English Language Inbox 1

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson, Sunday 28 April, 2019

Topic: Tackling sustainability in the fashion industry

Sources: YouTube clip by the ABC, “War on Waste: Extended Sneak Peek”; YouTube clip, “The True Cost Official Trailer”; Article by The Conversation, “For a true war on waste, the fashion industry must spend more on research”; Podcast from the ABC’s War on Waste, “Test-tube fabrics and ol skool op shopping”; Podcast from SBS’s The Few Who Do, “Sustainable style and the price of fast fashion”

For answers, topic links, vocabulary focus and addition materials, go to: https://www.englishlanguageinbox.com/eli-advanced-members-weekly-lessons ______

Listening #1: The War on Waste A few years ago, the ABC released a series called ‘The War on Waste’, which looked at the way Australian people’s everyday choices are having an impact on the environment.

Watch the ‘Extended Sneak Peak’ clip for the series. What are the four specific areas of waste and pollution that the series focuses on?

Plastic bags Food waste

Fast fashion Coffee cups

Which of the four issues mentioned to you think is easiest to address? Which do you think is the most challenging? Why?

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 2

Listen again. Complete each space below with ONE TO THREE words from the clip..

Australia is one of the most (1) WASTEFUL countries in the developed world. Every year, the waste we (2)

GENERATE is growing at twice the rate of our population. As a nation we use over (3) 10 MILLION plastic bags a day, causing a (4) CRISIS in our oceans. So how did it come to this? Back in the 60s, we

(5)PIONEERED recycling programs and (6) LAUNCHED campaigns to keep Australia beautiful. So what has changed? To find out, I’m gonna (7)DIVE into Australia’s waste problem, challenge a street of everyday

Aussies to reduce the (8) STAGGERING amount of waste we’re producing… (9) SHOCKED by the mountains of food waste happening on farms, I go (10) HEAD TO HEAD with the major supermarkets, and confront them on their (11) COSMETIC STANDARDS. I (12) CHASE DOWN the politicians and ask why they haven’t (13) BANNED the plastic bag, and show the (14) SHOCKING CONSEQUENCES of our addiction to fast fashion. Will we all think differently about our (15) MORNING RITUAL when we learn the facts? I want to find out why we’ve become a (16) THROWAWAY SOCIETY, and more importantly, what can we do about it? It’s time to start the (17) WAR ON WASTE.

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 3

Listening #2: The True Cost

This lesson will focus on just one aspect mentioned in the War on Waste program: Sustainability in fashion.

How would you define ‘Fast Fashion’? In contrast, what is involved in ‘Sustainable Fashion’?

What are some of the ways that the fast fashion industry can have a negative impact on people and the environment. Make note of your ideas below.

HUMAN COST ENVIRONMENTAL COST

Death and injury - collapsed garment factories Pollution

Violent clashes between factory workers and Spraying chemicals on fabric police Landfill People killed in factory fire

People not paid a living wage

Human right breaches

Children sleeping in factories

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 4

Vocabulary #1: Match the words below with their definitions.

1. Sweatshop a. to try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a 2. Synthetic long time or against difficulties 3. Pattern b. a picture cut into pieces of different shapes that must be joined together 4. Jigsaw correctly to form the picture again 5. Margin c. to make an important discovery or change 6. To crunch the d. to do calculations with numbers numbers e. showing signs of future success 7. To strive for sth f. a small factory where workers are paid very little and work many hours in very 8. To biodegrade bad conditions 9. Promising g. to decay naturally and in a way that is not harmful 10. To make a h. the profit made on a product or service breakthrough i. made from artificial substances, often copying a natural product j. (for textiles and clothing) a drawing or shape used to show how to make something

ANSWERS: 1. F; 2. I; 3. J; 4. B; 5. H; 6. D; 7. A; 8. G; 9. E; 10. C

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 5

Vocabulary #2: Use the words in the following sentences. You may have to change the form of the word to suit the sentence.

1. The. Fashion industry should STRIVE for more sustainability, prioritising people and the environment

over profit.

2. Fast fashion companies make huge MARGINS at the expense of their workers.

3. SWEATSHOPS are illegal in most parts of the world, but there are some countries where workers right

are extremely limited, so such places continue to exist.

4. It’s important for companies to opt for packaging that BIODEGRADES, even though it might be more

expensive than plastic.

5. A number or scientific BREAKTHROUGHS need to be MADE before the fashion industry can achieve

true sustainability.

6. If you CRUNCH THE NUMBERS on cheap fashion, you soon realise that garment factory workers

could not possibly be fairly paid.

7. Before a piece of clothing can be sewn, it must be cut from a standard PATTERN.

8. There have been some PROMISING developments in the fashion industry, but more research and

investment are still required.

9. When a garment is assembled, the cut-out pieces fit together like a JIGSAW.

10. SYNTHETIC fabrics may be the answer to some of the environmental impacts of the fashion industry.

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 6

Reading #1: Skimming for general meaning.

In one sentence, can you summarise the type of research the author is referring to?

More research is required into the creation of more sustainable fabrics and the early stages of the garment-making process in order to minimise waste, not just into how to recycle or dispose of clothing.

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 7

Reading #2: True/ False /Not Given

Do these statements agree (True) or disagree (False) with the text, or do they neither agree nor disagree (NOT GIVEN)?

1. If we could stop all fashion production completely, the problem would be solved. FALSE

Even if we could magically stop the global production of all garments, we would still need new, green technology to clean up the waste we have already created.

2. Baggy, loose-fitting garments are less popular with consumers than tailored garments. NOT GIVEN

3. H&M has overstated the impact of its recycling initiative. TRUE

In 2016, investigative journalist Lucy Siegle crunched the numbers and concluded that “it appears it would take 12 years for H&M to use up 1,000 tons of fashion waste”. This, she said, was the amount of clothing they produce in about 48 hours.

4. The vast majority of H&M’s clothing is not made from sustainably-sources or recycled materials. TRUE

A 2016 H&M sustainability report reveals that only 0.7% of their clothes are actually made from recycled or other sustainably-sourced materials.

5. Research is being conducted into how recycles fibres can be integrated into more garments without

lowering their quality. NOT GIVEN

More research is needed if a greater proportion of recycled fibres is to be added to the garments without compromising quality, and also to be able to separate fibres contained in mixed materials.

6. Sustainable fashion start-ups are receiving funding on par with major green technology startups in other

industries. FALSE

H&M’s Global Change Award funds five start-up companies with a total of 1 million Euros for new solutions. Contrast this with the millions required by the most basic Silicon Valley start-ups or billions for major green technology companies such as Tesla or SolarCity. There is a dire need for disruptive new fashion technology.

7. It would be ideal if cotton growing fields could be replaced altogether. TRUE

If a breakthrough can be made so that commercially grown cotton can be grown from bacteria, it may be possible to replace cotton fields with more efficient bacteria vats.

8. Some major companies have already embraced sustainable materials. TRUE

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 8

Companies such as Ecovate can feed fabric fibres to mushroom spore called mycelium to create bioplastics or biodegradable packaging for companies such as Dell. Adidas has 3D printed a biodegradable shoe from spider silk developed by AM silk.

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 9

Reading #3: Short-Answer Questions 1. What is hoped might bring an end to fashion manufacturing that harms people and the environment?

Greater transparency in supply chains 2. What major shift did the author make in his career?

He went from being a zero waste fashion designer to a trans-disciplinary fashion researcher. 3. Which stage of the garment-making process did the author focus on changing in the early days (ten years ago)?

The pattern-making process 4. What helped the author create new techniques of tailored pattern-making?

Computers and advanced mathematics 5. What were the positives and negatives of ethical clothing production that the author experienced?

Positive: fabrics were organic, everything was made locally, 6. Which disciplines did the author’s PhD combine?

Fashion, science, mathematics 7. What is the main aim of sustainable fashion technologies?

A circular economy in which materials can be infinitely recycled. 8. Which technologies show the most potential?

Technology that requires getting bacteria or fungi to grow or biodegrade fabrics 9. What are some unusual materials from which fabrics can be made?

Bacteria, milk, seaweed, crab shells, banana waste, spider silk 10. What is necessary if the problems caused by the fashion industry are to be solved?

There needs to be collaboration between designers, scientists, engineers and businesspeople

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 10

Language focus #1: Word Forms Some words in the passages from the text have been removed. Only their base forms have been included below. Add prefixes and suffixes, and change the form of the words to suit the grammar and meaning of the passage.

Sustainable fashion experts advocate (1) ABSTAINING from buying fast fashion, promoting clothing swaps and repairing old clothing. Others suggest (2) BUYING organic and (3) ETHICALLY-sourced clothes or designing clothing using zero waste techniques. The hope is that greater transparency in supply chains will lead to an end to sweatshops and (4) UNSUSTAINABLE fashion practices.

These are (5) ADMIRABLE initiatives, but they only reduce wastage or delay garments from (6) ENDING up in landfill. They do not address the fact that the scale of fast fashion is so massive it can easily eclipse other

(7) SUSTAINABLE / SUSTAINABILITY initiatives. Nor do they address the (8) WASTEFULNESS of

(9)EXISTING technologies and the urgent need to research new ones.

Even if we could (10) MAGICALLY stop the global (11) PRODUCTION of all garments, we would still need new, green technology to clean up the waste we have already created. There are long-term strategies for green technologies such as electric cars, but where are the major companies and research institutes developing the next generation of sustainable fashion technologies? The (12) DEVELOPMENT of new synthetic biology technologies may be the key.

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 11

Listening #2:

Listen to the ABC War On Waste podcast episode, “Test-tube fabrics and ol skool op shopping”, and answer the questions below:

1. What has happened over the last 20 years? We’ve doubled the amount of clothes we buy. 2. What’s different about the way we think about consumerism now and in the 1980s? Thoughtless consumerism was fun back then, but now we’re thinking about it differently - looking for ways to reuse and repurpose, reduce waste. 3. Despite changes in attitude, why is fashion a bigger problem now? It’s faster and there’s so much more of it. 4. What is Wendy going to focus on in the podcast? Op-shopping 5. What is Craig going to focus on? What scientists are doing to reduce waste from manufacturing clothes 6. What’s difficult about op shopping for many people? There’s so much in the shop and people don’t know where to start, and they lack the imagination to repurpose clothes.

7. Who is Nina Gbor? She’s a stylist who likes to find ways to reinvent clothes. 8. What makes Nina Gbor mad about the fashion industry? It’s the second-highest polluting industry in the world. It’s wreaking havoc on the environment and we need to change our behaviour in fashion now. 9. What happens to a lot of the clothes that are donated? A lot of it can’t be sold. Some of it is sent to developing countries, but they’re getting so many that they can’t handle them - they’re ending up in landfill. 10. What does Gbor believe about every garment? Every garment has potential to look stylish. You just need to be creative with accessories and layering. 11. What are Nina’s biggest tips?

• Every garment has potential for styling up and down • Wear summer clothes in winter by layering your clothes (with thermals) • Think of how you can make a garment fun and quirky with accessories • Shoes dramatically change an outfit • Don’t look at things from a perspective of how you’re used to wearing something • Don’t be afraid to repurpose items • You can wear scarves to break up unflattering colours • make it work and don’t give up • Know your body type

• Know which colours work for you • Know what you want from your style

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 12

12. If you don’t know what works for you, what can you do? Get help learning about what works for you - online or with a stylist. 13. What is the “handy hint” given by a listener? To repurpose your old clothing into shopping bags. 14. What surprised Craig most about the fashion industry? How many resources go into making the clothes. 15. What are scientists doing? Trying to find ways to reduce the resources in the manufacturing process. 16. What do we need to think about in this ‘circular economy’? Where our clothing comes from and where it’s going to go. 17. What do we want to do in the future? Take what we’ve learned from nature and build synthetic processes to replace them, just taking/producing the things we want. 18. What’s the problem with cotton? It’s inefficient - we only use one small part of the plant. 19. What’s a ‘scoby’? A bacterial colony that creates fast-growing bacterial cellulose. 20. What does Mark Liu think about the cellulose fabrics he has produced? He thinks that they could be

adapted to be used in future, and that they symbolise what is possible. It’s the first step of a process that needs to be refined. 21. How do Dr Liu’s fabrics end up once they’re thrown away? They biodegrade. 22. What’s the problem with recycling cotton? The quality degrades every time it is recycled. The fibres become shorter. 23. What’s Dr Liu’s idea to solve this problem? Feeding the old cotton to mushrooms, which will create useful by-products. 24. What reminder do the hosts give us at the end? We throw out 36 tonnes of clothes every hour. We need to slow it down a bit.

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 13

Language Focus #2: Words with the prefix RE- At the beginning of a word, the prefix ‘re-‘ means, more or less, ‘again’. Match these words from the podcast with their definitions.

1. REDUCE a) to improve an idea, method, system, etc. by making small changes

2. REUSE b) to sort and collect rubbish in order to treat it and produce useful materials that can be used again

3. RECYCLE c) to use something again instead of throwing it away

4. REPURPOSE d) to produce something new that is based on something that already exists

5. REFINE e) to find a new use for an idea, product, or building

6. REINVENT f) to become or to make something become smaller in size, amount, degree, importance, etc.

ANSWERS: 1. F; 2. C; 3. B; 4. E; 5. A; 6. D

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019 English Language Inbox 14

Listening #2: Note-taking

Spell and the Gypsy Collective Conner hats

What they make Earrings, accessories and clothes Hats

How the company The speaker’s sister decided to The speaker’s (Will Conner) dad built started move to Byron Bay from Melbourne. the factory. She started by making jewellery (in a closet!) and sell them at the markets. The speaker (Elizabeth) moved to Byron and the two co- founded the business. The business wasn’t making any money for a few years, but then Pinterest and Instagram came along. Then the business became very successful. What prompted In 2016, someone on Instagram 10 years ago, he went on a transparent change asked where the clothes were made. sea voyage trip, following whales and Elizabeth started looking into the cleaning up the coast. It was a big eye- production process in more detail. opener for him to see the plastic waste. He thought about how much plastic was used in hat making. Changes that have They decided to tell the story of how - All single-use plastics have been been made their clothes are made. They invited removed. an auditor to go the the factories - Alternatives have been found, and speak to the workers. Now especially for packing and shipping. everything is certified. - Algae foam has replaced fabrics in - They found a sustainable the brims alternative to rayon/nylon - All parts of the hat are made from - They reviewed the way they use recycled paper and plastic cotton - The Florida warehouse is solar- - They have solar power powered - They compost and have a plastic- free office Impact on the It changed how the business It isn’t cheap or easy, but it’s worth it business presented itself and told its story. - sometimes it’s cheaper and you get They overhauled everything, starting more sales, because you can charge with fibres. more

They are very transparent about everything - their supply chain and their carbon/chemic footprints

Plans for the future Continue looking at other stages of Using land at the Florida factory to the production process - tier 2 and create a food forest tier 3 - the people who their suppliers work with - Keep introducing sustainable measures - Reduce their carbon/chemical footprints - By 2025, they want people to know where their clothing comes from

ANSWERS Weekly Advanced English Lesson Sunday 28 April, 2019