When you throw something in the recycling bin, do you think about what it could become? And when you do, does it make you more likely to use that recycling bin? Recently, a study was conducted in an effort to decide whether or not explaining to people what their recyclables are transformed into would help increase recycling rates.

The researchers started with a group of 111 college students, asked to draw on paper before watching one of three ads.One was a public service message that showed paper going into recycling bins.The other two also showed the paper either being transformed into new paper or a guitar.After completing a survey, the students were asked to deal with the paper when they left. Half of those who saw the first ad recycled their paper, while the recycling rate jumped to 80% for those who'd seen the other ads.

After doing a few more lab experiments, the researchers headed into the real world.At a party, volunteers spoke with attendees (出席者) about recycling, with half mentioning transformed products and half keeping it general.They discovered the subject of the talks came into play.After the game, the recycling and trash bags were weighed.Those who received a message recycled over half of their waste, while those who did not recycled less than a fifth.

All this is to say that details matter.People want to know what treasures their trash can become, and when that's laid out clearly, they' re more likely to do it.Perhaps recycling companies should redesign signs to describe the items being created.Recycling is far from a perfect solution,but it doesn't hurt to manage to improve its rates.

Dessi Sieburth's love of birds started about six years ago. Now, he has his own group called Protecting Our Birds.Recently,Dessi,14 years old, chatted with TFK about his work and goals for the future.

TFK:

What is Protecting Our Birds?

DESSI：

Birds are citizens of the world, so they need protection. I basically try to do conservation work to help birds get protected throughout the world. I recently wrote an article about a bird called the bartailed godwit(斑尾）.I interviewed a biologist named Nils Warnock, who had studied the bartailed godwit. He expressed the concern about the threat that the bartailed godwit is facing. I wrote an article about his answers to the questions, which is published on the American Birding Association Website.

TFK:

What impelled you to start this project?

DESSI:

When I was eight years old, our class had to do a woodworking project, so I chose a bird feeder(喂食盒). I didn't like birds at the time. I made the feeder, filled it up with seed, put it in my backyard and then the birds started coming. I got really interested in birds as more came. I later got involved in my local Audubon Society, which is devoted to conserving and restoring natural ecosystems. It really got me into birds and I realized bird populations were declining, and many are becoming endangered quite rapidly. I wanted to help them, so I started the project.

TFK:

What are some future projects you plan to work on?

DESSI：

I live in L.A., where there are a lot of parrots. Most of the parrots' native range is in Mexico, but they’re really declining there because of habitat loss. I want to study the parrots and help them in their native range in Mexico, so they can start increasing again.

TFK:

How can people learn more about Protecting Our Birds and the work you're doing?

DESSI：

I have a website. It's my free website about protecting our birds. There people can learn about what I do and how to help birds.

Global warming is the process of earth's atmosphere heating up. Over the last 100 years, the average temperature of earth's atmosphere has gone up 1 Fahrenheit. The weather has not changed exactly the same way in every area of the planet. But scientists think that the rise in average temperature is already affecting the earth, s climate.

Many scientists now believe that global warming is caused by cutting down trees, producing more trash, and polluting the environment are some of the that the temperature has gone up. Many scientists believe that the biggest causes of global warming are new human technologies that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The greenhouse effect is not new. Certain gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, prevent heat energy from escaping back into space. In the past, the climate didn’t change much because nature produced just the right amount of greenhouse gases to deal with it.

Today, most scientists are pretty sure that the rising temperature can,, t be blamed on nature. Ever since the industrial revolution in the 1700s, humans have relied on machines for daily life. And many of those machines give off a lot of greenhouse gases. An increase in the release of greenhouse gases from human activities is throwing nature off balance.

The climate is a very complicated thing, but many scientists agree that the rising atmospheric temperature has already damaged the environment. Sheets of ice, called glaciers, are melting in Antarctica and other parts of the globe. As glaciers break off and melt into the oceans, they are adding warm water to the oceans and causing the sea level to rise.

Over the past last 100 years, the sea level has risen 6-8 inches around the world. That means land along the coasts is beginning to disappear under water. Bigger and warmer oceans are also adding to other weather problems caused by pollution in the atmosphere. Some places have received more rain, others have had bigger storms and a few areas in the world have experienced unusual droughts.