Online Class Notes (Lily) [R]

Grammar

did you go to Japan= 你去日本了吗？
have you been to Japan?= 你去过日本吗？

Vocabulary

1.landfill= 垃圾堆
ex: the landfill is filled with toxic materials.

2. victim= 受害者
ex: My dad loves smoking, I am the victim of second-hand smoke.
ex: the animals are the victims of global warming

3. disposable= 可抛弃的 一次性的
ex: doctors wear disposable gloves and masks when they do a surgery.
ex: In our company, we use disposable cups for coffee.

https://www.enfamily.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=967131

There’s nothing quite like new clothes, is there? The UK certainly loves them. According to a report by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), the UK consumes five times more clothes today than it did in the 1980s. That’s more than any other nation in Europe and amounts to around 26.7kgs per person. This results in 235 million garments going to landfill – victims of fast fashion.

Fast fashion is defined as “an accelerated fashion business model” involving “increased numbers of new fashion collections  every year”, “quick turnarounds” and “lower prices”, according to the EAC. Globalisation means that attire is made in countries where labour is cheaper. This saving is passed on to consumers, who then consider the garb they own disposable– easily replaceable with something more on-trend. And that creates problems.

First, there’s the environmental cost. Manufacturing any kind of textile costs resources. For example, synthetic fibres, which are made from plastic, have a larger carbon footprint than natural ones. Natural fibres, although more carbon-efficient, still require more water to grow. And further resources are used as the cloth is dyed, made into clothing and transported to retail for sale. Secondly, the fast-fashion industry is under pressure to put the latest trending items on shelves fast, which can lead to workers being exploited and forced to labour in poor working conditions. In countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia and the Philippines, workers are paid wages that are insufficient to live on. One worker in Ethiopia told the BBC that they had to deal with intolerable conditions, such as withheld overtime payments, verbal abuse, and unsanitary toilets.