The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang

Prevodilac: Jelena Đurasović Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

Consider the classic white t-shirt.

Uzmimo za primer klasičnu belu majicu.

Annually, we sell and buy two billion t-shirts globally,

Godišnje prodamo i kupimo dve milijarde majica širom sveta,

što ih čini jednim od najzastupljenijih odevnih predmeta na svetu.

making it one of the most common garments in the world.

But how and where is the average t-shirt made,

Ali, kako i gde se prosečna majica pravi

and what's its environmental impact?

i kakav je njen uticaj na životnu sredinu?

Clothing items can vary a lot,

Odevni predmeti se dosta razlikuju,

but a typical t-shirt begins its life on a farm in America, China, or India

ali tipična majica započinje svoj život na farmi u Americi, Kini ili Indiji

where cotton seeds are sown, irrigated and grown for the fluffy bolls they produce.

gde se pamučno seme seje, zaliva i uzgaja zbog pufnastih loptica koje proizvodi.

Self-driving machines carefully harvest these puffs,

Samoupravljajuće mašine pažljivo žanju ove loptice,

an industrial cotton gin mechanically separates the fluffy bolls from the seeds,

industrijska mašina za čišćenje pamuka mehanički odvaja loptice od semena

and the cotton lint is pressed into 225-kilogram bales.

i pamučno vlakno se presuje u bale od 225 kilograma.

Biljka pamuka zahteva velike količine vode i pesticida.

The cotton plants require a huge quantity of water and pesticides.

2,700 liters of water are needed to produce the average t-shirt,

Za proizvodnju prosečne majice potrebno je 2 700 litara vode,

enough to fill more than 30 bathtubs.

što je dovoljno da se napuni više od trideset kada za kupanje.

Istovremeno, pamuku treba više insekticida i pesticida

Meanwhile, cotton uses more insecticides and pesticides

than any other crop in the world.

nego bilo kom drugom usevu na svetu.

These pollutants can be carcinogenic,

Ovi zagađivači mogu da budu kancerogeni,

harm the health of field workers,

da naruše zdravlje radnika

and damage surrounding ecosystems.

i da oštete okolne ekosisteme.

Some t-shirts are made of organic cotton grown without pesticides and insecticides,

Neke majice se prave od organskog pamuka

koji se uzgaja bez pesticida i insekticida,

but organic cotton makes up less than 1%

ali organski pamuk čini manje od jednog postotka

of the 22.7 million metric tons of cotton produced worldwide.

od 22,7 miliona tona pamuka proizvedenog širom sveta.

Once the cotton bales leave the farm,

Kada se pamučne bale odvezu sa farme,

tekstilne fabrike ih šalju u postrojenja za predenje,

textile mills ship them to a spinning facility,

obično u Kinu ili Indiju,

usually in China or India,

where high-tech machines blend,

gde visokotehnološke mašine mešaju,

card,

grebenaju,

comb,

češljaju,

pull,

povlače,

stretch,

razvlače

and, finally, twist the cotton into snowy ropes of yarn called slivers.

i, konačno, upredaju pamuk u snežnu užad od prediva zvanog trake.

Then, yarns are sent to the mill,

Posle toga, predivo se šalje u fabriku,

where huge circular knitting machines

gde ga velike kružne mašine za pletenje

weave them into sheets of rough grayish fabric

tkaju u grube sivkaste tkanine

treated with heat and chemicals until they turn soft and white.

koje se tretiraju toplotom i hemikalijama dok ne postanu mekane i bele.

Here, the fabric is dipped into commercial bleaches and azo dyes,

Ovde se tkanina potapa u komercijalne izbeljivače i azo boje,

which make up the vivid coloring in about 70% of textiles.

koje daju živopisan kolorit kod 70 odsto tkanina.

Nažalost, neke od njih sadrže izazivače raka kao što su kadmijum,

Unfortunately, some of these contain cancer-causing cadmium,

lead,

olovo, hrom i živu.

chromium,

and mercury.

Drugi štetni sastojci i hemikalije mogu da prouzrokuju veliko zagađenje

Other harmful compounds and chemicals can cause widespread contamination

when released as toxic waste water in rivers and oceans.

kada se otpuste kao toksične otpadne vode u reke i okeane.

Technologies are now so advanced in some countries

Tehnologija je sada toliko napredovala u nekim zemljama

da celokupan proces uzgoja i proizvodnje tkanine

that the entire process of growing and producing fabric

barely touches a human hand.

jedva dođe u dodir sa ljudskom rukom.

But only up until this point.

Sve do ove faze.

After the finished cloth travels to factories,

Nakon što se napravljena tkanina odveze u fabriku,

often in Bangladesh, China, India, or Turkey,

često u Bangladešu, Kini, Indiji ili Turskoj,

human labor is still required to stitch them up into t-shirts,

ljudski rad je i dalje potreban da bi se sašile majice od toga,

što je komplikovan posao koji mašine ne mogu da odrade.

intricate work that machines just can't do.

Ovaj proces ima svoje probleme.

This process has its own problems.

Bangladesh, for example,

U Bangladešu, na primer,

which has surpassed China as the world's biggest exporter of cotton t-shirts,

koji je prevazišao Kinu kao najvećeg svetskog izvoznika pamučnih majica,

employs 4.5 million people in the t-shirt industry,

zaposleno je četiri i po miliona ljudi u proizvodnji majica,

but they typically face poor conditions and low wages.

ali se oni obično susreću sa lošim uslovima rada i niskim platama.

Nakon proizvodnje, sve ove majice se šalju brodom, vozom ili kamionom

After manufacture, all those t-shirts travel by ship, train, and truck

to be sold in high-income countries,

i prodaju se u zemljama sa visokim dohotkom,

a process that gives cotton an enormous carbon footprint.

što je proces u kom pamuk za sobom ostavlja velike tragove ugljenika.

Some countries produce their own clothing domestically,

Neke zemlje proizvode garderobu na svom tlu,

što smanjuje ovu fazu zagađenja,

which cuts out this polluting stage,

but generally, apparel production accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions.

ali, uopšteno, proizvodnja garderobe čini deset odsto svetske emisije ugljenika.

I povećava se.

And it's escalating.

Jeftinija garderoba i volja za kupovinom

Cheaper garments and the public's willingness to buy

boosted global production from 1994 to 2014 by 400%

povećali su svetsku proizvodnju od 1994. do 2014. godine za 400 odsto,

to around 80 billion garments each year.

do otprilike 80 milijardi komada svake godine.

Konačno, u potrošačkim domovima,

Finally, in a consumer's home,

the t-shirt goes through one of the most resource-intensive phases of its lifetime.

majica prolazi kroz fazu u svom veku

koja je jedna od najvećih potrošača energije.

In America, for instance,

U Americi, na primer,

the average household does nearly 400 loads of laundry per year

prosečno domaćinstvo uključi veš mašinu skoro 400 puta godišnje,

each using about 40 gallons of water.

pri čemu se za svako pranje potroši oko 150 litara vode.

Mašine za pranje i sušenje veša troše struju,

Washing machines and dryers both use energy,

with dryers requiring five to six times more than washers.

a za sušenje se potroši pet ili šest puta više nego za pranje.

Ova nagla promena u potrošnji odeće u poslednjih dvadeset godina

This dramatic shift in clothing consumption over the last 20 years,

driven by large corporations and the trend of fast fashion

potpomognuta velikim korporacijama i trendovima brze mode

has cost the environment,

uzela je danak na životnu sredinu,

the health of farmers,

zdravlje farmera

and driven questionable human labor practices.

i prouzrokovala sumnjive uslove za rad.

Takođe je pretvorila modu u drugog zagađivača na svetu nakon nafte.

It's also turned fashion into the second largest polluter in the world after oil.

But there are things we can do.

Međutim, postoje stvari koje možemo da uradimo.

Consider shopping secondhand.

Razmislite o kupovini polovne odeće.

Pokušajte da kupujete tkanine od recikliranih ili organskih materijala.

Try to look for textiles made from recycled or organic fabrics.

Wash clothes less and line dry to save resources.

Ređe perite garderobu i sušite je na vetru radi uštede energije.

Instead of throwing them away at the end of their life,

Umesto da je bacite kada vam više nije potrebna,

donate, recycle, or reuse them as cleaning rags.

poklonite je, reciklirajte ili je koristite kao krpe za čišćenje.

And, finally, you might ask yourself,

I, konačno, možete se zapitati

how many t-shirts and articles of clothing will you consume over your lifetime,

koliko ćete majica i komada garderobe iskoristiti u toku svog života

and what will be their combined impact on the world?

i kakav je njihov sveukupan uticaj na svet.