Most people suffer from     1     is known as “Just-me-ism” sometimes. As a result, they think their actions, for example, leaving the tap     2    (run) while they brush their teeth, leaving a light burning when they go out or dropping a piece of litter and not being bothered     3    (pick) it up, won’t be harmful     4     the environment or their community. But, in fact, they will and they could matter. Roots & Shoots was established in the early 1990s by Dr. Jane Goodall, who’s well-known     5     an expert on wild chimpanzees. Its purpose is     6    (educate) young people to build a future that is secure and live together in peace     7    nature. The idea is that if you educate enough individuals, they can change the world and make it a     8    (good) place for people, animals and the environment because as Dr. Jane Goodall says: “It is by     9    (act) together, in this exciting way,     10    we can involve thousands-millions-of people, and this is what is going to change the world.”

2 . In Finding the Mother Tree, Suzanne Simard takes us through her career in the forests, working on plantations to identify links between crop production, herbicide (除草剂) use and species diversity. In carrying out these studies, she goes on to discover that trees communicate through underground fungi (真菌) networks. At the centre of these webs is an individual known as the “mother tree” that coordinates, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.

The strength of this story isn’t only in the discoveries she makes, but her courageous persistence. She recalls how some members of her profession almost laughed her out of the room on first hearing her findings, not helped by the fact that she was a woman in a male-dominated field, trying to convince a room full of foresters that their age-old methods were imperfect.

Like Robin Wall Kimmerer combining ecology and the human spirit, Simard demonstrates that scientific research is not only about figures and conferences, but a voyage of passion and self-reflection that depends on the instinctive character of the human mind and the precision of experimentation. Simard’s ancestry is rooted in the outdoors, yet she recognises that the old ways of working with the land must evolve. She refuses to let cultural biases (偏见) influence her, instead listening to what the forest tells her.

This book also shares insights into Simard’s personal life: friendships, marriage, motherhood and breast cancer. She connects these seemingly separate parts of her life to her research into tree relationships, air, Earth and beyond. Her own relationships, not just with people but with trees, become reflections on connections with Earth. Her book thus invites us to embrace this connection with Earth when she writes: “I can’t tell if my blood is in the trees or if the trees are in my blood.”

4 . The practice of removing best-before dates labels and plastic packaging could prevent 14 million shopping baskets’ worth of food from going to waste, a food waste charity Wrap has recommended. Doing so would make consumers buy the right amount, avoiding buying bigger packets than they need, and judge for themselves when items were still fine to eat.

Wrap’s chairman Marcus Gover called the practice a game-changer in the fight against food waste and plastic pollution. He said they had demystified (使容易理解) the relationship between wasted food, plastic packaging, date labels and food storage.

“It is clear that plastic packaging doesn’t necessarily extend the life of fresh produce, but instead can increase waste,” he said. Around 9.5 million tonnes of food are wasted in the UK every year, according to previous Wrap figures, with more than 85% coming from households and food producers.

Based on an 18-month study into five commonly wasted items — apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and potatoes — stored in the original packaging and at different temperatures, Wrap found produce good to eat well after the best-before date, with apples lasting at least two and a half months after if stored at 4℃, and broccoli staying fresh for more than two weeks afterwards. Removing the best-before dates labels could save 100,000 tonnes of household food waste, more than 10,300 tonnes of plastic and 130,000 tonnes of carbon emission a year, Wrap found.

Susan Jebb, chairwoman of the Food Standards Agency, said businesses should use date labels carefully and make it clear when it’s necessary to help shoppers reduce the risk of food-related illnesses. “A best-before date is about quality, which means the food will be safe to eat after this date, even if it may not be at its best,” she said, whereas use-by dates should be reserved for food like meat and salad which can become unsafe more quickly.

5 . Our recommended list of environmental books covers a broad range of topics on conservation issues.

The End of Nature

Published in 1989, The End of Nature describes the relationship between nature and humans. It expresses the idea that nature was previously independent of humans but has now been affected by them in every way. According to author Bill McKibben, the idea of wilderness (荒野) is lost, and nature is no longer complete. The book focuses on the concepts of nature and wilderness and the value they have lost.

Silent Spring

Written by Rachel Carson, Silent Spring has been described as a landmark work of environmental writing and has brought an environmental movement into mainstream focus. The book highlights the bad effects of insecticides (杀虫剂) on the environment, especially DDT, which was a very popular insecticide until it was finally banned in 1972. The book eventually changed the insecticide policy in the United States and contributed to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Sixth Extinction

The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert, describes previous mass extinction events and connects them to many extinctions currently taking place. Kolbert studies the relationships between humans and the environment and finds that we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, which is caused by humans.

The Uninhabitable Earth

This book by David Wallace Wells provides a detailed look at how we treat the Earth and how our actions will affect us and the planet’s future. The Uninhabitable Earth argues that current actions will not be enough to prevent the effects of climate change. The author examines the disasters that have already occurred and looks ahead to the year 2100 and what climate change will do if we continue on our current path.

6 . In recent years, wooden buildings have reached new heights, with rocketing timber (木材) skyscrapers completed or underway in countries like Norway, Switzerland and Australia. Now, real estate (房地产) developer Atrium Ljungberg has announced plans to build the world’s largest “wooden city”, which will be constructed in Sweden’s capital,   Stockholm, from 2025.

Stockholm Wood City will feature 7,000 office spaces and 2,000 homes in the city’s southeast, and will offer “a dynamic, urban environment with a mixture of workplaces, housing, restaurants and shops”, according to a press release. Set across 250,000 square meters, it has been described by its developer as the “world’s largest known construction project in wood”. Timber has been championed as a sustainable alternative to concrete and steel, with expensive new construction projects using wood besides single-family homes and office buildings.

However, a mixed-use development of such size would be “a historic milestone for Swedish innovation capability”, said Annica Anas, CEO of Atrium Ljungberg.

Although some experts have raised concerns over fire risks posed by wooden buildings, advocates argue that engineered timber burns at a relatively slow and predictable rate, making it safer than many conventional steel structures. Timber is also a “carbon sink”, which means that carbon dioxide removed from the air by trees is stored in the material rather than being returned to the atmosphere. Wooden buildings have been found to enjoy better indoor air quality and can be constructed with significantly lower carbon emissions than those made with conventional materials.

The construction will not be as noisy as it is built from concrete and bricks, adds Ms Anas. This makes wooden buildings particularly suitable for urban redevelopment in general, since putting them up is less likely to annoy the neighbours. It should also be profitable.

The wooden city is supposed to make commute (通勤) easier and shorter. The website for the project describes Stockholm Wood City as a “five-minute city”, meaning that anywhere one would need to go would only be a five-minute walk. The first buildings in Stockholm Wood City are set to be completed in 2027.

Microplastics in Water — a Wake-up Call for All of Us

Today researchers announced that they have found tiny pieces of plastic in water samples from around the world. These pieces are called microplastics and are so small that they are invisible to the naked eye and are very difficult to remove from the water. When in the water, they are swallowed by fish and other animals and then enter the food chain.

Even more concerning is the fact that the plastic has also been found in drinking water across the world. This means that we are drinking plastic every day. Scientists do not know what level of harm this will cause us in the future.

Microplastics come from a number of different sources, in particular from washing and drying synthetic (non-natural) clothing and from cosmetics and cleaning products, such as toothpaste and face washes. Microplastics are even found in the air outside and at our homes.

Almost every country across the world agrees that we cannot continue using so much plastic in our lives. We need to find a solution to remove microplastics from our oceans. We also need to introduce new taxes and other means to encourage companies to choose environment-friendly ingredients and recyclable packaging for their products.

We need to take personal responsibility, too. We all have the freedom to choose how we spend our money and what kids of business and products we support. Let’s work together to protect our environment, both now and for the future.

Remember: Reduce — Reuse — Recycle. (244 words)