BBC随身英语：Sustainable fabrics of the future

[图片来源：Getty Images]

　　“快时尚”（fast fashion）产业的兴起让消费者们能以低廉的价格买到紧跟潮流的时装，但这也意味着新的衣服往往没穿多久就会被送往垃圾场填埋或被焚烧。这一现象推动了人们对长久、耐用的纺织物的需求。“随身英语” 介绍这些新型的服装材料，并探讨怎样才能让追求时尚这件事变得更环保。

　　Vocabulary: fashion 词汇：时尚

　　Choosing what to wear can be a tricky problem, especially if you’re a fashion victim. Trying to keep up with the latest styles involves regular visits to the shops and sometimes forking out for expensive designer clothes. But when the fashion changes, these clothes languish in the back of cupboards gathering dust, or just get thrown away.

　　There are many stores that now offer cheap ‘fast fashion’ – low-price items that imitate the styles of more expensive designer brands. Environmentalists are angered by the amount of energy involved in making these clothes and that many of them are made from non-recyclable materials. This means that items are just incinerated or go into landfill.

　　Writing about this for the BBC, Eleanor Lawrie says that people in the UK are the worst in Europe for doing this - with a million tonnes of unwanted textiles a year being discarded. And she says “on top of often poor labour conditions for garment workers, the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of the world's waste water, and 10% of carbon emissions.”

　　This is something the fashion industry is becoming more aware of and has led to a new crop of biomaterials that replace wasteful textiles like cotton and leather. Examples include Piñatex, a leather-like substance made from discarded pineapple leaves. It's been used in collections by Hugo Boss and H&M. And there’s mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, that’s being used to create food, packaging and textiles.

　　Cotton is a very resource-intense crop to grow. Eleanor Lawrie says “about 15,000 litres of water [are] required to make one pair of jeans.” So, buying organic cotton is a better choice. And there is also Tencel, also known as Lyocell, a natural product that's now growing in popularity. It's made by extracting cellulose fibre from trees; its manufacture is thought to use 95% less water than cotton processing.

　　But creating sustainable textiles is only part of the battle – buying ethically, buying second hand and buying fewer clothes are the obvious environmentally friendly choices. Dr Richard Blackburn from Leeds School of Design told the BBC that “I don't think you should consider buying any item of clothing unless you commit to 30 wears. Unless you can do that you're not even starting to be sustainable.”

　　词汇表

　　fashion victim 盲目追求时尚的人

　　style （服装）风格，流行式样

　　fork out （不情愿地）付钱

　　designer 出自著名设计师的，名牌的

　　fast fashion “快时尚”，指更新频率高、价格低廉、紧跟时尚风潮的服装

　　material 材料

　　incinerate 焚烧

　　landfill 垃圾填埋场

　　textile 纺织品

　　discarded 被丢弃的

　　garment worker 服装工人

　　biomaterial 生物材料

　　cotton 棉

　　leather 皮革

　　Piñatex “菠萝皮革”，用菠萝叶制成的替代皮革面料

　　collection （服装品牌推出的）时装系列

　　organic 有机的

　　Tencel “天丝绒”

　　Lyocell 莱赛尔纤维

　　cellulose fibre 再生纤维素纤维

　　sustainable 可持续的

　　ethically 符合道德准则地

　　测验与练习

　　1.  阅读课文并回答问题。

　　1. What happens to many of the clothes that can’t be recycled?

　　2. Which European country is the worst for throwing away unwanted clothes?

　　3. True or false? Using the natural product Tencel as an alternative to cotton, uses 15,000 litres less water to make one pair of jeans.

　　4. What does Richard Blackburn, from Leeds School of Design, recommend committing to when buying an item of clothing?

　　5. Which word used in the article means: ‘exist in an unwanted situation for a long time’.

　　2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思恰当的单词填入句子中的空格处。

　　1. Going to university can be expensive – I’m always _______ for text books, pens, food and going out every night!

　　fork out                         forking out                     out forking                 forking up

　　2. I went to a great fashion show where they showed lots of the latest _______ clothes – but I couldn’t afford to buy them.

　　style                             collection                        designer                     ethically

　　3. My boyfriend bought me a t-shirt made from hemp. I feel good wearing something made from a _______ material that will help the environment.

　　sustainable                   ethically                          cotton                        substance

　　4. I went to a party and saw my boss wearing a silly dress made from feathers – she is obviously a _______.

　　fashion victims              fashionable victim          fashions victim            fashion victim

　　5. The car was completely _______ when it caught fire after the engine over-heated.

　　sustainable                   substance                      carbon emissions         incinerated

　　答案

　　1.  阅读课文并回答问题。  

　　1. What happens to many of the clothes that can’t be recycled?

　　Many items are just incinerated (burned) or go into landfill.

　　2. Which European country is the worst for throwing away unwanted clothes?

　　The BBC’s Eleanor Lawrie says that people in the UK are the worst in Europe. A million tonnes of unwanted textiles a year are discarded.

　　3. True or false? Using the natural product Tencel as an alternative to cotton, uses 15,000 litres less water to make one pair of jeans.

　　False. About 15,000 litres of water [are] required to make one pair of jeans with cotton but Tencel is thought to use 95% less water than cotton processing.

　　4. What does Richard Blackburn, from Leeds School of Design, recommend committing to when buying an item of clothing?

　　Richard Blackburn, from Leeds School of Design, told the BBC that “I don't think you should consider buying any item of clothing unless you commit to 30 wears.”

　　5. Which word used in the article means: ‘exist in an unwanted situation for a long time’.

　　Languish. (When the fashion changes, these clothes languish in the back of cupboards gathering dust or just get thrown away.)

　　2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思恰当的单词填入句子中的空格处。 

　　1. Going to university can be expensive – I’m always forking out for text books, pens, food and going out every night!

　　2. I went to a great fashion show where they showed lots of the latest designer clothes – but I couldn’t afford to buy them.

　　3. My boyfriend bought me a t-shirt made from hemp. I feel good wearing something made from a sustainable material that will help the environment.

　　4. I went to a party and saw my boss wearing a silly dress made from feathers – she is obviously a fashion victim.

　　5. The car was completely incinerated when it caught fire after the engine over-heated.

　　实习编辑：姚依明

　　责任编辑：潘程