Sense and Sensibility

Clothes that are stylish and sustainable are hitting the fashion shows. Will they get to your closet?

Anna Kuchment/ NEWSWEEK Apr 5, 2008

The New York fashion week crowd packed a large hall to await the latest designs by the likes of Narciso Rodriguez, Versace and Calvin Klein. When the lights dimmed and a procession of lanky models wafted across the runway, the looks they wore were far from the designers' standard fare. Instead of using traditional fabrics like silk and cashmere, designers sent out clothing cut from sasawashi (a Japanese fabric made from paper and herbs), peace silk (a process that lets silkworms live out their full life cycle) and hemp. In a dramatic visual representation of recycling, Belgian designer Martin Margiela draped three vintage wedding dresses over a bustier to make a stunning ball gown.




The January show, called FutureFashion, exemplified how far green design has come. Organized by the New York-based nonprofit Earth Pledge, the show inspired many top designers to work with sustainable fabrics for the first time. Several have since made pledges to incorporate organic fabrics into their lines. Many other recent events have budged eco-friendly design toward wider recognition and a more fashion-forward image. At the high end, specialty store Barneys made a major commitment to sustainable design, commissioning exclusive "conscious" lines from Theory, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Stella McCartney, and dedicating its Christmas windows and catalog to green fashion. "We felt we should do our part in moving fashion into a more conscious place," says Julie Gilhart, Barneys' fashion director. Last November, eco-conscious designer Rogan Gregory won the prestigious CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund award for rising talent, sending another signal that style and sustainability aren't mutually exclusive. At the lower end, nearly every recognizable brand, from Banana Republic to Guess to H&M, has rolled out a green line. In May, Target will launch one in partnership with Gregory's Rogan label.

The designers who undertake green fashion still face many challenges. Scott Hahn, cofounder with Gregory of Rogan and Loomstate, which uses all-organic cotton, says high-quality sustainable materials can still be tough to find. "Most designers with existing labels are finding there aren't comparable fabrics that can just replace what you're doing and what your customers are used to," he says. For example, organic and non-organic cotton are virtually indistinguishable once woven into a garment. But some popular synthetics, like stretch nylon, still have few eco-friendly equivalents. "There are not a lot of people making the best green fabrics," says Hahn. "The coolest stuff is tech-driven, and that's what people get excited about."

Those who do make the switch are finding they have more support. Last year the influential trade show Designers & Agents began waiving its participation fee for young green entrepreneurs who attend its two springtime shows in Los Angeles and New York and giving special recognition to designers whose collections are at least 25 percent sustainable. It now counts more than 50 green designers, up from fewer than a dozen two years ago. This week Wal-Mart is set to announce a major initiative aimed at helping cotton farmers go organic: it will buy transitional cotton at higher, certified-organic prices, thus helping to expand the supply of a key sustainable material. "Mainstream is about to occur," says Hahn.

Some analysts are less sure. Statistically, green fashion occupies a tiny sliver of the apparel market. Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market-research firm NPD Group, says it represents less than 1 percent of industry sales. Among consumers, only 18 percent are even aware that ecofashion exists, up from 6 percent four years ago. Natalie Hormilla, who writes for the blog Fashionista.com, is an example of the unconverted consumer. When asked if she owned any sustainable clothes, she replied: "Not that I'm aware of." Like most consumers, she finds little time to shop, and when she does, she's on the hunt for "cute stuff that isn't too expensive." By her own admission, green just isn't yet on her mind. But—thanks to the combined efforts of designers, retailers and suppliers—one day it will be.

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Verb Tense 1: Simple Verb Tenses

The English language uses “verb tense” to indicate the time of action, experience, and the completion of certain action. The three verb tenses are simple, progressive, and perfect. We will be practicing simple verb tense in Part 1.


1.1 Simple Present
Simple present is used to state general facts or habits. It describes a stable, not easily changed situation.
>>Word Clue: always, usually, every (day, week, month, etc.), often, seldom, never…

The sun rises from the east.
I am a student.
He walks to school every morning.
She usually prepares breakfast for her family.
Vince never complains.

1.2 Simple Past
Simple past is used to describe action or event that happened and ended in the past.
>>Word Clue: yesterday, before, last (week, month, etc.), ago…

Mandy took the train to the country last night.
His grandfather passed away 10 years ago.
I slept in this morning.
Your brother finished homework on time.
Agnes visited Japan last month.

>>Note: People often use simple past when in diary, biography, or memoir.

1.3 Simple Future
Simple future is used to state general facts or habits. It describes describe future events and prediction.
>> Word Clue: tomorrow, in a few minutes (days, weeks, etc.), next Monday…

The bus will arrive in 10 minutes.
I will graduate from Yale this summer.
He will accompany me to the meeting next month.
She will fax you the data next Monday morning.
You will hear a lovely voice in a few seconds.



Practice:

Choose the correct verb form.
1. David ____ to his family every month.
a. write b. writes c. wrote d. will write
2. I ____ the room in a few minutes.
a. clean b. cleans c. cleaned d. will clean
3. She ____ her homework three days ago.
a. finish b. finishes c. finished d. will finish
4. Mother ____ a bag of apples from the supermarket last night.
a. buy b. buys c. bought d. will buy
5. You never ____ listening to your boss’s verbose speech.
a. enjoy b. enjoys c. enjoyed d. will enjoy
6. Lisa ____ to the United States to attend her best friend’s wedding. (Choose 2 answers)
a. fly b. flies c. flied d. will fly
7. Those students usually ____ to class on time.
a. come b. comes c. came d. will come
8. My family and I always ____ New Year’s Eve together.
a. celebrate b. celebrates c. celebrated d. will celebrate
9. Pitt seldom ____ to night clubs. He ____ once with his colleagues.
a. go… will go b. goes…. went c. go… went d. will go… goes
10. We ____ at the airport at 7:00 p.m. next Monday.
a. meet b. meets c. met d. will meet

Translate the following sentence into English.

11. 我天天在家吃早餐。
12. 你明天去學校接孩子。
13. 她在晨間會議表現很好。
14. 我們後天就要搬家了。
15. 台灣的夏天很濕熱。








Answers:

1-5 BDCCA
6 CD
7-10 AABD

11. I have/eat breakfast at home every day.
12. You will pick up the kids/children from school tomorrow.
13. She did well in the morning briefing.
14. We will move the day after tomorrow.
15. Summer is humid in Taiwan. / In Taiwan, summer is humid.

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not... but...

Examples:

Lead him not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.
(General MacArthur's Prayer for His Son)
= Do not lead him in the path of ease and comfort. Lead him under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.

I want to be a doctor not because it is a prominent profession, but because it is a profession of compassion.
= The fact that doctor is a prominent profession is not the reason why I want to a doctor. I want to be a doctor because it is a profession of compassion.


Practice A: Matching

juicy/ in the spirit he or she lives/ you didn't try at all/
asked to him to leave the classroom

1. Peaches in season are not just sweet but ____.
2. The true value of life is not in the money one makes but ____.
3. The worst regret is not that you didn't try hard enough, but ____.
4. The mean teach did not comfort the crying boy, but ____.
   

Practice B: The Story of Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa is one of the greatest person in the 20th century. She established the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. The Missionaries of Charity brought more than food and cloth to the poor. It brought hope and peace to thousands of the poor in their last days of life.
>>The Missionaries of Charity __________________.

However, she was not an Indian. Mother Teresa was born in Albania.
>>Mother Teresa was __________________.

When she was little, unlike other girls, who dreams of becoming a princess, Mother Teresa wanted to become a missionary and help others.
>>Mother Teresa did __________ when she was little.

She finally became a nun and went to India to teach. Yet, she wasn't happy with her quiet and stable life within the school. She wished to dedicate her life to the poor instead of the wealthy children.
>>She wished to serve ____________.

She became an Indian citizen and lived her life in the slums. From her experiences she found that feeling unwanted, unloved, or uncared is more depressing than hunger.
>>It is ___________ that is more depressing.

She decided to set up a missionary that cares for "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone." Many people found their dignity and rested in peace under the roof of the Missionaries of Charity.

Although Mother Teresa has passed away, her legacy will continue till the End of Days.

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Test: Gen. MacArthur's Prayer for His Son

Try and fill in the blanks with correct vocabulary you learned from the reading, General MacArthur's Prayer for His Son. Pay close attention to subject-verb agreement.



Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and b 1 enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and u 2 in honest d 3 , and h 4 and g 5 in v 6 .

Build me a son whose w 7 will not be where his b 8 should be; a son who will know T 9 —and that to know himself is the f 10 stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the p 11 of e 12 and comfort, but under the stress and
s 13 of difficulties and c 14 . Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn c 15 for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will m 16 himself before he s 17 to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to w 18 ; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him h 19 , so that he may always remember the s 20 of true greatness, the open mind of true w 21 , the m 22 of true strength.

Then, I, his father, will dare to w 23 , “I have not lived in v 24 !”

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General MacArthur's Prayer for His Son

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.


Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee—and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then, I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain!”

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10 Fixes for the Planet

Scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs are focusing on ways to help the environment. Some of our favorite ideas.

Anne Underwood /NEWSWEEK

If Wes Jackson, founder and president of the Land Institute in Salina, Kans., has one complaint, it's what he calls "our deficit spending of the Earth's ecological capital," from oil and minerals to water and trees. NEWSWEEK asked dozens of thinkers for their solutions, from 300mpg cars to using enormous kites to help pull ships.

1. Zero waste: Recycling paper, plastic and aluminum is a start, but, oh, so 20th century.

Eric Lombardi hates waste. "Landfills are like black holes, where resources go in and never come out," says the executive director of Eco-Cycle, a nonprofit recycler in Boulder, Colo. "As the world's population explodes and its resource base shrinks, we can't afford that." Instead, Lombardi wants manufacturers to make most or all of their products fully recyclable, using materials designed to be recaptured rather than ending up in junkyards. It's not impossible, as companies like Shaw Carpets and office-furniture maker Steelcase are showing. Both make products with stringent C2C Certification, indicating total recyclability—and 40 other other companies, tapping into the green building trend, are doing the same. "Waste is expensive and inefficient," says Lombardi. "It only appears cheap because the market doesn't send bills to industry for groundwater pollution and resource depletion."




2. LED light bulbs: Never mind the cliché, they really might be a better idea.

Now that we've all dutifully stocked up on compact fluorescents , guess what? A new generation of even better bulbs may be on its way. LED bulbs burn just half the energy, last eight times longer and contain no traces of mercury, as CFLs do. The best of the fledgling bulbs is the Pharox from Lemnis Lighting. While LEDs have long been used for colored digital readouts and traffic signals, manufacturers have had trouble making white LED bulbs that are as strong as incandescents. Truthfully, the Pharox isn't there yet. It produces only as much light as a standard 40-watt bulb, and it's hugely expensive ($39.95 per bulb). On the other hand, it consumes a meager four watts, and a more powerful 60-watt equivalent is coming soon. In November, Lemnis partnered with the Clinton Climate Initiative to help bring the bulb to 40 major cities worldwide.



3. Greener fairways: Not all golf courses are bad for the environment.

When Mark Kuhns arrives at work early in the morning, he is greeted by what he calls "my wildlife symphony"—the chirps and squawks of red-winged blackbirds, bluebirds, tree swallows, goldfinches and red-tailed hawks. That might be normal if he worked in a wildlife reserve, but he doesn't. He's director of grounds at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. Golf courses are infamous for high use of pesticides and water. But Baltusrol is one of 516 U.S. courses (4 percent of the nation's total) that are certified by Audubon International as Audubon sanctuaries "It takes one to three years to go through the process," says Joellen Zeh, manager of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. Courses convert an average of 22 acres of turf grass into wildlife habitat along out-of-play and shoreline areas. "That's 22 acres that don't need to be watered, irrigated, fertilized or mowed on a daily or weekly basis," she says. A survey a few years ago found that 82 percent of sanctuary courses reduced their pesticide use, and when they did have to spray, 92 percent used gentler chemicals. At the same time, 99 percent of managers said playing quality was maintained or improved. Now, if Kuhns hears a complaint about, say, the weedy-looking thistles near hole number seven, he points out the goldfinches clinging to the stalks and eating the seeds. He usually makes a convert.



4. Kite sails: The world's oldest form of propulsion may soon return to shipping.

Any idea how far the largest container ships can go on a gallon of fuel? Try 37 feet. That adds up to 2 billion barrels of petroleum a year. "If the shipping industry were a country, it would be No. 7 in carbon emissions," says Michael Hirshfield, chief scientist for Oceana.



That's why some major shippers are hoping to tap wind energy to help pull their vessels along. They're not talking about traditional sails, which would require rebuilding ships' hulls to withstand forces from a mast. Instead, they're thinking of giant kites—as big as 20,000 square feet in area—that could be attached to the bow of a ship. "They look like parasails," says Hirshfield. "They could be a relatively cheap add-on, without designing a whole new ship." Not that industrial-size kites are simple, either. "When you launch a kite in a park, somebody holds the string and someone else launches the kite," says Dave Culp, CEO of KiteShip in Alameda, Calif. "For a giant kite, you need a robotic arm to pick it up in the wind and let go of it. That sounds trivial until you consider the kite is the size of a football field." And if the wind dies suddenly, you can't have the kite crashing into the sea. A German company called SkySails has developed a fully automated system that appears to have solved these problems without requiring skilled sailors to manipulate the kites. SkySails recently completed a test run on a 10,000-ton ship from Germany to Venezuela and back, saving roughly 20 percent on engine power.



5. Plastic solar cells: Lightweight and inexpensive, they could be very practical.

Alan Heeger, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, loves the traditional solar panels on his roof. "Every day, when the sun comes up, my electricity meter runs backwards, as I sell electricity to the grid," he says. But a system as large as his can cost upwards of $60,000. That's why Heeger is developing so-called plastic solar cells—inexpensive photovoltaic nanochips, 500 times thinner than a human hair. Unlike standard silicon chips, which are synthesized at high temperatures, these cells can self-assemble at room temperature on a flexible plastic film. The film can be bonded to almost any surface, forming a thin coating of solar cells that can be tapped for energy.

Heeger won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing such materials. He went on to co-found a company called Konarka Technologies, which will bring the first small-scale applications to market later this year. Think of handbags coated with flexible solar cells ("as you walk around, it could charge your cell phone") or tents painted with solar cells, for electricity while camping. "The fact that you can fold it or roll it up shows the cells are very lightweight," says Heeger.

But there's a catch. His chips at present convert only about 5 percent of sunlight (versus 15 to 18 percent for standard solar panels)—and only from the visible part of the spectrum. Ted Sargent at the University of Toronto is developing chips that can harvest an additional 4 percent from the infrared(infra-red) portion. With a combination of plastic cells like these, you could start to get close to useful strengths of 10 to 15 percent. When that happens, the impact could be widespread. "There are a billion or more people with no electricity," Heeger says. "A small system, producing less than 100 watts of electricity, would change their lives, giving them light to read and study or power for a radio and a small TV." And there would be no harmful emissions or moving parts to break down.



6. Climate counts: You can vote with your dollars to support green companies.

Gary Hirshberg is constantly looking for ways to make his organic-yogurt company, Stonyfield Farm, even cleaner. He uses no toxic chemicals, has the largest solar array in New Hampshire and converts yogurt waste into a bio-gas that can be burned rather than turning it into sludge. Now Hirshberg is encouraging others to follow his lead.

Last year he launched a nonprofit and Web site called ClimateCounts.org to rank major corporations, from PepsiCo to Microsoft, on the basis of 22 criteria, including measuring their carbon footprint, reducing emissions and supporting progressive climate legislation. The scores, updated annually, are revealing. Stonyfield Farm itself rated only 63 out of a possible 100 points—and it was one of the top scorers. Apple Inc., despite its hip image, pulled a grade of just 2. "We all have a long way to go," says Hirshberg. But he hopes that consumers will put their dollars behind companies that are trying hard to help the environment. "We have to stop treating the Earth as if it were a wholly-owned subsidiaryof our economy," he says.



7. The Aptera: A funky new hybrid-electric car gets 300 miles per gallon of gas.

The dirty secret of automakers, says Jib Ellison, CEO of BluSkye Sustainability Consulting, is that most of the energy used by a car comes from moving the vehicle itself, not the people in it. "That's because cars aren't designed to be as aerodynamic as they could be, and because we have this obsession with heavy vehicles, even though there are now lighter materials that are just as safe," he says. But a prototype car from upstart Aptera Motors in Carlsbad, Calif., could help change all that. The Aptera is not like any vehicle on the road today. It's made with ultra-light (but superstrong) composites, and it has just three wheels to reduce its weight still further. It also has a funky shape—a cross between an insect and a flying saucer—that was designed in the computerized equivalent of a wind tunnel to minimize drag. By next year the car will be available in two models—one hybrid electric and the other purely electric, which can be plugged into any outlet—"even a solar carport," says cofounder Steven Fambro.



Not that a $30,000 two-seater that requires eight hours of recharging will be everyone's ideal car. But Fambro isn't worried. He's presold 1,300 Apteras without spending a dollar on advertising (although he's selling only in California at first to minimize distribution and repair issues). "It's selling itself," he says. "And $100-a-barrel oil doesn't hurt." Are you listening, GM?



8. Stoves for the masses: Inefficient cooking methods are not a trivial problem.

Some 2 billion people in the developing world cook in rudimentary stoves or over open fires. Either way, most of the heat escapes into the air rather than warming the food. Efficient stoves could slash the amount of fuel they use, decreasing emissions and deforestation, too. "A family of five can use three tons of wood a year for cooking," says Columbia University engineer Vijay Modi. "If that family saves one ton of wood per year, that can translate into more than a ton of CO₂ saved every year for that family alone." But such stoves have to be cheap, durable and attractive, as well as efficient. A Colorado company called Envirofit International has three new stoves that fit the bill, and the Shell Foundation is investing $25 million to help send 10 million of them to India, Africa and Latin America.

9. New roots for old crops: Perennials could have advantages over annuals.

Modern agriculture, with its nitrogen-based fertilizers, has enabled the Earth's population to swell from 3 billion in 1960 to 6.6 billion today. But agricultural chemicals are contaminating groundwater, and with each plowing and reaping, the world loses millions of tons of fragile topsoil. That's why Wes Jackson's staff at the Land Institute is crossbreeding important crops like corn, wheat, sorghum and sunflowers with wild relatives to create perennials instead of annuals. They are hardier, requiring fewer chemicals, and with the elimination of tilling, he says, "we could take agricultural soil erosion to near zero."



10. Democratize green: Ecofriendly products need to go mainstream.

As long as green products are the exclusive domain of the wealthy, the benefits will be limited. That's why Adam Werbach, global CEO for Saatchi & Saatchi S, is working with major corporations to green their mainstream brands. Take Tide Coldwater, which is formulated to wash clothes best in, well, cold water. "It's a breakthrough product," says Werbach. "If everyone changed from washing laundry in hot water to cold, that alone would meet nearly 8 percent of the United States' Kyoto targets"—that is, if we'd actually signed the protocol.

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