If you think caring for the environment is just the government's job, think again.

Clean air and beautiful surroundings are for all of us, so we all have a role in protecting them. You don't need to be an expert or have a job in the environmental field. If you care, you can join in!

Being an environmental volunteer can mean joining awareness campaigns, helping environmental organizations, planting trees, or fundraising. There are so many ways to contribute. In the U.S., about 49% of adults over 18 have done volunteer work—on average, 4.2 hours per week. That's worth $200 billion in value!

China is catching up too. Students from Beijing Forestry University volunteer to protect wild geese, and “Friends of Nature” organize desert tree planting events. In many countries, companies even check if job applicants have done environmental volunteering to gauge their sense of responsibility. Caring for our environment is something we all can and should do.

Understand and Protect Forests

Forests are vital to our survival. They give us the oxygen we breathe and absorb harmful carbon dioxide. Forests also manage water flow, prevent soil erosion, reduce wind speed, trap dust, and clean the air of harmful gases. In cities, green areas even reduce noise pollution.

But forests are disappearing fast. If we lose them, our planet's ecosystem could collapse. China has 134 million hectares of forest—5th in the world—but our forest coverage rate is only 14%, well below the global average of 27%.

Most of our forests are still young or mid-aged, and many are planted artificially. Forests are unevenly spread, and illegal logging and forest disasters like pests and sandstorms are major problems.

Let's start small: reuse paper, say no to disposable wooden chopsticks, and support forest protection however we can.

Say No to Furniture Made from Rare Woods

There's a trend of showing off wealth by buying furniture made from rare woods. But that luxury comes at a huge cost to nature. Take rosewood as an example. It comes from tropical rainforests and is super expensive—just one pair of rosewood chopsticks can cost over 100 yuan, and a full furniture set could be worth hundreds of thousands.

China bans cutting down rosewood locally, so most of it is imported. But destroying rainforests anywhere damages animal habitats and disrupts global ecosystems. These rare trees are irreplaceable. 10,000 years ago, half the Earth's land was covered in forests—about 6.2 billion hectares. Now, we only have 2.8 billion left. Tropical rainforests are shrinking by 17 million hectares each year.

Rainforests are the planet's lungs. If we lose them, we all suffer. Let's protect them—starting with refusing rare wood products.

Say No to Disposable Chopsticks

Disposable chopsticks—sometimes called “hygienic” or “convenient” chopsticks—used to be seen as modern. But in reality, they're wasteful, unclean, and harmful to forests. A single 20-year-old tree can only make about 6,000 to 8,000 pairs of these chopsticks.

China produces 10 million boxes of disposable chopsticks every year, with 6 million boxes exported to countries like Japan and South Korea. Ironically, Japan invented disposable chopsticks but doesn't use its own forests to make them. Instead, they recycle used chopsticks into paper.

China's forest coverage is less than one-fourth of Japan's, yet we're using more trees for chopsticks. That's why we encourage everyone to say no to disposable chopsticks when eating out and avoid wooden pencils in daily life.

Save Paper and Recycle

We often see news about paper factories polluting rivers—water turns black and smelly, fish disappear, and crops fail. Paper production depends heavily on wood, and forests are already under pressure. Plus, making paper causes serious pollution.

That's why saving paper matters. If one side of a paper is still blank, use it! And don't just throw out fully used paper either—recycle it. Recycling one ton of waste paper saves 17 trees, produces 800 kg of good paper, reduces water pollution by 35%, and cuts energy use by over half.

China's paper recycling rate is low, so we import a lot. In 1996 alone, we imported 1.37 million tons of waste paper. We can change this by recycling old newspapers, textbooks, and scraps at home and school. When buying new paper, choose recycled options—and tell your family and classmates to do the same!

Say No to Over-Packaging

When we buy snacks or gifts, we often find they're wrapped in layer after layer of packaging—sometimes up to five layers! A 1997 survey showed that each person in China produced 10 kg of packaging waste per year. Nationally, that adds up to nearly 10 million tons annually—and the number is rising fast.

Making all that packaging wastes metal, glass, paper, and plastic. And after one use, it's all trash.

If you're wondering, Lykkers, how can I make a difference? The answer is simple: start with small habits. Say no to waste, yes to reuse, and invite others to join you. Our everyday choices matter—and together, we can help the Earth breathe easier. Let's do it, one step at a time!