How To Be Green?

What does “green” mean? “Green” is more than just a color. 【小题1】    Why green? Plants are green, and without them the Earth wouldn't be such a lovely home for us human beings. What can we do? Here's a four-step guide to being green.

Reduce It!

【小题2】 For instance, a shorter shower means you use less water and less fuel since your house uses fuel to run the water heater that warms up the water.

Reuse It!

Sometimes people call our society a “throwaway society”. It means that we're a little too willing to throw away old stuff(东西) and buy new stuff. 【小题3】 . For instance, if your baby brother becomes older and loses interest in his plastic basketball hoop(篮圈), why not give it to another family who has a little kid?

Recycle It!

Recycling has never been easier. Many communities(社区) will pick it up right in front of your house and some towns even require it. Recycled goods go to a recycling center, where they can be turned into new cans, bottles, and paper.

Enjoy It!

It's true that rubbish and pollution are problems, but the Earth remains a huge and beautiful place that's ready for you to explore. 【小题4】  Go for a hike, visit local nature centers and gardens, and climb up mountains.

But before you travel around the world, take a look at your own backyard. Find a place where you could plant a tree or put in a little fruit or vegetable garden. 【小题5】

   The majority of the people make tree houses using a pile of wood, a hammer, and some nails. Mitchell Joachim, an architect from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a（n）_______ vision（设想）. He _______ a day when homes will be created from living trees.

Joachim’s vision is _______ on an idea called pleaching（编织）, where tree branches are grown so that they _______ weave together. Since the growth patterns of trees are _______ by wind and sunlight, it may be _______ to control the way a tree develops.

These Fabricated Tree House Habitats would use trees grown into shapes as housing. One of the _______ of these designs is that trees would not have to be cut down _______.

“A 100 percent tree house would _______ years to create,” Joachim said. __________ the climate, a house could take anywhere from 5 to 30 years to grow. Fortunately, there’s a way to speed up the __________. Joachim __________ including ecological materials such as grasses and living branches in the housing designs. “This material would be able to move __________ the house grows,” Joachim said.

A home would become an actual ecosystem, a community of plants, animals, and bacteria working together. The trees would also give off water vapor（蒸气）that would assist in __________ the homes. Solar panels and wind would help provide __________. The tree homes might even have soil pockets, where plants could __________ in the structure itself.

Work has already __________ on Joachim’s first design — a house made from 50 percent recycled and 50 percent living things. Joachim is confident about the __________ of his work, as he uses __________ products without destroying nature.

“The environment and its study are very important. We need to __________ nature, and don’t take it for granted,” he said.

   Most artists have a favorite material they like to work with. For Kristen Alyce, it happens to be trash (废物). The eco-conscious designer uses her talent to transform garbage like empty drink bottles and Skittles wrappers into wonderful outfits (全套服装) that sell for thousands of dollars.

Kristen says the idea came to her after she saw how much waste she and her three college roommates produced on a daily basis. The Fine Arts student began to dream about transforming the bags and packages into beautiful clothes. Her first dress made of plastic bags and rolled magazines was unusual, funny and even fascinating. However, she only made it to test how she could create a beautiful dress with trash.

The young designer did not consider starting a commercial business until she spent a week working at Couture Fashion Week in New York City. There she observed the excitement caused by new looks and decided to see if her unusual idea would result in as much enthusiasm. She began by creating a line of 12 garbage-inspired dresses. They were a big success and Garbage Gone Glam was born!

Today the company produces a wide variety of outfits that range from cocktail dresses to ballgowns. Kristen, of course, doesn’t search for trash cans as her material any more. Since the designer can work with anything from brochures to yellow pages, from directory pages to candy wrappers, finding “trash” is never a problem.

However, if you think the garbage-inspired women dresses come cheap, think again. The price for ready made creations sold on the company’s site varies from $500 to $1,500. Those seeking custom (定制的) dresses have to pay as much as $2,000. Though those may appear expensive, the designer says that she has no shortage of customers. In fact thanks to so many requests she now even has trash-inspired outfits for men that include jackets, ties, trousers and even board shorts! While most of the outfits are hard enough to bear various wearing methods, whether they can be cleaned is a little unclear.