Part 2. Read the text and circle the correct words. How many pairs of jeans have you got? Five? Ten? Which one is your favourite?
How many pairs of jeans or denim shorts are there in the world? Denim must be the
most popular type of clothing material there is in the western world. It's made of
cotton and it can be worn in practically any circumstances. So jeans and denim are
innocent, environmentally friendly clothes, right? Wrong!
As it turns out, what most people don’t know is that denim jeans are truly
environmentally unfriendly! To start with, vast quantities of water are needed for the
cotton plants – in fact, 1,600 gallons of water are needed for just one pair of jeans.
Then, a large amount of oil is also required to move the machines that spray cotton
plants with chemicals so they aren't destroyed by insects or other pests! To make
matters worse, to give denim its blue colour many harmful chemicals are used, which
are afterwards released into the environment, poisoning and polluting the ground
water, killing all life there. They also poison drinking water, making in unsuitable
for human consumption.
Had enough? Sorry, there's more! After a pair of jeans has been made, it is washed
countless times to give it the trendy faded look that it needs if it's to be sold in
fashionable shops. So, a lot more water is wasted like that. Finally, jeans also
contribute to global warming – for each pair of jeans 32 kg of CO2 is released into
the atmosphere!
Should we then give up our beloved jeans? Is there a solution? Happily, yes, there
is. Some companies are now having research done into producing environmentally
friendly jeans and denim clothes. They're using recycled materials such as plastic
and even glass, which helps the environment by removing harmful substances, as
well!
1. Denim clothes can be
worn / bought anywhere.
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2. A lot of
water / oil is needed for the cotton plants.
3.
Dangerous / Environmentally friendly chemicals are used to colour denim
material.
4. A pair of jeans must be washed
just once / many times before it is sold.
5. New techniques are being researched to make jeans
cheaper / greener .
