现在年轻一代推崇的断舍离,无疑是号召不被外物束缚,从极简生活方式中遵从内心的一种生活方式,也从一定程度上给环境保护起到正面作用。可是也有人直白的说,什么断舍离,还不是因为穷。

不论处于追求极简或是穷,宜家试行的家具租借想必会在年轻人中间掀起热潮。

英文原文音频:

图片来源:视觉中国

IKEA is to test furniture rental in 30 markets.
宜家将在30个市场测试家具租赁。

IKEA will expand tests to allow customers to rent desks and sofas rather than buy them as it shifts away from selling low-cost disposable furniture in response to growing environmental concerns.
宜家将扩大测试范围,允许顾客租用桌子和沙发,而不是购买。该公司正在放弃销售廉价的一次性家具,以应对日益增长的环境担忧。

The world’s biggest furniture group first said it was looking into furniture leasing in February. It fleshed out its plans on Wednesday at an event held at its first ‘sustainable’ store in Kaarst, western Germany, opened in 2017.
这家全球最大的家具集团于今年2月首次表示,它正在考虑租赁家具。该公司于2017年在德国西部的卡尔斯特开设了首家“可持续”门店。周三,该公司在这家门店举办的一场活动中详细阐述了它的计划。

“Testing out opportunities for leasing offers is one of the ways we are challenging ourselves to deliver on our transformation strategy,” said Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores.
“测试提供租赁机会是我们正在挑战自己的方式之一,以实现我们的转型战略。”英格卡集团的首席执行官杰斯珀•布罗丹说道。英格卡集团拥有最多宜家门店。

“Climate change and unsustainable consumption are among the biggest challenges we face in society.”
“气候变化和不可持续的消费是我们在社会上面临的最大挑战之一。”

IKEA’s move towards supporting a more circular economy comes as many young consumers say they want to minimise their impact on the environment, preferring to rent items ranging from clothing to cars.
宜家正朝着支持更循环经济的方向迈进,与此同时,许多年轻的消费者表示,他们希望将他们对环境的影响最小化,宁愿租用从服装到汽车等各种物品。

Its business model has already come under pressure from the rise of online retail and a growing reluctance among younger shoppers to travel to its vast out-of-town stores, get the flat-pack furniture home and assemble it themselves.
该公司的商业模式已经面临压力,来源于网上零售的兴起,以及年轻消费者们越来越不愿意到巨大的外地商店购物,把平板包装的家具带回家自己组装。

Rent the Runway, which has previously only rented out designer apparel and accessories, said last month it will partner with Williams-Sonoma Inc’s West Elm brand to allow subscribers to rent home decor.
Rent the Runway之前只出租设计师服装和配饰。该公司在上个月表示,将与威廉-索拿马公司旗下的West Elm合作,允许用户租用家居装饰。

IKEA, which had global sales of 39 billion euros ($44 billion) last year, said it wants to develop subscription-based leasing offers to encourage products to be reused as many times as possible before being recycled.
宜家去年的全球销售额为390亿欧元(440亿美元),该公司表示,它希望开发基于订阅的租赁服务,鼓励产品在回收之前尽可能多地被重复使用。

 

今日语言点

 

1)Disposable

这个词是Dispose加上后缀-able。Dispose的意思是“处理、处置”。

加上后缀后Disposable变成形容词,“用后即可丢弃的、一次性的”。通常价格便宜,却实在同环保背道而驰。

 

2)circular

这个词极其形象,从字面上理解指的是“圆形的,环形的”。

在实际使用中,还有一层意思是“循环的”。如文中的circular economy,“循环经济”。

 

3)minimise

这个词是mini加后缀-mise。Mini,作名词时,“迷你(型)”;作形容词时,“微小的”。

加上后缀mise/mize后,Minimise为动词,指“使减少到最低程度” 。