(Bilingual) Waste2Oxygen | 什么，塑料也可以环保？？？

What are the biggest environmental challenges we are facing today? Residents in Shanghai and other large, polluted cities are often concerned about the effects of air quality on their health, but how often is it that we do something about it?

今天我们面临的最严重的环境问题是什么？ 可能最直观的就是空气污染问题，但是除了去商店购买昂贵的空气净化器之外，我们还能做些什么？

 上周四，Upbeing 邀请到了印度 The Upcycle Co.的创始人 Amishi Parasrampuria 并成功的举办了 “变废为氧” 工作坊。 

Environmental issues in India and the shortage of education on how to combat them inspired Amishi  from The Upcycle Co., New Delhi, to take charge and instigate change. 

在当今这个环境危机加重、生态破坏严重的地球村里，特别是在印度，环境污染极度严重，与此同时，又严重缺乏环境教育，激发了Amishi 创办了 The Upcyle Co.

In addition to running The Upcycle Co., which upcycles waste products into artistic and useful handcrafts, Amishi holds workshops to empower people to reduce waste and improve the air quality of their homes and offices.

 在这个空气污染、水污染，过度消费，快时尚的社会里，我们“乐此不疲” 得破坏生态链，加重地球村的负担，又“孜孜不倦” 得扔掉一个又一个的塑料瓶，快递包装。

A collaboration between Upbeing and The Upcycle Co. brought Amishi to The Cheers Hub last week to pass on this knowledge to residents in Shanghai.

  或许你会想：“扔掉就与你无关”

No！

 事实证明，那些被你扔掉的总有一天会还给你，你所扔掉的塑料会被海洋生物吃掉，也就是说它们肚子里都含有塑料, 这也就意味着你的饕餮大餐其实只是“塑料海洋生物”。

The workshop began with hands-on transformation of plastic bottles personally salvaged from dumpsters by our eco-warrior facilitators. These were to be the new homes of the Snake and Aloe plants that participants would go home with after the workshop. Of course, the younger generation of participants triumphed in their artistry compared to the adults!

 更严重的是原来室内空气污染比室外更可怕，室内空气污染会导致你感到困乏、无力，甚至患上致命的疾病。

面对这些困扰我们又能够做些什么呢？

 或许，我们可以试着将问题变成资源，赋予废弃的塑料以二次生命。

其实，塑料能够创造出比原先更高质量高价值的东西。比如，将其变升级回收成为花瓶。

不了解什么是升级回收？

点击查看： Upcycling | 跳出买买买的怪圈？让升级回收帮你收妖

An opportunity for creative outlet was followed by a brainstorm of environmental issues, with waste, pollution and consumer culture being among our biggest concerns. Amishi then led us in a lesson on the super-powers of common household plants.

 我们试图将废弃塑料瓶变成“生态环保战士”，而面对这些“生态保卫战士”，参与者将发挥自己的创造力，赋予其更高的价值，亲手种下一株拥有生命的绿色植物，并带回家。

It turns out that research by NASA from as early as 1989 highlighted the natural detoxifying and oxygenating power of plants. There is even a study on the most effective combination of three common household plants to drastically improve indoor air quality.

 其实早在1989年，美国国家宇航局的研究就表明了植物的自然解毒能力和氧化能力，并告诉我们有三种普通家用植物的组合能极大的改善室内空气质量，它们分别是：虎尾兰，发财树和芦荟。

Potting plants in soil was guaranteed messy fun and connected participants of various ages and backgrounds in an activity that empowered us to make a positive impact on our personal and wider environments.

  “变废为氧”工作坊是一个跨越国界、语言、年龄的平台。Amishi 颠覆了大家对于废弃塑料无用的认知，一场头脑风暴的创新工作坊带给了大家着实的灵感和启发。也加深了对现今社会所面临的问题的了解，以及作为新一代的我们，能够为地球村承担起什么责任，并把这种积极的影响力不断扩大.

创造改变“塑料”

Waste2Oxygen gave its participants an opportunity to connect – across borders, ages and lifestyles. The greatest part about an event like this is that if each participant who learnt about the power of plants and recycling might spreads the word to 5 people then the word is already reaching 150 people in a week.

如果每一个人都能够知道植物以及升级回收的力量，并将其传播给身边人，那么我们的生命将更具有可持续性。

The take-away lesson for us

There’s much more environmental and human goodness in hand-potted floral friends than electrical purifiers and frowning on smoggy days!

Next workshop in November will be held at Eco Design Fair! See you there on Nov 12th at the Game4Good workshop. To register please scan the QR code below.  

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国际竞争力 / 创变者 / 斜杠青年

International Competence / Global Changemaker / Slash 

在 Upbeing 我们为学生们打造量身定制的社会创新项目，帮助学生在做中学，发掘自身潜能和天赋，提前探索自己未来的专业和职业，成为具有国际竞争力的创变者&斜杠青年。

At Upbeing we generate and scale up action in social innovation areas to accelerate progress towards a sustainable and fun society where we advocate achieving human's full potential.