Weaving environment-friendly materials into beautiful clothing is normally brands' first step toward achieving sustainability.

Allbirds is a shoe brand founded in 2016 in New Zealand, which just entered China two years ago. Many influencers are fans of the brand, including Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, Dick Costolo, the former CEO of Twitter, actress Emma Watson, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

The brand chooses natural and sustainable wool from merino sheep as the main raw material, and it costs 60 percent less energy than producing typical synthetic (合成的) shoes; it sources tree fiber involved from farms in South Africa, where people minimize fertilizer and irrigate the land with rainfall, directly saving 95 percent water and cutting carbon footprint in half; sugarcane (甘蔗) involved is sourced from southern Brazil, which relies on rainwater as well.

The brand received Forest Stewardship Council certification, approving that it sources materials that meet strict standards to protect forests, and the animals and people who depend on them.

During China Fashion Week, which was recently held, an increasing number of Chinese brands showed their practice of sustainability. Demain presented the potential of plant-based regenerated fiber; Damowang formed recycled PET fabric into clothes, which cause 32 percent less carbon emission while producing comparing to normal PET fabric; I-La introduced new collection made from biodegradable (生物降解的) natural materials; Chicco Mao called attention to the catastrophic impact of global warming on coastal ecology through design.

According to the report, although the number of mass market retailers, who make products from sustainable materials, stays low, it has increased fivefold in the last two years.

Yan Yan, the head of Responsible Supply Chain Association, talked about sustainable fashion at China Fashion Summit on March 27. She said, “the realization of sustainable fashion counts on the transformation of the whole industry, involving designers' awareness, the selection of raw materials, manufacturing process, consumption concept and where these products will end up with.”

One of Britain’s few typical contributions to world culture may come to an end, according to a survey that suggests holiday postcards are being emailed and texted into extinction (消亡). More than half of the 1,000 holiday-makers interviewed said they had decided to send fewer cards, turning instead to their electronic competitors.

A quarter of the respondents (受访者) dismissed postcards as old-fashioned and slow to arrive. A further 14% admitted that thinking of something to fill the space was too challenging, compared with a call home. Although officially invented by a Hungarian, Emanuel Herrmann, in 1869, the idea of illustrated cards was taken up with most enthusiasm in Victorian Britain, joining Gothic architecture and landscape gardening as fields in which the country excelled.

“If the British postcard did become extinct, we would lose for ever something of great importance to the nation,” said Chris Mottershead of Thomson Holidays, which charged with the survey. He was backed by Marie Angelou of Sussex University, who has studied the importance of sending and receiving postcards. “Postcards are nothing like phone calls, instant texting and direct photo shots via the mobile,” she said. “All these are useful, practical devices, but postcards offer something else, something additional that is not mundane (世俗的) and simply functional, but imaginative and personal. They can produce the real atmosphere of your holiday in a way that nothing else can do. They’re also for more than a moment — with some people adding them to collections built up over years and years.”

Postcard-collecting, is third only to coins and stamps in Britain’s related tradition of collecting things. The country’s uniquely postcard-related achievements include the invention in 1902 of the“divided back”. With the address taking up half of the writing area, brief postcard scribbles (潦草的书写) became the forerunner to today’s text messages.

Imagine this scene: it’s very windy outside, you’re snuggled up on the sofa under a warm blanket, chatting and talking about pleasant past events with your closest friends.

That comfortable feeling has a name in Danish—“hygge”. And, as Denmark recently won the title of ‘happiest country in the world’, the rest of the world is becoming more and more interested in finding ways to embrace this concept.

“Hygge”—originally from a Norwegian word meaning “wellbeing”—doesn't have an exact equivalent in English. It’s often translated as cosiness, or “cosiness of the soul.” But, as translator ToveMaren Stakkestad explains: “Hygge was never meant to be translated. It was meant to be felt.”

Essentially, Hygge involves creating a warm, cosy atmosphere and enjoying it with your loved ones. Danish winters are long and dark and so achieving “hygge” is particularly relevant during this season. A typical “hygge” activity during winter could be, enjoying delicious homemade food and light-hearted conversation with friends – preferably in the warm glow of candlelight; or maybe sipping a glass of warm wine in the hot tub after a day spent skiing.

However, Hygge isn’t only limited to the cold winter months—it can also describe that warm, fuzzy feeling you get after a walk through a forest with friends on summer’s day or a family barbecue in the park.

“Hygge” is currently taking the world by storm with more and more people becoming obsessed with achieving a state of wellbeing. Articles, books and stocking fillers, full of tips on how to achieve hygge, are hitting the market. Although some believe this has become a marketing and advertising action, the benefits of staying happy cannot be underestimated. So, as the winter nights draw in, instead of hibernating, get into your favourite pajama, bake some cookies and lie down by a roaring fire with a good book. And if you can do this with friends and family, even better—hygge is meant to be shared.