People are getting more worried about the effect (影响) of fast fashion on the environment.

Fast fashion is making clothes in large numbers at a low price. Factories make 100 billion (十亿) pieces of clothing every year. The fast fashion business is doing great harm to the environment. Many of the clothes end up in rubbish bins and are not recycled. A French scientist wrote: “Every year in Europe, four million tons of clothing ends up in the rubbish. Less than 1% of this is recycled.” Another bad effect on the environment is caused by the chemicals (化学物品) used to make clothes. These also cause health problems to people working in clothes factories.

The way people buy clothes is making the problem of clothing waste worse. Many years ago, people went to stores and tried clothes on. They spent more time and thought more carefully before buying clothes. They also wore them for longer. Today, people order cheap clothes online. And if they don’t like them, they send them back. Some people buy clothes and never ever wear them. This is leading to a throw-away society.

So next time before you buy new clothes, think carefully if you truly need them. If not, don’t buy them! Your action will make a difference to the environment.

At 8, 844, 43 meters high, Mount Qomolangma is the tallest mountain on Earth. While it is famous for its beautiful views, parts of the mountain are facing a problem: rubbish. Every year, thousands of visitors throw away tons of rubbish, such as bottles and plastic bags.

According to the UN, over 140 tons of rubbish has been left on the mountain. To reduce rubbish, China is limiting（限制）the number of people who are allowed to climb up the north side of the mountain. Only 300 people will be allowed to climb it, and only during spring.

Local people cleaned the mountain last year, removing rubbish at a height of 5, 200 meters. They collected about 8.4 metric tons（公吨）of rubbish.

This year, the local government plans to spend 4 million yuan on a new clean-up activity. The local government is also setting up stations to sort（分类）, recycle and break down rubbish collected from the mountain. A group of artists will also try to turn the rubbish into art works. They will show these works of art to remind people not to leave rubbish when climbing the mountain.

London used to be “foggy” for the same reason that cities like Beijing or Chongqing are “foggy” today. In fact, the “fog” was smog, a mixture (混合物) of smoke and fog. In other words, it was made by air pollution. In London, some of this pollution came from factories, but much of it came from the coal that people burnt in their houses to keep warm during the winter. By the 1950s, London’s smog problem had become so bad that the government decided to do something to clean the air. A new law was made and nobody could burn coal in any British city. Within a few years, the air became much cleaner. There were no more “pea-soupers”.

Many Chinese cities now face the same kind of problem of air pollution that London faced 40 or 50 years ago. However, this problem is more difficult for Chinese cities to solve. One reason is that more of the pollution comes from the factories, rather than from coal burnt in people’s houses. If these factories were closed, this would harm the economy and lots of people would lose their jobs. Another reason is that changing from coal to cleaner fuel(燃料), like gas, is quite expensive.

However, the air in many Chinese cities is becoming cleaner and cleaner, as the government and people pay more and more attention to cutting down pollution. As a result, there are fewer “pea-soupers” in Beijing than there used to be.