Imagine being a business that regularly takes high quantities of your own products worth millions of pounds and burns them up. Your stock（库存）literally goes up in smoke. It sounds crazy, but the practice is common for some of the world’s biggest clothing manufacturers. They argue that it is the most cost-effective way of maintaining their brand’s exclusivity（独特性）.

The clothes that are burned are those that do not sell at a high enough price. Rather than watch them go on sale, the companies would set fire to them and regain a small amount of energy.

Nobody knows exactly how much unsold stock is burnt annually by those fashion houses, but burning clothes has various negative impacts on the environment. For example, burning clothes made from artificial fibers may release plastic microfibers into the atmosphere, which worsens global warming. A UK parliamentary committee report on sustainability and the fashion industry advises the government to ban the burning of unsold stock if it can be reused or recycled.

Actually, there are other approaches. What if those companies had a section tasked with taking back unsold clothes, redesigning them into new products, and shipping out the new products to the market once again?

There is also now an opportunity to focus on biodegradable（可生物降解的） fabrics. Clothes that break down faster might not have to be burned. They would also appeal to those who care about the environmental impact of their own wardrobes.

Additionally, we have an over-production problem. According to the World Bank, while clothing sales have risen steadily since 2000, clothing utilization has fallen at roughly the same rate. For every extra T-shirt that is sold, it will be worn roughly half as much as it would have been 20 years ago. That means better forecasting market trends would in theory result in less waste.

Burning clothes won’t happen simply through fashion firms. The scale of fashion production has to change. And it’s important to recognize that these consumer-focused brands will only go where the market takes them. If protecting the environment really matters to the public, they have to make clear that they want more sustainable clothing in the first place. Without consumers demanding that, it won’t change.

As the weather changes from day to day, sometimes it's impossible to avoid catching a cold or the flu. However, that doesn't mean we have to suffer terribly. Since the only way to get better from a cold is to go through the process, many natural remedies (疗法) have helped to reduce the symptom (症状) of the common cold.

If you feel the cold, you should drink something warm. Add honey and lemon to hot water or tea. You will keep warm while you're drinking tea. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginger (姜) has been used for over two thousand years. A cup of ginger tea helps to increase the blood move and make you sweat through your body.

Garlic (大蒜) is a super food. Garlic helps to fight off germs (细菌) when eaten daily. It can reduce the number of colds you get each year and shorten cold symptoms. If you don't mind eating uncooked garlic, it's best to eat a few pieces every three to four hours when you feel the first signs of a cold.

It's no secret that salt gets rid of germs. For a sore throat, mix about half a teaspoon of salt into warm water and use as a mouthwash. Whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner, the Japanese enjoy umeboshi, sour and salty apricots(杏子) that help keep the doctor away. Using a neti pot is an old practice from India that helps people breathe better. As a mixture of salt and water pours into the nose, the germs are cleared away.

Although cutting an onion can make you cry, it's good for a blocked nose. People in Mexico and Spain eat hot peppers to get their sense of smell back temporarily during a cold. Of course, you'd better be ready to experience a wave of heat! In Korea, kimchi is a popular side dish that keeps people healthy. It's made from pickle vegetables, red hot sauce and sometimes garlic and ginger.

It is common to have a cold, and Mother Nature’s remedies will be there for you to lower your pain when you need to fight against that cold!

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