TED演讲:消灭铺张浪费,我们需要重新认识节俭(2)

That problem is that there is really no way. When you throw something away, it typically goes into a landfill.

问题就是，那些东西根本没有办法真正的消失。当我们丢掉一些东西时，它们通常会被送到垃圾填埋场。

Now, a landfill is basically¹ something which is not going to go away, and it's increasing.

而垃圾填埋场是不会消失的，而且现在规模还在不断增加。

At the moment, we have about 1.3 billion tons of material every year going into landfills.

现在，我们每年把13亿吨垃圾送到垃圾填埋场。

By 2100, it's going to be about four billion tons. See, instead, I'd prefer if we started thrifting.

2100年，这个数字会达到40亿吨。而我希望我们开始学会节俭。

What that means is, we consider materials when they go into products

这意味着，我们要思考：在产品的各个阶段，从生产制造，

and also when they get used, and, at the end of their life: When can they be used again?

到消费使用，最后到寿终正寝，材料什么时候能被二次利用？

It's the idea of completely changing the way we think about waste, so waste is no longer a dirty word -- we almost remove the word "waste" completely.

我们要彻底改变对垃圾的看法，让垃圾不再是一个肮脏的词——我们几乎再也不需要用“垃圾”这个词。

All we're looking to is resources. Resource goes into a product and then can basically go into another product.

我们看到的只有资源。这些资源会被制作成产品，然后通过再利用变成另一件产品。

We used to be good at thrifting. My grandmother, again, used to use old seed packets to paper the bathroom walls.

我们过去很擅长节俭。再说回我的祖母，她曾经用旧的种子包装纸来当浴室的墙纸。

I think, though, there are companies out there who understand this value and are promoting it.

我认为，一些公司明白产品重复利用的价值，而且正在推广它。

And a lot of the technologies that have been developed for the smart age can also be adapted to reduce, reuse and also thrift² more proficiently³.

许多智能时代的科技，也能帮助我们更好地减少使用，重复利用，勤俭节约。

And as a materials scientist, what I've been tracking over the last couple of decades is how companies are getting smart at thrifting,

作为一个材料学家，我一直在研究过去二十年企业在节俭方面取得的成效，

how they're able to understand this concept⁴ and profit from it.

研究它们如何理解节俭这个概念，并通过节俭获取利润。

I'm going to give you two examples. The first one, a good one; the second one, not so good. The first is the automotive industry.

我给你们讲两个例子。第一个是好的，第二个是不太好的。第一个例子是关于汽车制造业的。

Not always known as the most innovative⁵ or creative of industries, but it turns out, they're really, really good at recycling their products.

没有多少人会认为这是一个极具创新的产业，而事实上，这个产业在回收再利用方面做得十分出色。

1 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

2 thrift   

adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约

参考例句：

• He has the virtues of thrift and hard work.他具备节俭和勤奋的美德。
• His thrift and industry speak well for his future.他的节俭和勤勉预示着他美好的未来。

3 proficiently   

ad.熟练地

参考例句：

• Language Skills: Ability to write and speak English proficiently. 语言要求：有良好的英语读写能力。
• Although not a diplomat, he can proficiently use diplomatic terms. 他虽然不是外交官，却能熟练地使用外交辞令。

4 concept   

n.概念，观念，思想

参考例句：

• A small baby has no concept of right and wrong.婴儿没有是非概念。
• He was asked to define his concept of cool.他被要求说明自己关于“酷”的定义。

5 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。