Работа на научно-практическую конфренцию школьников "Мода и окружающая среда"
методическая разработка по английскому языку (10 класс)

Муниципальная научно-практическая конференция

«Молодёжь в науке»

Работа

‘Fashion and the Environment’

Выполнили:

ученицы 10 Б класса

Научный руководитель:

учитель английского языка

Тихонова Ольга Владимировна

 The goal of the project is  

  to find out the impact of fashion on the environment.

 The tasks:

• to follow the ways the known brands influence the environment;
• to research the ways we can help the environment using our clothes.

Relevance:

This topic is relevant today because environmental protection is too significant and the most serious nowadays. The modern brands try to both recycle their production in order to look stylish for people and protect the environment.

          The current situation concerning the environment
    Unfortunately, global warming is happening faster and faster, and people are the reason for it. Over the past years, the temperature of the Arctic Ocean has increased by 2-4 degrees; the Arctic ice is rapidly melting. Marine ecosystems are being destroyed. On land, it leads to weather disasters, soil destruction and desertification. 
      There is a popular phrase that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish has its foundation:  million tons of plastic were produced every year, its quantity will increase in 30 years. Only 5% of plastic is efficiently recycled, most of it ends its cycle in landfills or is incinerated, while about a third ends up in nature, including in the seas.
    Plastic is dangerous because it decomposes in nature for about 400 years and releases toxins during decay. In addition, it gets into the food of marine animals and leads to their death. Despite the fact that governments of different countries are already adopting laws that prohibit the use of plastic bags and disposable plastic items, the problem is still far from being solved.

                                               The sphere of fashion affection
      In 2012, the journal Natural Science published a report that the dyeing of fabrics and their final finishing is the second source of freshwater pollution after agriculture.
       However, the production of clothing, shoes and accessories still significantly harms nature. They are pesticides and chemicals that get into the water when growing cotton and dyeing fabrics, and the release of harmful gases during the production of synthetics. Transportation of finished products gives a harmful effect too.  So, in 2015, this industry sector emitted 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. It is  more than all aircraft and ships in the world produced during the same period. The fashion industry also accounts for a fifth of the total amount of freshwater pollution on the planet.

        The situation became stronger with the emergence of a fast fashion system, such mass markets as H&M, Zara or Topshop. These markets began to update collections not four times a year traditionally, but several dozen times a year. The main goal was to produce things quickly and inexpensively. In 2000, 50 billion garments were created in the world, and in 20 years the production doubled.
Fast fashion has worsened the situation when people around the world can update their wardrobe in a short time and wear themselves inexpensively in order to keep up with rapidly changing trends.
       The materials clothes are sewn from have become a problem for nature. High production rates are achieved with the help of   low - quality materials, such as, elastane, polyurethane fiber made with the using of plastic. Sometimes a small amount of it is added to organic materials. As a result, these fibers in the composition of things complicate their further processing.
   It is noticeable, but safe cotton also affects the environment negatively. According to the UN, it takes a kilogram of cotton to create one pair of jeans. The problem lies in the peculiarities of the plant. In short, it is grown in arid regions, where 10 thousand liters of water are used for the production of a kilogram of raw materials: it is about as much a person drinks in 10 years. A cotton T - shirt will cost 2.7 thousand liters, that are enough for a person for three years.

Dyes also cause damage to nature because the process of coloring gives about 20 percent of the volume of wastewater in the world. Harmful substances enter reservoirs and make the water undrinkable.

Brands and their solutions
     Nowadays,  both local brands and large international companies have taken care of the issues of sustainable development. Kering Concern, which owns Gucci, Balenciaga and a number of other brands has recently released a new sustainability plan and developed standards for the treatment of animals for its suppliers. Chanel has abandoned exotic leather and is investing in eco-startups, Prada is going to launch nylon bags made of recycled materials and completely switch to a more environmentally alternative to nylon.  Burberry has stopped destroying unsold products and using natural fur. Sports brands are also taking up environmental initiatives: Adidas has promised to switch to using only recycled plastic by 2024, and Nike has launched a website, a guide to sustainable development for brands and consumers. 
     The mass market is not far behind. Although, it is considered fast fashion to be the main bad thing for the environment. That is why the major brands are trying to fix the caused damage. H&M, Zara and Mango have lines that use recycled materials. Despite the fact that the profit of such brands directly depends on the sale of more and more new things, they launch the whole campaigns dedicated to conscious consumption and responsible attitude to things. It means that they collect clothes for recycling, use eco-friendly materials and encourage you to come to the store with your reusable bag. H&M also decided to list suppliers on all their products to help the audience make a more informed purchase decision.
     Not many companies are ready to talk about the effectiveness of their work. Gucci is one of them. Recently, the brand Gucci reported on that it has managed to do over the past three years: it began to use one and a half times more so –called "green energy" and reduced carbon dioxide emissions, as well as was able to reuse 11 tons of leather waste and overall reduced the environmental impact by 16%. The main result is that the problem has become widely talked about, and the environmental agenda has become relevant not only for small eco-brands, but also for high-level companies.
    In 2013, the H&M chain launched a project that exists under the slogan "Let's close the circle!’. According to this project you can bring unnecessary clothes to the company's stores and get a discount coupon for the purchase of new goods in return. The good purpose has been sharply criticized for several years, and the project has been called a scam and fraud. Discontent is that H&M does not use so many recycled items in the new collection, but only a little.
   Unfortunately, the speed fashion companies are switching to sustainable production is not yet enough to compensate for a potential disaster. Moreover, the process is rather slow, while it is continuing to grow and increasingly affecting the environment. At the moment, 40% of all fashion brands and companies have not made any steps towards sustainable development.
      The main problem is the general non-ecological nature of the industry. the thing is that each brand does not exist by itself, but works both with fabric suppliers, factories, transporters. And in order to achieve their goals, eco-initiatives need to be implemented at every stage of work.

How can we help?

The zone of consumers’ responsibility begins as soon as things are in stores. Excess clothing becomes a source of problems.  Despite of the fact that most things can be recycled, only a small part reaches the recycling bins. For example, in 2014, about 16 million tons of textile waste was thrown out in America, and only 2.62 million tons were recycled, 3.14 were burned for energy, and the remaining 10.46 went to landfills. At the same time, polyester in the composition of synthetic things is the same plastic from bottles, bags and other packaging are made, and it also decomposes badly.
      Frankly speaking, we can buy clothes not often but infrequently.  Our clothes are to be of higher-quality and be long-lived things, items from responsible manufacturers. We can choose vintage, not new things, pay attention to the composition and hand over old products for recycling. The main thing is to realize that even such a small step can become a part of big changes.
      The trend towards environmental friendliness and caring for nature is gradually taking over all spheres of life. People around the world are sorting garbage and trying to switch to renewable energy sources. Experts in doing business predict that the trend will only increase in the future.

Practice

Do you recycle your clothes?  How do you recycle your clothes?"

    In our survey, we found out that 44%   of teenagers give their clothes to their younger siblings. 

  21% of teenagers use their old clothes for household needs. 

15% of respondents give their clothes to collection points for people in need and help them.

12% of teenagers prefer to sell their clothes.        

And only 8% of teenagers sew or alter their clothes, thus giving them a second life.

How do you feel about second hand stores?

In a survey of 100 teenagers and people of different ages, we learned that

• 20 people use the second hand stores frequently and like to shop there;
• 43 people rarely use second hand stores and go to when they need to find something specific;
•  32 people do not use second hand production, but have a positive attitude towards it and are glad that clothes are getting a second life.
• And only 5 people spoke negatively about second hand clothing.