Save the World

The United Nations issued a report last week warning that humans are destroying nature at such a rate that life on Earth is at risk. When the report came out, it naturally 【小题1】 headlines. But obviously it did not hijack the news agenda in the manner of a major terrorist attack or 【小题2】 of war.

The report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is clear on what’s at stake and what needs to change. IPBES chair Robert Watson says the “overwhelming evidence” 【小题3】 an “ ominous (凶兆的)picture”.   “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is 【小题4】 more rapidly than ever,” Robert Watson said. “We are biting the very 【小题5】 of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.” The report says it’s not too late if we make “【小题6】 changes” ----fundamental, system-wide reorganization ----- at every level from local to global, we need to focus on how to make that happen.

First, don’t immerse yourself in despair, because despair leads to inertia (惰性) and doing nothing means certain disaster. Every action to save nature will improve our 【小题7】 and personal futures and the only action to respond to a threat of this scale is with 【小题8】 action rooted in optimism. Second, we need focus, just like when rescue teams arrive on a scene and use the concept of “triage(伤员鉴别分类)” to ensure the most 【小题9】 cases get treated first. Saving the natural world needs that kind of thinking. We don’t have the 【小题10】 to do everything at once. We need to make hard choices.

The value of upcycling

Recycling is a well-known idea that refers to reusing waste materials in any way possible. But what about “upcycling”? It’s a new word, even though it’s something that has been going on since human 【小题1】 began. It means reusing waste materials so that they have greater value. Throughout history, people have always done creative things with “trash”. For example, they’ve used straw and dead leaves to make roofs, skin from dead animals to make leather goods, and wood from 【小题2】 trees to make boats. So why is there a new word for it now?

One answer to this question is that we reuse fewer and fewer things, and so have become a (n) “【小题3】” society. This has raised huge questions about waste: Where can we 【小题4】 it all? Will it pollute the environment? Could it be 【小题5】 to our health? The evidence is everywhere—even in the Pacific Ocean, where billions of bits of broken 【小题6】 float near the surface. Fish eat them, and then we eat the fish.

So upcyclers have adopted this new word to focus people’s attention on how waste cannot simply be reused, but be reused 【小题7】. In fact, upcyclers don’t like the idea of waste and prefer to call it an “asset”, something of value. Nowadays, there are lots of organizations that 【小题8】 products with upcycled material. Some artists and designers have upcycled things like denim from old jeans to make rugs, and wood from old houses to make furniture. Others have even used candy wrappers to make handbags! Sometimes they’ll add a(n) 【小题9】 element to their products, such as a beautiful mosaic (马赛克) made with broken dishes. With a (n) 【小题10】 supply of “assets”, it seems that upcycling has a great future.

Sustainable fashion, also called eco fashion, is part of the growing design philosophy and trend of sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in 【小题1】 of environmentalism and social responsibility. Sustainable fashion is part of the large 【小题2】 of sustainable design where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have throughout its total lifespan, including its “carbon footprint”. Fashion designers are now re-introducing eco-conscious methods at source through the use of environmentally friendly materials and 【小题3】 responsible methods of production.

There are some organizations 【小题4】 on increasing opportunities for sustainable designers. The National Association of Sustainable fashion Designers is one of those organizations. Its purpose is to assist entrepreneurs with growing fashion-related businesses that create social change and respect the environment. Sustainable designers provide specialized triple bottom line education, training, and 【小题5】 to tools and industry resources that advance creative, 【小题6】 and high impact businesses. The organization’s mission is to create social change through design and fashion-related businesses by providing education, training and programs that are transformative to the industry and to 【小题7】 cooperation, sustainability and economic growth.

According to Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization (NPO), nothing can better 【小题8】 the necessity of supporting sustainable fashion than the fact that at least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles and 25% of the world’s pesticides are used to grow non-organic cotton. This is 【小题9】 to cause irreversible damage to people and the environment and is in a sense linked to the 【小题10】 of certain species.