美国国家公共电台 NPR Can Fast Fashion And Sustainability Be Stitched Together?

 

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

Spanish retailer² Zara announced it will only use sustainable materials by the year 2025. This is a big deal because Zara is the giant in the fast fashion space. It's a retail¹ category that's ballooned in the United States in the last two decades. And the concept is in the name - fashionable clothing made quickly and sold at affordable³ prices. It's allowed brands like Zara to move inventory⁴ at a rapid pace. But that kind of turnaround can have a negative impact on the environment.

Here to tell us more about the decision is Mark Sumner. He lectures on fashion and sustainability at the University of Leeds in the U.K. And he worked in the retail industry for over 15 years. Welcome to the program.

MARK SUMNER: Pleasure to be here. Thank you.

MCCAMMON: So let's set the table quickly. When people think about environmental hazards, they often talk about things like car emissions⁵ or maybe plastics in the ocean. They may not be thinking though about what is in their closet. How is fast fashion harmful to the environment?

SUMNER: Well, the fashion industry encompasses⁶ a whole range of other industries to provide us with the clothing that we're wearing. The industries that we need to create those materials are things like agriculture. We need agriculture to grow cotton. That has impacts to do with soil health and carbon emissions and water consumption. Polyester comes from the oil industry. We have, obviously, issues associated with the extraction of oil. And then to convert those fibers⁸, that raw material, into the garments you're wearing, we have energy-intensive processes such as yarn⁹ spinning, turning that fiber⁷ into yarn.

And a really important part of the fashion industry is about color. And to apply color to fabrics¹¹, we're using water, we're using energy, and sometimes we're using potentially quite harmful chemicals. And then, ultimately, that fabric¹⁰ is then sent to the garment factories to turn it into the garments that we're wearing. And when we add up all of those different impacts, we then start to see a picture of those environmental issues associated with clothing.

MCCAMMON: And let's talk a bit about Zara's announcement. What does it mean, first of all, for materials used in fashion to be sustainable?

SUMNER: It's a really complex area. And depending on who you talk to, the definition of what sustainable means will vary. We're talking about carbon emissions, we're talking about water consumption, water pollution, eutrophication, ozone¹² depletion¹³. And sometimes you can reduce one particular environmental impact and, at the same time, by the actions you've taken, you're actually increasing the impact somewhere else. The challenge for the fashion industry, because it's so diverse and so broad, is that there are so many different aspects of sustainability that are trying to be addressed.

Some brands will talk about it in a very inclusive way and talk about many, many different areas of sustainability. Other brands will be talking about sustainability and maybe only reference one aspect, and that might be carbon, for example. So the idea of having something sustainable is really ambiguous, and that's one of the challenges, I think, for consumers and commentators¹⁴ when they're trying to look at the statements being made by brands like Zara. You know, what does that actually mean?

MCCAMMON: Depending on how they go about it, how big of a deal could this announcement by Zara be, and what kind of an impact could it have?

SUMNER: Well, I think the really interesting thing about Zara's statement is they've made a public statement to back their intention, and they will be held accountable for whether they achieve that target or not over time. So the fact that they made this very public target I think is really positive. And I think hopefully what that will do is also encourage other brands and retailers¹⁵ to be bold and to make these statements as well.

MCCAMMON: What individual responsibility do consumers have here?

SUMNER: Personally, I think every consumer has some responsibility for their actions. The consumers are buying products, they are making decisions about where they're buying those products from, how long they keep those products for and what they do with those products at end of life. So I think there is definitely some responsibility that the consumers have in all of this. But I also recognize as - there is this deep-seated sort of psychological driver within our human psyche¹⁶ to engage in fashion.

And, of course, at the same time, we have this culture of consumption, which, for an individual to try and rebel against that, is really, really difficult to do. So I recognize the fact that consumers have a responsibility but also recognize the fact that there are some powerful factors that are influencing the way that consumers behave.

MCCAMMON: That's Mark Sumner of the University of Leeds. Thank you so much for joining us.

SUMNER: Thank you.

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

4 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

7 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

8 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

9 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

10 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

11 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。

12 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

13 depletion   

n.耗尽，枯竭

参考例句：

• Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
• Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕，以免耗尽土壤。

14 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

16 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。