快时尚的真实代价：英语精读讲义

Buying clothes has never been easier. 語法

买衣服从来没有这么容易过。

80 billion items are manufactured every year.

每年生产出 800 亿件衣物。

We're putting too much product out there. 短語動詞

我们投放了太多的产品。

Most of that product ending up in landfill.

其中大部分最终被送进了垃圾填埋场。

So-called fast fashion allows consumers to buy more,

所谓的快时尚让消费者能买得更多，

but they're wearing these garments less often and disposing of them at an unprecedented rate. 短語搭配

但他们穿这些衣服的次数变少了，并且正以前所未有的速度丢弃它们。

This is where wardrobe castoffs end up. 講解

这就是被淘汰的衣服最终的去向。

Savanna Rags is a clothes recycling and processing plant in Nottingham, England.

Savanna Rags 是位于英国诺丁汉的一家旧衣回收处理厂。

They process discarded clothes from recycling bins around the country.

他们处理来自全国各地回收箱的废弃衣物。

Mohammed Patel has been running this plant for 12 years. 語法

Mohammed Patel 经营这家工厂已经有 12 年了。

Majority of it will go to Africa and Dubai.

其中大部分会运往非洲和迪拜。

We send some of it to Europe,

我们会把一部分送到欧洲，

and we have a couple of buyers here in the UK that buy from us also.

而且在英国本地也有几个买家从我们这里进货。

Globally, sorting plants like this only deal with around 25% of discarded clothes. 短語動詞

在全球范围内，这样的分拣厂只处理了大约 25% 的废弃衣物。

In Britain, more than 300,000 tons of clothes end up in landfill every year.

在英国，每年有超过 30 万吨的衣服最终被送入垃圾填埋场。

It's the fastest growing category of waste in the country.

这是该国增长最快的垃圾类别。

But this is a global problem.

但这是一个全球性的问题。

Expanding middle classes in emerging markets are hungry for more and cheaper fashion. 講解

新兴市场不断壮大的中产阶级渴望获得更多、更便宜的时尚产品。

It's estimated that by 2050, 語法

据估计，到 2050 年，

global clothing sales could more than triple. 語法

全球服装销售额可能会增长两倍以上。

And one of the things that we've noticed is that the quality of the actual material being used has gone down. 短語動詞

我们注意到的一个问题是，所用实际材料的质量下降了。

We're now having to process a lot more just to get the same quality of goods that we can sell on. 短語動詞

我们现在必须处理更多的废旧衣物，才能获得同样质量的、可供转售的商品。

But how can the fashion industry continue to grow while addressing the environmental need for people to buy fewer clothes? 表達脈絡

但是，时尚产业如何在继续增长的同时，又能满足让人们少买衣服的环保需求呢？

New York fashionista Ijeoma Kola is less about rags and more about the latest runway fashions. 語法

纽约时尚达人 Ijeoma Kola 不怎么关注旧衣服，她更关心最新的秀场时尚。

Because I post often on Instagram,

因为我经常在 Instagram 上发帖，

there is a little bit of pressure to have a new outfit. 短語搭配

所以要穿新衣服就有一点压力。

She's a fashion blogger.

她是一位时尚博主。

Her stylish posts and clothing tips are attracting a big online following. 短語搭配

她时尚的帖子和穿搭技巧吸引了大量的在线粉丝。

I found myself before buying a lot of clothes.

我发现我以前买了很多衣服。

I usually bought clothes from H&M and Zara or ASOS.

我通常在 H&M 和 Zara 或 ASOS 买衣服。

But if you're looking for trendy pieces,

但如果你想找潮流单品，

they have them.

他们那里都有。

They're pretty affordable.

而且价格非常实惠。

Today, she's looking for a new outfit for a swanky industry event.

今天，她正在为一场时髦的行业活动寻找一套新衣服。

But this store doesn't sell clothes.

但这家店不卖衣服。

It rents them.

它出租衣服。

Ijeoma has been championing Rent the Runway's radical new approach to high-end fashion. 用詞

Ijeoma 一直在倡导 Rent the Runway 对于高端时尚的全新激进理念。

Rent the Runway is a clothing borrowing service,

Rent the Runway 是一项服装租赁服务，

which allows you to rent clothes for either 4 or 8 days at a time. 語法

允许你每次租衣服穿 4 到 8 天。

You're cycling through clothing as fast, 短語動詞

你换衣服的速度一样快，

but you're borrowing it with other people.

但你是和别人一起借用的。

So other people get to wear the same things that you're wearing as well. 語法

所以其他人也能穿你正在穿的同样的衣服。

On average, only 20% of clothes are worn on a regular basis. 短語搭配

平均而言，只有 20% 的衣服会被经常穿着。

Rent the Runway's mission is to change consumers' relationship with the clothes they wear. 短語搭配

Rent the Runway 的使命是改变消费者与他们所穿衣服之间的关系。

Rather than buying something, only getting to wear it maybe three, four times before you decide to give it away or throw it away, 講解

与其买一件衣服，大概只穿个三四次就决定送人或扔掉，

an item is worn a lot more when it is being shared across different people.

不如把这件衣服在不同的人之间共享，这样它的利用率就会高得多。

Rent the Runway only has a couple of flagship stores,

Rent the Runway 只有几家旗舰店，

but online, it's a giant. 習語

但在网上，它是个巨头。

And it's disrupting the fashion industry.

它正在颠覆时尚行业。

To date, there are 10 million members, 短語搭配

迄今为止，它已有 1000 万会员，

so it comes with a hefty laundry bill. 講解

所以随之而来的是一张巨额的洗衣账单。

The company claims to have the largest dry cleaning facility in the world. 語氣意圖

该公司声称拥有全球最大的干洗设施。

Rent the Runway is getting more mileage out of items of clothing. 習語

Rent the Runway 正在从每件衣服身上榨取更多的使用价值。

It's also helping to tackle an increasing throwaway 用詞

它也有助于应对日益严重的用完即弃的

culture.

文化。

But the last thing clothing brands want is for consumers to buy less. 語法

但服装品牌最不希望看到的就是消费者少买东西。

Except perhaps for Patagonia, an outdoor apparel brand,

也许户外服装品牌 Patagonia 是个例外，

which sent shockwaves through the industry with this full-page advert in the New York Times on Black Friday 2011. 講解

2011 年黑色星期五，它在《纽约时报》上刊登的全版广告震惊了整个行业。

Here in Amsterdam, Ryan Gellert heads up Patagonia's operations in Europe and the Middle East. 短語動詞

在阿姆斯特丹，Ryan Gellert 负责 Patagonia 在欧洲和中东的业务。

The apparel industry has become one of the most polluting in the world.

服装业已成为世界上污染最严重的行业之一。

As an industry, we're creating product that people don't need by stimulating demand and creating this sense that if you don't buy it now, 語法

作为一个行业，我们通过刺激需求来创造人们不需要的产品，并营造出一种感觉：如果你现在不买，

it's not going to be available.

就买不到了。

There's this race to the bottom on price and quality that is an unsustainable model. 習語

在价格和质量上出现了这种竞相压价的不良竞争，这是一种不可持续的模式。

Patagonia's philosophy flies in the face of fast fashion. 習語

Patagonia 的理念与快时尚背道而驰。

To buy once, buy well, 表達脈絡

只买一次，买好品质的，

and mend clothing for a longer lifespan.

并修补衣服以延长其使用寿命。

So maybe doing that in Amsterdam and then figuring out how to share it elsewhere. 短語動詞

所以也许可以在阿姆斯特丹这么做，然后弄清楚如何在其他地方分享这种做法。

With the largest single repair facility in North America and mobile mending services around Europe and America,

凭借北美最大的单一维修设施以及遍布欧美的移动修补服务，

Patagonia's anti-fashion environmental message has resonated with people who buy into their vision. 講解

Patagonia 反时尚的环保理念引起了认同其愿景的人们的共鸣。

Helping our customers keep their product in use longer was also one of the original big ideas of Patagonia. 語法

帮助我们的客户让他们的产品使用更长时间，这也是 Patagonia 最初的重要理念之一。

Between 2008 and 2014,

在 2008 年至 2014 年间，

profits reportedly tripled.

据报道其利润增长了两倍。

Patagonia claims it generates revenue of nearly $1 billion a year.

Patagonia 称其年收入接近 10 亿美元。

Its hope is to inspire other brands to tackle the environmental impact of fast fashion.

它希望能以此激励其他品牌解决快时尚对环境造成的影响。

If I had the opportunity to sit down with leaders from some of the bigger fast-fashion companies in the world, 短語動詞

如果我有机会和世界上一些大型快时尚公司的领导人坐下来谈谈，

what I'd really encourage them to understand the full impact of their supply chains. 語法

我真的很想鼓励他们去了解其供应链的全面影响。

Patagonia provides a glimpse into a more enlightened approach to fashion, 短語搭配

Patagonia 让人看到了对待时尚的一种更加开明的态度，

but they're a rare example.

但他们是一个罕见的例外。

For Mohammed, the boom in fast fashion has been good for business.

对于 Mohammed 来说，快时尚的繁荣对他的生意很有利。

But this throwaway culture sits uncomfortably with him. 習語

但这种用完即弃的文化让他感到不安。

Sometimes it's soul-destroying,

有时候这很让人崩溃，

because you come to work and you just think, is this what we've come to, 語氣意圖

因为你来上班时就会想，我们怎么变成这样了，

that the human race,

难道人类

all we think about is dispose of things?

脑子里想的就只是把东西扔掉吗？

The environmental impact on the planet is just colossal,

这对地球环境造成的影响实在是太大了，

and I don't think we as the human race realize what it is that we're doing just for the sake of wearing a pair of jeans. 講解

而我认为，作为人类，我们并没有意识到仅仅为了穿一条牛仔裤我们到底在做些什么。

In order to tackle the throwaway culture,

为了应对用完即弃的文化，

brands and consumers need to change their behaviors.

品牌和消费者都需要改变他们的行为。

Industry pioneers are proving that there are viable business opportunities in selling less. 短語搭配

行业先驱正在证明，在少卖商品中同样存在可行的商业机会。

Others need to follow suit. 習語

其他人也需要效仿。