When you choose to send one of our free E-cards, you save paper and give friends and family the opportunity to enjoy the wonder of nature.

    Celebrate the beauty of our natural world and send an E-card to friends and family who care about protecting our planet. Feel free to set your E-card to arrive on any day you please.

    Looking for something to do besides sending an E-card?

    Check out our Everyday Environmentalist page with eco-tips on how to live greener, and become an e-member of our free global online community or calculate(计算) your carbon footprint. You can even upload your photos to our site and your photo may be featured in an E-card next year!

    Whenever we see a button on a doorbell or on a remote, we may press it. This is true in most cases. But some buttons are actually fake(假的), like the "close" button on an elevator.

    Many people are in the habit of pressing the "close" button because they don't have the patience to wait for the elevator doors to shut. But according to experts, the buttons are a complete trick—the doors will not close any faster however hard you press.

    It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, making sure that all elevators stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only firefighters and maintenance workers(维修工) can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys. But to normal elevator riders, the buttons aren't completely useless.

    According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control. Experts have showed that a lot of buttons that don't do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, pedestrian crosswalk buttons don't live up to their names. Pressing them used to help make the traffic signals change faster, but that was before computer-controlled traffic signals were introduced.

    But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little "white lies". They still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.

    That habit is here to stay, John Kounios, a psychology professor at Drexel University in the US, told The New York Times. "After all, I've got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not try the chance?"

    The values of artistic works, according to cultural relativism (相对主义), are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

    History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries, Unique works of this kind are different from today's popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

    In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because "the general principles of taste are uniform (不变的) in human nature," the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

    Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

In 1962, Rachel Carson's bestseller Silent Spring created an awareness of the dangerous effects of pesticides. Then, a fire, which broke out in 1969 on Cleveland's Guyahoga River, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(reveal) the problem of chemical pollution in water. Senator Gaylord Nelson dreamed of a similar event {#blank#}4{#/blank#} would get people to take environmental issues seriously. In 1969, he was greatly inspired by protests {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the Vietnam War and came up with the idea for Earth Day.

In the fall of 1969, Nelson announced it and appealed to the entire country to get {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (involve). Consequently, telegrams, letters and telephone calls from all over the country poured in. Since 1970, Earth Day celebrations {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (grow) . Later, Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom because of his work.

Today, numerous {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (community) celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on the 64. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (environment) issues. In 2017, the March for Science {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (occur) on Earth Day and was followed by the People's Climate Mobilization on April 29. 

Words are important, but body language can also give us {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(inform) about people's feelings. Body language is one of {#blank#}2{#/blank#} most powerful means of communication. It is used {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(convey) people's thoughts and opinions and to communicate with each other. When talking with others, you are not just using words, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} using facial expressions as well as gestures. Just like spoken language, body language {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(vary) from culture to culture. The gesture for "OK" has different meanings in different cultures. The gestures we use for "yes" and "no" and the way we greet {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(different) around the world. Some gestures seem to have the same meaning everywhere. Placing your hands together and resting them on the side of your head while closing your eyes means "sleep". Some body language has many different uses. Perhaps the best example is smiling.

A smile can help us get {#blank#}7{#/blank#} difficult situations and find friends. A smile can break {#blank#}8{#/blank#} barriers. Experts suggest {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(smile) at yourself in the mirror {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(make) yourself feel happier.

Street art is a very popular form of art that is spreading quickly all over the world. You can find it on buildings, sidewalks, street signs and trash cans from Tokyo to Paris, from Moscow to Cape Town. Street art has become a global culture and even art museums and galleries are collecting the works of street artists. 

Street art started out very secretly because it was illegal to paint on public and private property without permission. People often have different opinions about street art. Some think it is a crime and others think it is a very beautiful new form of culture. 

Art experts claim that the street art movement began in New York in the 1960s. Young adults painted words and other images on walls and trains. This colourful style of writing became known as graffiti. Graffiti art showed that young people wanted to rebel against society. They travelled around cities to create paintings that everyone could see. In many cases, they had trouble with the police and the local government. 

Street artists do their work for different reasons. Some of them do not like artists who make so much money in galleries and museums. They choose street art because it is closer to the people. Some artists try to express their political opinions in their work. They often want to protest against big firms and corporations. Others like to do things that are forbidden and hope they don't get caught. Advertising companies also use street art in their ads because it gives people the impression of youth and energy. 

Today, the Internet has a big influence on street art. Artists can show their pictures to audience all over the world. Many city residents, however, say that seeing a picture on the Internet is never as good as seeing it alive. The street art movement lives with the energy and life of a big city. There, it will continue to change and grow.