The January fashion show, called Future Fashion, 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 include organic fabrics in their lines.

The designers who undertake green fashion still face many challenges. Scott Hahn, a 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 materials that can just replace what you’re doing and what your customers are used to,” he says. For example, organic cotton and non-organic cotton are virtually indistinguishable once woven into a dress. But some popular synthetics, like stretch nylon, still have few eco-friendly equivalents.

Those who do make the switch are finding they have more support. Last year the influential trade show Designers & Agents stopped charging its participation fee for young green entrepreneurs who attend its two springtime shows in Los Angeles and New York and gave special recognition to designers whose collections are at least 25% 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 prices, thus helping to expand the supply of a key sustainable material. “Main-stream is about to occur,” says Hahn.

Some analysts are less sure. Among consumers, only 18% are even aware that eco-fashion exists, up from 6% four years ago. Natalie Hormilla, a fashion writer, 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.

The earth gives us life. 【小题1】However, the human beings that don’t appreciate the earth, let harmful gases cause pollution and kill millions of animals living here with us, don’t deserve the planet and should be punished and pay the price.

The earth lets us breathe. 【小题2】 . It’s totally wrong to destroy nature and take what we have for granted. Never take what you have for granted, because one day it could all be gone. If you have already worked for or managed a factory that lets off harmful gases, or if you have gone hunting and killed something that share harmony with us, there is no way to make it up to our planet. 【小题3】   I can’t hear what our planet is saying. No one really knows that, but I know that if I were the earth and someone didn’t care about the life I gave them so trustingly, I wouldn’t forgive them.

【小题4】The only thing that really matters and helps is to just take care of the life around you. Respect it and appreciate it and don’t ever take what you have for granted! 【小题5】 Trees would be growing from the healthiest of soil instead of being firewood or just cut down to make room and space for another factory with more destructive chemicals. The sky wouldn’t be dirty and smog filled, with no room for the sun or clean air to be breathed in. The earth wouldn’t bodying. It’s not one person’s duty; it’s every person’s. We should take action immediately before it’s too late.

Amazon Alert

The Amazon rain forest stretches about 2.7 million square miles. It has been described as the “lungs of our planet”. More than 20% of the planet’s oxygen is produced there! The Amazon holds one-fifth of the world’s freshwater supply. The tropical forests in the heart of the Amazon basin are full of many different kinds of life. They hold the world’s widest variety of life, and are also home to many species found nowhere else. This area is one of the world’s natural treasures. But unless nations around the world take action, it will disappear.

Every year, the rain forest in the Amazon is shrinking. Farmers and builders are clearing the land, usually by burning down the forest. This destruction reached record levels in the 1990s and has remained steady since then. In 2003, an estimated 9,170 square miles were burned or cleared.

The Amazon River basin stretches into the countries of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, but the bulk of it is in Brazil. Loggers, miners, and farmers in Brazil have been rapidly cutting down the Amazon since the 1960s. South American farmers and settlers burn the rain forest to clear the land. The land is used to grow crops and raise livestock or for new towns. Satellite photos show how the forest continues to shrink.

The government of Brazil has pledged time and again to slow down the clearing of land. However, they have not done enough to stop illegal burning and logging. But it's not just Brazil's problem. The Amazon is a treasure for all of humanity. Other countries, including the United States, must do more to help Brazil preserve the Amazon.

In order to protect the area, the Central Amazon Conservation Complex in Brazil was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000. The heritage site makes up the largest protected area in the Amazon Basin (over 6 million hectares). The rain forest is over 55 million years old. There are still many parts of the Amazon that no one has ever been to, and many species that no one has ever seen.

Fact File

The Amazon

You can’t drive there! The main form of transportation in the Amazon is by boat. The only way to get around the rain forest is through the Amazon River system. The river system has 20 percent of all the Earth’s fresh water. Each year during the rainy season, the rivers flood over nine meters deep.

The Amazon is famous for these flooded forests. Tourists will spend days boating through the flooded areas, watching tropical birds flying in the humid air, and fish swimming through the water.