the problem. People around the world have come together to end plastic pollution, and it’s working. Greenpeace supporters have challenged Coca-Cola to use less plastic packaging, while countries like the UK have banned certain microplastics. Supermarkets are starting to talk about what they need to do. Most of them are trying hard to share their responsibility for reducing plastic waste.

6 . With greater climate catastrophe (气候突变) on Earth, it is natural for us to make every effort to stop the potential floods, snowstorms, and alarming reports from scientists. For many of us (myself included), part of that means running out to buy reusable straws, organic cleaners, and packaging-free products.

However, before you rejoice in “green” purchases, take a second to consider the results of a new study from Arizona University. By comparing the shopping habits, mental health and environmental impact of young people, the researchers reaffirmed a principle: Buying less beats buying “green” stuff without effort. And that is true whether you are looking at the impact that your purchases have on the Earth or on your own happiness.

It should not come as a shock that simply consuming less is better for the planet. After all, every new item a factory yields requires some resources to produce. Take plastic bag bans for instance. If your city is getting rid of single-use shopping bags, it can be tempting to pay for a fashionable organic cotton bag hanging in the check-out line of your local supermarket. However, experts insist that growing cotton is actually no better for the Earth than producing the conventional plastic bags. Your best bet for carrying your groceries if you care about sustainability? Any bag you already own. This is true of many kinds of “green” products.

It is not just the Earth that will be happier if you buy less. You will feel more contented too, according to the new study. “People believe that they might well be self-satisfied about becoming environmentally conscious through green buying patterns, but it doesn't seem to be that way”, said the lead researcher Sabrina Helm. “Reduced consumption has effects on increased well-being and decreased psychological distress, but we don't see that with green consumption.”

“Owning every new green product on the market might make you feel contented, but if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better,” said Helm.

9 . An impressive invention made by a 17-year-old teenager, called Anna Du, is helping to clean up small pieces of plastic from the ocean.

While walking along her local beaches in Massachusetts, the young student began collecting waste plastic bags and bottles. But what she noticed was a large number of tiny pieces of plastic or microplastics that were impossible to pick up. At just 12 years old, Du set out to solve the problem. After testing a few prototypes(原型)in her backyard, she invented a remotely operated vehicle that uses the infrared camera(红外摄像机)to detect microplastics on the ocean floor. More recently, Du has also created a simulation(模拟)model that uses artificial intelligence to predict where microplastics are located.

Du’s robot invention has earned her awards at top science fairs in the US, and she’s now a nationally recognized advocate for microplastic awareness and pollution prevention. “When I first started doing science fairs, I had no idea that a young girl without lots of money and just a little advanced engineering knowledge could make a difference in the world. I’ve learned that I truly love working on a problem that’s so much larger than me,” Du said.

Du has also released a new book to help spread the word not only about the dangers of microplastics but also about the ways to relieve the problem. Titled Microplastics &Me, the book follows Du’s own story of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, the young girl alerts her readers to the threat of microplastic pollution and urges them to care about the environment. The book hopes to encourage young students to get into science, technology, engineering and math(STEM)subjects and to inspire a new generation of inventors and engineers. What’s more, Du has even raised more than $7,000 to distribute the book free to kids and libraries in high-need communities.

10 . In the 2010s, 34-year-old Brianne Miller travelled around the world and made a surprising discovery: large amounts of plastic littering the water and doing harm to sea life. Miller knew she needed to do something.

Canadians throw out three million tons of plastic waste each year. Groups like A Greener Future, which organize litter clean-ups across Canada, think that 33% of what they pick up comes from food packaging. About one third of food produced worldwide goes to waste too, according to a UN study. Miller decided to solve the problem at the source, imagining a shop where both wasteful packaging and the bad habit of wasting food no longer existed.

In June 2018, she opened her first zero-waste store in Canada. She named it Nada. Customers can bring their own containers (容器), though it’s not necessary: by the front door are quarrels don’t go that far. These days, especially in cities, many people live in buildings. Our neighbours are all around us — so what problems can come from that?

The first obvious cause of arguement is noise pollution. Loud noise through the walls, construction (施工), or people arguing next door can disturb the silence of your living space. Asking someone directly to turn the music down can cause you to feel anxious. However, if you get someone like a building manager to speak to your neighbour, it can make things more awkward because you didn’t speak to your neighbour directly.

And then what about smells? If your neighbour likes eating food with pungent (刺激的) smells, and the smells flow through your window, what can you do? There are some other common problems, such as water running through the wall, pets making noise, and littering from the window above you. These can bring anger over time.

It’s not easy living next door to someone, especially if they’re noisy. But having a clear and honest conversation might help. Also, try thinking if what you are doing could make your neighbours angry. If it’s something that would make you feel bad,maybe think again.