What really happens to the plastic you throw away - Emma Bryce

Što se stvarno dogodi plastici koju baciš - Emma Bryce

Prevoditelj: Irma Komljenović Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

This is the story of three plastic bottles,

Ovo je priča o tri plastične boce,

empty and discarded.

prazne i odbačene.

Their journeys are about to diverge

Njihovi će se putevi razići

with outcomes that impact nothing less than the fate of the planet.

s posljedicama koje utječu na sudbinu planeta.

But they weren't always this way.

Ali nisu uvijek bile ovakve.

To understand where these bottles end up, we must first explore their origins.

Da bismo razumjeli gdje će boce završiti, prvo moramo proučiti njihovo podrijetlo.

The heroes of our story were conceived in this oil refinery.

Heroji naše priče stvoreni su u ovoj rafineriji nafte.

The plastic in their bodies

Plastika u njihovim tijelima

was formed by chemically bonding oil and gas molecules together

stvorena je kemijskim spojevima molekula nafte i plina,

to make monomers.

koji čine monomere.

In turn, these monomers were bonded into long polymer chains to make plastic

Onda su ti monomeri vezani u duge lance polimera koji čine plastiku

in the form of millions of pellets.

u obliku milijuna peleta.

Those were melted at manufacturing plants and reformed in molds

Njih se otapa u tvornicama i ponovno oblikuje u kalupima

to create the resilient material that makes up the triplets' bodies.

kako bi se stvorio elastični materijal koji čini tijelo trojki.

Machines filled the bottles with sweet bubbily liquid

Strojevi pune boce slatkom gaziranom tekućinom,

and they were then wrapped, shipped, bought, opened, consumed

a onda su zamotane, otpremljene, kupljene, otvorene, iskorištene

and unceremoniously discarded.

i grubo odbačene.

And now here they lie,

Sada leže ovdje,

poised at the edge of the unknown.

staložene na rubu nepoznatog.

Bottle one, like hundreds of millions of tons of his plastic brethren,

Prva boca, poput stotina milijuna tona svoje plastične braće,

ends up in a landfill.

završava na odlagalištu.

This huge dump expands each day

Ovo ogromno smetlište povećava se svakog dana

as more trash comes in and continues to take up space.

kako sve više smeća dolazi i nastavlja zauzimati prostor.

As plastics sit there being compressed amongst layers of other junk,

Kako plastika stoji zbijena ispod slojeva drugog smeća,

rainwater flows through the waste

kišnica prolazi kroz otpad

and absorbs the water-soluble compounds it contains,

i upija spojeve topive u vodi koje ona sadrži,

and some of those are highly toxic.

a neki od njih su vrlo otrovni.

Together, they create a harmful stew called leachate,

Zajedno čine štetne juhe, zvane procjedne vode,

which can move into groundwater, soil and streams,

koje mogu doći do podzemnih voda, tla i potoka,

poisoning ecosystems and harming wildlife.

usput trujući ekosustave i šteteći divljim životinjama.

It can take bottle one an agonizing 1,000 years to decompose.

Prvoj boci za raspad može biti potrebno i 1000 mučeničkih godina.

Bottle two's journey is stranger but, unfortunately, no happier.

Putovanje druge boce čudnije je, ali, nažalost, ne i sretnije.

He floats on a trickle that reaches a stream,

Ona pluta na vodi koja doseže potok,

a stream that flows into a river,

potokom koji utječe u rijeku,

and a river that reaches the ocean.

i rijekom koja dolazi do oceana.

After months lost at sea,

Nakon mjeseci plutanja morem,

he's slowly drawn into a massive vortex, where trash accumulates,

lagano je privučen u ogromni vrtlog u kojem se skuplja smeće,

a place known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

mjesto koje zovemo Velikim pacifičkim tepihom od smeća.

Here the ocean's currents have trapped millions of pieces of plastic debris.

Ovdje su morske struje zarobile milijune komada plastičnog otpada.

This is one of five plastic-filled gyres in the world's seas.

To je jedan od pet vrtloga ispunjenih plastikom u svjetskim morima,

Places where the pollutants turn the water into a cloudy plastic soup.

mjesta gdje zagađivači pretvaraju vodu u mutnu plastičnu juhu.

Some animals, like seabirds, get entangled in the mess.

Neke životinje, poput morskih ptica, bivaju zapetljane u neredu.

They, and others, mistake the brightly colored plastic bits for food.

One, i druge, brkaju svijetlo obojane plastične komade s hranom.

Plastic makes them feel full when they're not,

Zbog plastike se osjećaju sito kad nisu,

so they starve to death

pa umru od gladi

and pass the toxins from the plastic up the food chain.

i predaju toksine iz plastike dalje kroz hranidbeni lanac.

For example, it's eaten by lanternfish,

Na primjer, jede ju žaboglavka,

the lanternfish are eaten by squid,

lignje jedu žaboglavke,

the squid are eaten by tuna,

tune jedu lignje,

and the tuna are eaten by us.

a tune jedemo mi.

And most plastics don't biodegrade,

Većina plastika nije biorazgradiva,

which means they're destined to break down into smaller and smaller pieces

što znači da se razlažu na sve manje komadiće,

called micro plastics,

zvane mikro plastikom,

which might rotate in the sea eternally.

koji vječno mogu kružiti u moru.

But bottle three is spared the cruel purgatories of his brothers.

No treća je boca pošteđena okrutnih čistilišta svoje braće.

A truck brings him to a plant

Kamion ju odnese u tvornicu

where he and his companions are squeezed flat

gdje su ona i njeni prijatelji stisnuti

and compressed into a block.

i zbijeni u kocku.

Okay, this sounds pretty bad, too, but hang in there.

Dobro, i to zvuči prilično loše, no samo pričekaj.

It gets better.

Postane bolje.

The blocks are shredded into tiny pieces,

Kocke su isjeckane u sitne komadiće

which are washed and melted,

koje se opere i otopi,

so they become the raw materials that can be used again.

pa postanu sirovi materijal koji se ponovno može iskoristiti.

As if by magic, bottle three is now ready to be reborn

Kao magijom, treća boca može se preporoditi

as something completely new.

kao nešto potpuno novo.

For this bit of plastic with such humble origins,

Za ovaj komad plastike skromnog podrijetla,

suddenly the sky is the limit.

iznenada je samo nebo granica.