Human illumination （照明）of the planet is growing in range and intensity by about 2% a year, creating a problem that can be compared to climate change, according to a team of biologists from the University of Exeter.

Hormone （激素）levels, breeding cycles and activity patterns are being affected across a broad range of species. In all the animal species examined, they found reduced levels of melatonin一 a hormone that regulates sleep cycles 一 as a result of artificial light at night. Behavioural patterns were also disturbed. Rodents, which mostly search for food at night, were active for a shorter period? while birds started singing and searching for worms earlier in the day.

The outcomes were not purely negative. The scientists said certain species in certain locations benefited from night-time light：some plants grew faster and some types of bats thrived （兴旺）. But they said the overall effect was catastrophic, particularly to the insects drawn to fast-moving car lamps.

Satellite images of the Earth at night show how rapidly the problem is expanding geographically, but lights are also becoming more intense as expensive soft amber bulbs are replaced by greater numbers of cheap bright white LEDs. This is biologically problematic because the white light has a wider range, like sunlight.

Unlike the climate crisis, however, the lead author, Kevin Gaston said solving the lighting problem would save rather than cost money. But it would require a change of mindset. "At the heart of this is a deep-rooted human need to light up the night. We are still in a sense afraid of the dark,“ he said. "The ability to turn the night-time into something like the daytime is something we have pursued far beyond the necessity of doing so. ”

As a basic food in the Asian diet， soybeans（大豆） have been used to make tofu and soy milk for hundreds of years． But now， they are also being turned into an alternative to plastic wrap．

William Chen， a professor of food science and technology at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University， invented the environmentally﹣friendly food wrap． It's made of cellulose（纤维素），a form of fiber， obtained from the waste generated by soy bean product producers． The beans are pressed to squeeze out juice that's used to make tofu and soy milk． And what's left is usually thrown away， but Chen takes the waste and puts it through a fermentation（发酵） process， during which cellulose is produced．

Cellulose﹣based plastic wraps have been on the market for a few years， but Chen says that most are made from wood or corn， grown for that purpose． By contrast， his wrap is made from a waste product， which doesn't compete with other crops for land and is more sustainable． Chen's technology could help to solve two problems at once： cutting plastic production and reducing the amount of food waste．"In Singapore， the amount of food waste generated every year could fill up 15，000 Olympic﹣sized swimming pools，" Chen says．

F&N， a soy﹣based drinks producer， has partnered with Chen's lab and provides the product， straight from the factory． The company is conducting a study to assess whether the food wrap could complete commercially with conventional products． Chen adds，"The soy﹣based wrap costs almost nothing to make in the lab because the raw materials are free． Commercial production would involve additional expenses， such as storage and quality control， however， we have not calculated those costs yet．"

Chen hopes neighboring soy﹣loving countries will be inspired by Singapore to adopt his innovation． "My dream is that our technology， which is cheap and simple， will cut plastic and food waste and create a cleaner environment，" Chen says．

Eradajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution to two of our country’s persistent problems: garbage and poverty. It’s called the Chip Bag Project. The 26-year-old student and environmentalist from Detroit is asking a favor of local snack lovers: Rather than toss your empty chip bags into the trash, donate them so she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.

Chip eaters drop off their empty bags from Doritos, Lay’s, and other favorites at two locations in Detroit: a print shop and a clothing store, where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they sanitize the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice them open, lay them flat, and iron them together. They use padding and liners from old coats to line the insides.

It takes about four hours to sew a sleeping bag, and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags, depending on whether they’re single-serve or family size. The result is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof, lightweight, and easy to carry around,” Oleita told the Detroit News. Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has collected more than 800,000 chip bags and, as of last December, created 110 sleeping bags.

Sure, some people believe it would be simpler to help the homeless by raising money to buy new sleeping bags. But that’s only half the goal for Oleita — whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago with the hope of attaining a better life — and her fellow volunteers. “We are dedicated to making an impact not only socially, but environmentally,” she says.

And, of course, there’s the symbolism of recycling bags that would otherwise land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful reminder that environmental injustice and poverty often go hand in hand. As Oleita told hourdetroit.com, “I think it’s time to show connections between all of these issues.”