租衣服穿可能并没有你想象的那么环保。研究发现，服装租赁过程中会产生大量排放物，对环境和气候造成的有害影响相比回收、转售衣服都更大。
A woman looks at clothes at Rent the Runway, an online subscription service for designer dresses and accessories in New York. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
A study has revealed that renting clothes, long touted as one of the “answers” to fashion’s sustainability crisis, is worse for the planet than throwing them away.
一项研究揭示，长久以来被奉为时装业可持续发展危机解决之道的服装租赁对地球更有害，不如直接丢弃衣服更环保。
The study, published by the Finnish scientific journal Environmental Research Letters assessed the environmental impact of five different ways of owning and disposing of clothing, including renting, resale and recycling.
发表在芬兰科学期刊《环境研究快报》上的这项研究评估了5种拥有和处理衣服的不同方法对环境造成的影响，包括租赁、转售和回收。
It found that renting clothes had the highest climate impact of all. The hidden environmental cost was found to be delivery and packaging costs. Renting involves a large amount of transportation, taking the clothes back and forth between the warehouse and the renter. Dry cleaning is also harmful to the environment.
研究发现，服装租赁对气候造成的影响最大。运送和包装过程中都会产生隐性的环境成本。在库房和租赁者之间来回运送服装的运输量很大。此外，干洗衣服对环境也有害。
A quality controller working at Rent the Runway’s ‘dream fulfilment centre’ in New Jersey. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Renting clothes has been thought of the sustainable and frugal alternative to fast fashion, popularised by companies such as Rent the Runway and public figures like Carrie Symonds, who rented her wedding dress and her outfits for the G7 conference. Gwyneth Paltrow is on the Rent the Runway board and Ralph Lauren has announced a rental range.
服装租赁曾被认为是替代快时尚的可持续又省钱的选择，在租衣平台Rent the Runway和凯莉·西蒙兹等公众人物的推广下走近了百姓的生活。凯莉·西蒙兹曾穿着租来的衣服举行婚礼和出席七国集团峰会。明星格温妮丝·帕特洛是Rent the Runway的董事之一，时装品牌拉夫劳伦也宣布推出租衣服务。
The growing sector, which according to GlobalData is going to be worth 2.3bn by 2029, has been touted as a possible solution to fashion’s environmental crisis. A report by the World Economic Forum this year suggested that the industry generates 5% of global emissions.
GlobalData公司的数据显示，2029年服装租赁业的市值估计会增长到23亿英镑（约合人民币206亿元）。据称服装租赁业可以化解时装产业的环境危机。然而，世界经济论坛今年的一份报告指出，服装租赁业产生的碳排放量占到了全球排放量的5%。
The study found many rental brands misuse the term “circular economy” – the system where clothes are passed from person to person before being recycled – as a form of greenwashing.
研究发现，许多服装租赁品牌都在滥用“循环经济”一词作为漂绿手段。实际上，衣服从一个人传给另一个人直至被回收才是真正的循环经济。
greenwashing: 由“绿色”（green，象征环保）和“漂白”（whitewash）合成的一个新词。用来说明一家公司、政府或是组织以某些行为或行动宣示自身对环境保护的付出但实际上却是反其道而行。
Ralph Lauren has said it will produce a range of clothes for rent. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
"only regulation will solve that problem. No company, in any industry, will volunteer to take a loss for the sake of the planet. They’ll do so when it’s the law. The biggest obstacle is greed,” said Dana Thomas, author of Fashionopolis.
《时尚都市》作者丹娜·托马斯称：“只有法规才能解决这一问题。任何行业的任何一家公司都不会为了地球而自愿蒙受损失。只有在法律的强制下他们才会照做。最大的障碍是贪婪。”
The new study suggests that if rental companies change their logistics to make them more climate friendly, renting would, environmentally, be on a level with reselling. It also found that the most sustainable way to consume fashion is to buy fewer items and to wear them for as long as possible. “You want to be sustainable? Buy less, buy better,” Thomas said.
这项新研究指出，假如服装租赁公司把自己的物流系统变得更环保，那么租赁对环境的影响将和转售相当。研究还发现，时装消费最可持续的方式就是少买衣服，尽可能穿得久一些。托马斯说：“你想要可持续？那就少买，要买就买好的。”