Luxury, Not Landfill — the Waste-Free Future of Fashion | Joon Silverstein | TED

翻译人员: Eric Ma 校对人员: Lening Xu

In nature, there is no waste.

在自然界中，没有“废物”的概念。

What's left behind by one organism becomes fuel for another.

一种生物留下的东西 会成为另一种生物的养料。

It was human beings that invented the idea of waste.

是人类发明了“废物”这个概念。

Of using things once, then throwing them out.

只用一次，然后丢弃。

In many ways,

在许多方面，

waste has driven human progress.

废物推动了人类进步。

Disposable diapers helped women get out of laundry rooms

一次性尿布帮助女性摆脱 洗衣房的束缚，

and into the workforce.

进入职场；

Disposable plastic syringes enabled mass vaccination,

一次性塑料注射器 实现了大规模疫苗接种，

saving hundreds of millions of lives.

挽救了数亿人的生命。

And even the most dramatic example of human progress,

甚至人类进步最引人注目的例子：

space travel, has been powered by single-use rocket boosters.

太空旅行，一直是由一次性 火箭助推器提供动力。

But this most significant of human inventions, waste,

但这一人类最重大的发明——废物，

is today so successful that it threatens our very existence.

如今已成功到威胁我们自身的生存。

Each year over 150 billion disposable diapers

每年有超过 1500 亿片一次性尿布

and 16 billion disposable syringes end up incinerated, in landfill

和 160 亿个一次性注射器 被焚烧、填埋，

or simply polluting the environment.

或直接污染环境。

By 2050, there may be more plastic waste than fish in the world's oceans.

到 2050 年，海洋中的塑料废物 可能会比鱼还多。

And outer space is now so full of waste that it's jeopardizing future missions.

而外太空如今也充满了废物， 危及未来的任务。

In the industry I work in, fashion,

在我所在的行业——时尚界，

waste is a particular problem.

废物是一个特别严重的问题。

Over the past 20 years,

过去 20 年，

fashion consumption has increased by 400 percent.

时尚消费增长了 400% 。

Yet 85 percent of materials produced

然而， 85% 的生产材料

eventually end up incinerated or sent to landfill.

最终都被焚烧或送往垃圾填埋场。

The relentless production of new materials

不断生产的新材料占时尚行业

accounts for 38 percent of fashion’s greenhouse gases

温室气体排放的 38% ，

and is one of the reasons

也是时尚行业成为世界第三大 污染行业的原因之一。

fashion is the third most polluting industry in the world.

Fashion is an industry built on waste.

时尚是一个建立在废物之上的行业。

And while some companies are making good progress

虽然一些公司在

in setting carbon reduction goals,

设定碳减排目标、使用回收材料

using recycled materials,

or offering trade-in and resale programs,

或提供以旧换新和二手销售 计划方面取得了良好进展，

few are daring to challenge the fundamentals of the fashion system.

但很少有公司敢于挑战 时尚体系的根本。

But as our climate crisis escalates,

但随着气候危机的加剧，

it's clear that this linear system cannot continue.

显然这个线性系统无法持续。

This is what I was thinking four years ago,

这正是我四年前思考的事情，

as I was at home with my young kids during COVID,

那是在疫情期间， 我和孩子们待在家里，

feeling increasingly anxious about fashion's future

越来越焦虑于时尚的未来。

and my role in contributing to that future.

以及我能为未来做出的贡献。

At the time, at my company, Coach,

当时，我所在的公司：Coach，

we were taking many steps to improve the sustainability of our brand,

我们正在采取许多措施来提升 品牌的可持续性，

including launching programs to give used and damaged products a second life.

包括推出让二手和损坏的产品 获得“第二次生命”的项目。

But the more I thought about it,

但我越想，

the more I realized this wasn't enough.

越觉得这还不够。

To solve the problem of waste,

要解决废物问题，

we would have to reinvent it and the system that created it.

我们必须重新定义废物， 以及产生它的系统。

This is what led me to create Coachtopia,

这促使我创建了 Coachtopia，

a new Coach sub-brand

一个全新的Coach子品牌，

designed not to improve our linear fashion system,

该设计并不是为了改善 我们的线性时尚体系，

but to pioneer a circular one

而是为了开创一个循环系统，

in which products are made with waste,

在这个系统中， 产品由废物制成，

designed for multiple lives

设计时考虑到多次使用，

and have clear circular pathways

并且有明确的路径， 使这些材料保持循环。

so those materials stay in circulation.

We reframed our understanding of waste.

我们重新定义了对废物的理解。

Let me explain.

让我来解释一下。

First, we had to make our waste visible.

首先，我们必须让废物可见。

In fashion, we normally create products

在时尚界，我们制作产品时

without thinking about the waste we generate.

通常并不会考虑所产生的废物。

In fact, when we first started looking for our waste,

事实上，当我们第一次 开始寻找废物时，

it was actually hard to get the full picture.

实际上很难了解全面情况。

We measure what we make, not what we leave behind,

我们衡量的是产成品， 而非废弃物，

but these waste streams are vast and deep.

但这些废物流庞大又深远。

For example,

比如，

this is the waste left behind from the making of products

这是制作产品时剩余的废料，

such as our quilted tabby shoulder bag.

如绗缝的Tabby肩背包。

As you can see, the scraps left over from the cutting of the bag patterns

正如你们看到的，

剪裁包袋后的剩余碎料 很难再次使用。

are not easily usable.

They're small, scrappy, irregular.

这些碎料小、散、不规则。

Typically, across the industry,

通常，在整个行业中，

these scraps are sent to landfill almost without a thought.

这些碎料几乎不加思索地 被送往垃圾填埋场。

But there are up to 30 percent of each leather skin.

然而，每一张皮革中， 有多达 30% 的部分被浪费掉。

At first, the scale of the problem seemed daunting,

一开始，问题的规模 让人感到气馁，

but we soon realized that the scale was actually the opportunity.

但我们很快意识到， 规模实际上是一个机会。

That, in fact, we could create a whole new supply chain built on waste.

事实上，我们可以基于废物 创建一个全新的供应链。

So we started collecting, sorting,

因此，我们开始收集、分类、

classifying and storing our leather scraps.

归档并储存我们的皮革废料。

And now, instead of a pile of waste,

现在，我们不再面对一堆废料，

we have a rich supply of materials

而是拥有了一种丰富的材料供应，

collected in what we call our leather scrap yards.

这些材料被收集在我们称之 为“皮革碎料场”的地方。

Next, we had to reimagine the value of waste.

接下来，我们需要重新 定义废物的价值，

Thinking of it not as a byproduct,

把它视为一种激发灵感的原材料，

but as an inspiring raw material.

而不是副产品。

And it started with reversing how we design.

它始于设计方式的改变。

In the usual process, we design forwards.

通常情况下，我们是正向设计，

We imagine the ideal product and the ideal materials and colors,

即想象理想的产品、 理想的材料和颜色，

and we harness the power of our supply chain

然后借助供应链的力量

to bring this vision to physical life.

将这一愿景变为现实。

But in a circular world,

但在一个循环的世界里，

we have to design backwards,

我们必须“逆向设计”，

starting with what already exists

从现有的材料出发，

and using our creativity to turn those materials

运用创造力将这些材料

into beautiful new products.

变为美丽的新产品。

This was scary.

这是一个让人不安的过程。

What if we wanted pink but there was no pink?

假如我们想要粉色， 但却没有粉色呢？

What if the only pinks that were available were the wrong shades,

假如唯一可用的粉色并不是

no longer on trend this season?

当季流行的色调呢？

What if we fell in love with the color of scrap

假如我们喜欢某种废料的颜色，

but there wasn't enough?

但数量不足呢？

Or we ran out before we could make enough units?

或者在制作足够的产品 之前就用完了？

Our challenge was to see these constraints not as obstacles,

我们的挑战是将这些限制

but as opportunities for innovative design.

视为创新设计的机会， 而不是障碍。

This is what led us to create our signature checkerboard pattern,

这就是我们设计标志性 棋盘格图案的原因，

which we created to help us put a system of order

旨在帮助我们建立一个系统，

on the often unpredictable,

有序管理经常不可预测、

continually changing nature of our raw-material supply.

不断变化的原材料供应。

The checkerboard allows us to easily swap in and out different colors

棋盘格图案使我们 能够轻松地更换不同的颜色，

while maintaining the same system of scalable production.

同时保持相同的可扩展生产体系。

Along the way, we had to learn to embrace imperfection.

过程中，我们学会接受不完美。

In the luxury world, we often talk about uncompromising quality.

在奢侈品世界中， 我们经常谈论无与伦比的品质。

But as Coach,

但作为Coach，

the American house of leather,

这家美国皮具公司，

we're also responsible in some part for defining what quality means.

我们在某种程度上也 负责定义“品质”的含义。

An "aha" moment was when we went to one of our partner factories

一个“顿悟”时刻是， 当我们去到一家合作工厂，

and saw the parts of the leather they trimmed away

看到他们裁剪掉皮革的一部分，

because the grain was uneven.

仅仅因为皮纹不均匀。

The natural grain of the highest-quality leathers

最高品质皮革的自然纹理

had become a defect,

变成了缺陷品，

to be trimmed away,

必须被修剪掉，

because it didn't fit an aesthetic preference for uniformity.

因为它不符合 统一性的审美偏好。

In that moment,

在那个瞬间，

I realized just how much the way we consume

我意识到我们消费的方式

is linked to the way we make.

与我们制造的方式是息息相关的。

I myself was one of those consumers who asked to see three of every bag

我自己就是那种消费者，

当我在商店购物时， 会从每个包款中查看三个，

when I shopped in a store,

looking for the perfect one,

找出一个没有任何 痕迹或瑕疵的完美包包，

without any marks or imperfections,

without thinking about the fact that to get a perfect finish,

却从未想到， 为了得到完美的外观，

you need to waste more materials.

我们需要浪费更多的材料。

Seeing these perfectly usable materials thrown away

看到这些完全可用的材料被丢弃，

really brought home the fact

真正让人意识到，

that the idea of waste is closely tied

废弃物的观念与

to what we choose as a culture to find beautiful.

我们寻找美丽的文化选择密切相关。

As producers of fashion,

作为时尚生产者，

we're responsible for helping create this ideal of beauty.

我们有责任帮助 创造这种理想的美。

And so it's important at Coachtopia that we challenge it.

在Coachtopia， 我们敢于挑战。

Finally, we had to shift from designing with waste

最后，我们要从用废料设计 转变为无废料设计。

to designing out waste.

In Coachtopia, we set out to transform the waste Coach generates

在Coachtopia，我们的目标是 将Coach所产生的废料

into beautiful new products.

转变为美丽的新产品。

But once we started really thinking about waste

但当我们开始真正思考废料

and what we choose to consider waste,

并选择废料时，

we had to ask ourselves another question.

我们不得不问自己另一个问题。

What if, rather than reimagining waste once it was already created,

如果，与其等废料 产生之后重新构思

we started thinking about it before it was created.

不如在废料产生之前思考。

So we looked at our upcoming lineup of Coach bags,

于是，我们开始审视即将 推出的Coach包包，

and then we thought about the waste

并思考生产这些

that would inevitably be a byproduct of producing those bags.

包包时不可避免地会产生的废料。

And here is what we created.

这就是我们的设计。

This is a bag designed specifically to be made from the waste

这款特别设计使用废料制作的包包

of our top-selling quilted tabby shoulder bag.

基于我们的畅销款绗缝 Tabby肩背包。

We transformed the small and irregular leftover scraps of leather,

我们将这些又小又不规则的皮革废料，

some of them rejected because of their natural grain,

其中一些因天然纹理不均而被拒用，

and stitched them together to create a whole new bag

把它们重新缝合， 创造出一款新的包包，

with a 59 percent lower carbon footprint

它的碳足迹比使用 新材料的同类款式低 59% ，

than the comparable style made with new materials,

and also a 46 percent lower price than the quilted tabby,

价格也比绗缝款Tabby低 46% ，

as we pass on the savings of using these scraps to our consumers.

我们将使用废料节省的成本 传递给消费者。

And now we're applying this approach more broadly

现在，我们正将这种方法广泛用于

to other top styles: the Brooklyn,

其他经典款式，如布鲁克林、

the Hamptons and more.

汉普顿等。

It's luxury born out of waste.

这是源自废料的奢华。

We're beginning to build a whole new system that's more like nature,

我们正在开始建立一个 更像大自然的全新系统，

where what's left behind by one entity, Coach,

在这个系统中， Coach所留下的东西

is used by another, Coachtopia.

为Coachtopia所用。

And that makes me so happy because I love fashion.

这让我非常高兴， 因为我热爱时尚。

I love the joy it brings us

我喜欢它带给我们的快乐，

and the way it allows us to express ourselves.

也喜欢它让我们 能够表达自我的方式。

I believe that the steps we're taking,

我相信我们采取的行动，

though, of course imperfect,

当然还不完美，

will help us build a new kind of fashion

将帮助我们构建一种新的时尚，

that doesn't come at the expense of the planet.

这种时尚并不以牺牲 地球为代价。

But what I'm even more inspired by

然而，更令我受到启发的是这个想法：

is the idea that by changing the way we both make and consume,

通过改变我们的制造和消费方式，

we can start to build a future

我们能开始构建一个未来，

where waste isn't the unwanted consequence of linear growth,

废料不再是线性增长的副产品，

but the fuel for a new model of progress,

而是推动新发展模式的燃料，

a circular one.

这是一种循环的模式。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）