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

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Anja Saric

This is the story of three plastic bottles,

Ovo je priča o tri plastične flaše,

empty and discarded.

prazne i odbačene.

Their journeys are about to diverge

Njihovi putevi će se upravo razići

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

sa posledicama po samu sudbinu planete.

But they weren't always this way.

Ali nisu uvek bile takve.

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

Kako bismo razumeli gde ove flaše na kraju završe, prvo moramo istražiti

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

njihovo poreklo. Junaci naše priče su začeti u ovoj rafineriji nafte.

The plastic in their bodies

Plastika u njihovim telima

was formed by chemically bonding oil and gas molecules together

je izrađena hemijskim spajanjem molekula nafte i gasa

to make monomers.

kako bi se dobili monomeri.

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

Zauzvrat, ovi monomeri se vežu u duge lance polimera kako bi se dobila

in the form of millions of pellets.

plastika u vidu miliona kuglica.

Those were melted at manufacturing plants and reformed in molds

One se dalje tope u fabrikama i oblikuju u kalupima

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

kako bi se dobio otporni materijal od kojeg se sastoje tela ove trojke.

Machines filled the bottles with sweet bubbily liquid

Mašine pune flaše slatkom mehurastom tečnošću

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

i zatim se pakuju, razvoze, kupuju, otvaraju, konzumiraju

and unceremoniously discarded.

i nesvečano odbacuju.

And now here they lie,

I evo ih ovde,

poised at the edge of the unknown.

lebde na ivici nepoznatog.

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

Prva flaša, kao i stotine miliona tona njenih plastičnih sestara,

ends up in a landfill.

završava na deponiji.

This huge dump expands each day

Ovo ogromno smetlište se širi svakog dana

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

jer dolazi sve više smeća i zauzima sve više prostora.

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

Dok se plastika tu sabija među slojevima drugog smeća,

rainwater flows through the waste

kišnica protiče kroz smeće i upija

and absorbs the water-soluble compounds it contains,

vodorazgradiva jedinjenja iz smeća,

and some of those are highly toxic.

od kojih su neka veoma otrovna.

Together, they create a harmful stew called leachate,

Oni zajedno čine štetnu čorbu zvanu procedna voda,

which can move into groundwater, soil and streams,

koja može završiti u podzemnim vodama, zemljištu i potocima,

poisoning ecosystems and harming wildlife.

i na taj način zatrovati ekosisteme i naštetiti divljim životinjama.

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

Prvoj flaši je potrebno 1000 očajničkih godina da se razgradi.

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

Putovanje druge flaše je neobičnije ali, nažalost, ništa srećnije.

He floats on a trickle that reaches a stream,

Nju struja polako nosi do potoka,

a stream that flows into a river,

potok se uleva u reku,

and a river that reaches the ocean.

a reka u okean.

After months lost at sea,

Nakon nekoliko meseci u okeanu,

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

polako se uvlači u veliki vrtlog gde se skuplja smeće,

a place known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

mesto koje je poznato pod nazivom Veliki pacifički tepih od smeća.

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

Ovde stotine struja u okeanu donesu milione komada plastičnog smeća.

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

To je jedna od pet vijuga punih plastike koje se nalaze u okeanima sveta.

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

To su mesta gde zagađivači vodu pretvaraju u mutnu plastičnu supu.

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

Neke životnje poput galebova zapetljaju se u tom neredu.

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

Poput drugih životinja, oni pomešaju šarenu plastiku sa hranom.

Plastic makes them feel full when they're not,

Od plastike se osećaju siti kada nisu

so they starve to death

tako da uginu od gladi

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

i toksine iz plastike šalju dalje niz lanac ishrane.

For example, it's eaten by lanternfish,

Na primer, jedu ih ribe svetiljke,

the lanternfish are eaten by squid,

lignje jedu ribe svetiljke,

the squid are eaten by tuna,

tune jedu lignje

and the tuna are eaten by us.

i mi jedemo tune.

And most plastics don't biodegrade,

Većina plastike se ne raspada biološki

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

što znači da joj je suđeno da se raspada na sve manje delove

called micro plastics,

koji se nazivaju mikroplastika,

which might rotate in the sea eternally.

koji mogu da kruže okeanima do u beskonačnost.

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

Ali treća flaša je spašena okrutnog čistilišta gde odlaze njegova braća.

A truck brings him to a plant

Kamion ga dovozi do fabrike

where he and his companions are squeezed flat

gde njega i njene drugove spljošte

and compressed into a block.

i sabiju u blokove.

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

U redu, i ovo zvuči prilično loše, ali stanite malo.

It gets better.

Biće bolje.

The blocks are shredded into tiny pieces,

Blokovi se seckaju na sitne komade

which are washed and melted,

koji se peru i tope,

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

tako da postaju sirov materijal koji može opet da se koristi.

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

Baš kao uz neku magiju, treća flaša je sada spremna da se preporodi

as something completely new.

kao nešto potpuno novo.

For this bit of plastic with such humble origins,

Za ovaj komad plastike tako skromnog porekla,

suddenly the sky is the limit.

odjednom nebo nema granica.