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The influence of fast fashion spans continents.
快时尚的影响遍及各大洲。
Clothing giant ZARA is now worth thirteen billion dollars with stores in over 93 countries.
服装巨头ZARA目前市值130亿美元，在超过93个国家拥有门店。
Admittedly I've made my fair share of purchases from H&M and uniquely with my favorite being a blue bathing suit I bought for $10 at H&M.
诚然，我在H&M买了不少东西，其中我最喜欢的是在H&M花10美元买的一件蓝色泳衣。
Ten dollars. How can a piece of clothing be that cheap to make transport and advertise.
十美元。一件衣服怎么可能会这么便宜以至于它能够抵销运输和做广告的费用呢？
Well. To be honest, it can't.
老实说，这是不可能的。
There are huge humanitarian and environmental costs that are hidden by an inexpensive price tag, although these fast fashion companies have committed numerous human rights violations.
廉价的价格标签掩盖了巨大的人道主义和环境成本，不过这些快时尚公司犯下了许多侵犯人权的罪行。
Today I'm only going to look at the environmental issues that are caused by the mass production of cheap clothes.
今天我只谈由大量生产廉价衣服所引起的环境问题。
The phrase "fast fashion" is used as an umbrella term to describe the accelerated process of turning new design ideas into clothes on the retail floor.
“快时尚”是一个概括性术语，用来描述将新的设计理念转化为在零售店售卖的服装的加速过程。
In the case of a story like ZARA, for example, it takes a mere 14 to 21 days from the inception to the sale of a product.
以ZARA为例，从产品诞生到销售只需要14到21天。
This ability to create new trends very quickly combined with savvy marketing campaigns has meant that stores like H&M and forever 21 can quickly change every item in their store to drum up hype about a new line of clothing, much like a fast food chain that is constantly changing its menu items in order to stay relevant.
这种快速创造新趋势的能力加上精明的营销活动意味着像H&M和forever 21这样的商店可以迅速更换店内的每一件商品，以招揽对新服装系列的炒作，就像快餐连锁店一样，为了紧跟潮流而不断改变菜单。
These fast fashion stores can introduce new clothes almost weekly.
这些快时尚商店几乎每周都会推出新衣服。
Not only does this mean that consumers are tempted to buy the newest and best pants or shirts, but it also means that older items quickly become irrelevant.
这不仅意味着消费者会被诱惑去购买最新、最好的裤子或衬衫，还意味着旧衣服很快就会变得过时。
This constant overconsumption has high environmental consequences.
这种持续的过度消费会造成严重的环境后果。
On the supply side of the equation, most clothing is now made of a material called polyester, which is a petroleum-based fiber that requires large amounts of fossil fuels for manufacturing.
从供应的角度来看，现在大多数服装都是由一种名为聚酯纤维的材料制成的，这种材料是一种以石油为基础的纤维，制造时需要大量的化石燃料。
According to Forbes, that number has now reached up to 70 million barrels of the year.
根据《福布斯》的数据，这一数字现在已经达到了7000万桶。
And the rise of fast fashion went hand-in-hand with a rise in polyester production.
而快时尚与聚酯纤维的产量是同步增长的。
Now polyester manufacturing for clothing far outpaces other common materials like cotton or wool.
现在，用于制作服装的聚酯纤维的生产速度远远超过了棉花或羊毛等其他普通材料的生产速度。
This presents a major problem, especially considering that polyester is a non-biodegradable substance.
这是一个主要问题，特别是考虑到聚酯纤维是一种不可生物降解的物质。
Polyester can take anywhere from 20 to 200 years to degrade depending on the conditions and is one of the leading causes of microplastics in oceans because when wash polyester clothing shed fibers that then find their way into larger water streamers.
根据环境的不同，聚酯纤维可能需要20到200年的时间才能降解。聚酯纤维是海洋中微塑料产生的主要原因之一，因为聚酯纤维面料的衣服在洗涤时会脱落纤维，然后纤维就会进入更大的水域。
In short, polyester is really cheap.
简而言之，聚酯纤维真的很便宜。
It makes the cost of manufacturing thousands of pants much cheaper than before.
这使得生产数千条裤子的成本比以前更低了。
And it's able to do this because it offloads all of its expenses onto the environment.
它之所以能够做到这一点，是因为它将所有的费用都转移到了环境上。
But fast fashion has also given rise to a host of post-consumption environmental problems, namely waste.
但快时尚也引发了一系列消费后的环境问题，即垃圾。
The average American sends 81 pounds of textiles to landfill each year.
美国人平均每年要将81磅的纺织品送到垃圾填埋场。
And this is partly driven by a constant exposure to marketing campaigns, explaining out with the old in with the new.
这在一定程度上是受不断的营销活动影响的，通俗来讲就是，旧的不去，新的不来。
The environmental harm caused by this new profit centered industry is not at all reflected in the price tag.
这种以利润为中心的新产业对环境造成的危害完全没有反映在价格标签上。
The fashion industry is now the eighth most polluting industry in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for 92 million tons or 4% of the world's annual solid waste.
就温室气体排放量而言，时装业现在是世界上的第八大污染行业，每年产生9200万吨固体废物，占全球固体废物总量的4%。
So the real cost of my bathing suit is much higher than $10.
所以我的游泳衣的实际成本远高于10美元。
But unfortunately as consumers we can only do so much to influence the fashion industry's practices.
但不幸的是，作为消费者，我们对时尚行业的影响有限。
Considering this there are a few better options than buying from fast fashion companies.
考虑到这一点，我们可以选择在比快时尚公司更好的公司购买衣服。
For one, there are companies like Nashville-based ELIZABETH SUZANN, which works to create transparency about the cost and production behind their high-quality seasonless clothing.
例如，总部位于纳什维尔的ELIZABETH SUZANN等公司就致力于让高质量无季节性服装背后的成本和生产变得透明。
But even better than buying something new from a more ethical company is buying second-hand or swapping clothes with friends and family.
但是，比从更有道德的公司购买新衣服更好的做法是购买二手衣服或与朋友和家人交换衣服。
Not only are you diverting clothes from the landfill but you also stop participating in a system that treats its workers poorly and destroys our environment.
你不仅改变了衣服进入垃圾填埋场的命运，而且你也停止参与一个对工人不好、破坏我们环境的系统。
