1 . Need to get rid of old clothes? You’re not alone: With fast fashion, it’s easier than ever to follow trends. But cheap clothes aren’t made to last, most of which often end up in a landfill (垃圾填埋场). Take US as an example: per person generates an average of 82 pounds of such waste every year, with 85 per cent of it going to landfills even though 95 per cent can be reused.

Donating is a popular alternative — but know that only about 10 to 20 per cent of donated clothing gets sold at thrift shops (廉价旧货店). While all but five per cent of donated clothes are resold for reuse or recycling, it’s impossible to know exactly how much ultimately becomes trash.

The best way to ensure good, usable clothing doesn’t become waste is to increase the chances it ends up with someone who wants it. First, don’t wait too long if you choose to donate clothing to an organization, big or small. The sooner you donate your unwanted items, the more demand there is for them. Wherever you donate, ensure clothes are clean and dry. If it’s damaged or stained, don’t send it to thrift shops. They don’t have the capacity to do repairs and it just creates a financial burden in addition to the eco-burden, and defeats the purpose of the charitable action.

Clothes that are stained or damaged beyond repair will likely never be re-worn but can still be diverted (使转向) from landfills. You can send your clothes directly to recycling companies, like through Retold Recycling or municipal programmes. Old clothes can be downcycled into other items like wipers for car washes, and even generated into new textiles (织品).

Recycling is better than landfilling. It might take time to do a little research to find the right organization that can actually use the items you’re looking to give away. But it’s more rewarding than throwing everything in a big garbage bag, dumping it into a bin, and hoping for the best.

2 . The natural world provides humans with essential services. For instance, forests channel water into rivers that irrigate crops while their roots prevent landslides. Over decades, therefore, governments have made promises about preserving the world’s biodiversity.

However, those promises have been broken many times, which has caused the depressing destruction of natural environments. One step towards avoiding yet more disappointment is to emphasize the close link between preserving biodiversity and the widely held goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions. Unfortunately, less known is the link between them.

Given that biodiversity has an important role in meeting these carbon-reduction goals, you might think it would feature highly in the net- emissions plans. Not so. For example, faced with tighter regulation of emissions, many companies are now channeling more time and cash to their firms’ carbon footprints reduction and energy transition, yet the plans have too little to say about biodiversity.

That needs to change. Sale guarding biodiversity is an efficient way to control carbon emissions. Companies and investment firms should pay more attention to the opportunities from preserving ecosystems. By investing in biodiversity—directing capital to projects that repair an ecosystem—companies can offset (抵消) their emissions. By some estimates, projects to manage carbon-rich wetlands and to reforest cleared and could provide more than one-third of the emissions reductions that are needed to prevent more than 2°C of global warming.

Key to managing more capital is better measurement so that the link between investment in natural projects, biodiversity and carbon is made clear. Today some so-called carbon-offset projects that involve firms paying money to are questionable and not supported by evidence. Better guidelines and practice can help and so can new technology. Drones and satellites can improve the measurement of biodiversity and accounting systems can measure how spending on biodiversity compares with pouring cash into other kinds of carbon management.

4 . The San Francisco-based company, called Living Carbon, has created poplar (杨树) trees that are genetically engineered (改变基因结构) to grow larger and suck up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than standard trees do. In February, workers planted rows of these poplars in southern Georgia. The company intends to plant 4 to 5 millions trees by the middle of next year, which they say will help with the worsening climate crisis.

When plants photosynthesize (进行光合作用), they convert carbon into sugar and nutrients that are eventually consumed by all living organisms. But they also produce a harmful byproduct, which must be broken down during the energy-intensive process of photorespiration (光呼吸), said Yumin Tao, the company’s vice president of biotechnology.

“This is not only wastes energy but also loses much fixed carbon in the form of CO₂, which gets released into the air again,” Tao added. “It’s a wasteful process many plants do.” Living Carbon has reduced photorespiration in its poplars, instead channeling the energy into growth, he says.

The trees have three genes inserted to achieve this, including one from squash and one from green algae. But the company has yet to show its modified trees can capture more carbon in a real — world setting. Its only publicly available data comes from a study in a greenhouse that lasted for only a few months and has yet to be peer reviewed. “Their claims seen bold based on very limited real-world data,” says Andrew Newhouse, a conservation biologist at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Still, the study reported the modified poplars grew as much as 53% larger in five months compared to the unmodified ones, capturing 27% more carbon dioxide. Now, the company hopes its other field trials in locations like Oregon and Pennsylvania will show similar successes. It’s currently focused on planting on private lands, where fewer roadblocks exist.

“We specially focus on land where trees otherwise wouldn’t be planted, like abandoned mine lands-areas where there isn’t an existing, rich ecosystem that’s allowing for a large amount of carbon removal right now,” says Maddie Hall, Living Carbon’s CEO.

6 . Published while the climate crisis has given us a clear picture of tourism’s harms, the books below describe the necessity and opportunity for replanning travel as better managed and even more beneficial to local people — which, together, create a good definition for green travel.

“The Last Resort: The history of Heaven, Profit, and Danger at the Beach,” by Sarah Stodola. In this exciting travel book, Stodola studies the history and beauty of beach traveling culture, as well as its effects on the environment and local communities. “This major global industry that has brought about economic and social inequalities and contributed to the climate crisis while suffering from danger of disappearing.” said Stodola.

“Sustainable Travel: The Essential Guide to Positive-Effect Adventures.” by Holly Tuppen. After journeying around the world without flying, Tuppen became a travel expert who views sustainability (可持续性) as necessary to protect our planet and communities. In this book, she presents a general description of sustainable travel and its relationship to the climate and wildlife risk.

“Horizon,” by Barry Lopez. Through six regions, including the Oregon Coast and the Antarctic, Lopez uses his unique style and traveling experience in more than 70 countries to create a book filled with wonders and concern. “Our question is no longer how to use the natural world for human comfort and gain, but how we can cooperate with one another to ensure we will someday fit in with it more respectfully,” he writes.

“Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World,” by Anu Taranath. In this award-winning book, Taranath offers tips for reconciling (使和谐一致) our expectations with the cultural differences we meet while traveling. Although the book isn’t a green travel guide in itself, it does provide necessary social responsibilities that can increase our sustainability efforts to plan our journeys with greater respect.

8 . Soil is one of the most important materials of daily life. It’s necessary for growing the food and resources we depend on, protecting against drought (干旱) and flooding and storing carbon dioxide for years to come. But the dirt under our feet is constantly in danger because of rising temperatures and loss of biodiversity caused by climate change. Although we may think soil is simple, it’s pretty hard to know what’s really going on deep in the ground from the surface.

Scientists in Italy, however, think they may have a robotic solution—a seed-inspired (受种子启发的) robot. Scientists at the Bioinspired Soft Robotics (BSR) Lab have developed the first 4D-printed seed-inspired soft robot, which can act as sensors for monitoring pollutants, CO2 levels, temperature and humidity (湿度) in soil.

They were inspired by a South African geranium (a garden plant). The seeds of the plant have the ability to change shape in response to how humid their environment is. When the time comes for the seeds to leave the plant, they can separate themselves from the plant and move independently to find their way through soil. The curly seeds can find a home for themselves simply by becoming bigger or smaller depending on the water content in the air. The team imitated the seeds and developed robots that use materials that also change shape when exposed (暴露) to humidity.

When tested in a soil sample, the robot was able to rock from side to side, adapt its shape to the space, and get into holes in the ground like a natural seed. Not to mention, it was capable of lifting things about 100 times its own weight. First author Luca Cecchini said that the robot is easy to break down and causes no harm to the soil. It could be used as a wireless, battery-free tool for surface soil exploration and monitoring.

“Green Games” became a calling card for the 19th Asian Games, which     1     (hold) from Sept 23 to Oct 8 in Zhejiang.

All the competition venues (场馆)     2     used green energy sources made the Games the world’s first waste-free sporting event.

Just 12 of the 56 venues were     3     (new) built. The rest were existing     4     (facility) repaired for sustainable (持续的) use.

The Shangcheng Sports Centre Stadium,     5     soccer events took place, was first built in2019. During the renovation (维修), its ceiling and seating, both of     6     had been used for 14years, were kept after being scientifically assessed.

Zhejiang also improved public access to the venues. During the one-year delay (推迟) of the Games, the venues were put aside     7     still kept in use. Since May 2022, all of the venues    8     (receive) 10 million visits, allowing the public     9     (experience) the world-class venues.

These venues will continue to function     10     sports and fitness centers after the Games.