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

翻译人员: anastasia huang 校对人员: Jessie JIN

This is the story of three plastic bottles,

这是三个空废弃塑料瓶的故事

empty and discarded.

Their journeys are about to diverge

它们即将分道扬镳，踏上各自的旅程，

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

而且最终都将影响地球的命运。

But they weren't always this way.

但故事不一定总是这样。

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

想要了解这些瓶子将去向何方，

我们必须先探究它们的来源。

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

我们故事的主角在炼油厂诞生。

The plastic in their bodies

形成它们身体的塑料

was formed by chemically bonding oil and gas molecules together

是结合起来的油与汽的分子

通过化学反应产生的单体所构成的。

to make monomers.

这些单体是由长长的聚合物链组成，

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

以数百万的小球的形式形成塑料。

in the form of millions of pellets.

Those were melted at manufacturing plants and reformed in molds

这些单体在工厂里被加热融化，通过模具塑型，

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

制造成弹性材料，用于生产这些塑料瓶。

机器把甜汽水灌入瓶中，

Machines filled the bottles with sweet bubbily liquid

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

然后瓶子被包装成箱、运送发货、分销卖出、 再由消费者开瓶使用，

and unceremoniously discarded.

最后被丢进垃圾桶。

And now here they lie,

这就是它们现在的归宿，

poised at the edge of the unknown.

在未知世界的边缘蓄势待发。

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

一号瓶子，同它亿万吨的塑料弟兄们一样，

ends up in a landfill.

生命终结在垃圾填埋场。

This huge dump expands each day

每天都有很多垃圾被丢到这里，

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

于是这个巨大的垃圾堆就越来越大。

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

塑料与其他的垃圾一层层累积，

rainwater flows through the waste

当雨水流经这些垃圾时，

and absorbs the water-soluble compounds it contains,

会吸收其中的水溶性化合物，

and some of those are highly toxic.

而某些化合物是剧毒的。

Together, they create a harmful stew called leachate,

它们聚集在一起，形成有害的“垃圾渗滤液”，

这种“垃圾渗滤液”可以进入地下水、土壤、河流，

which can move into groundwater, soil and streams,

poisoning ecosystems and harming wildlife.

毒害生态系统和野生动物。

一号瓶子大概要一千多年才能分解。

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

二号瓶子的旅途则比较奇特。 但是，这场奇特的旅途并不愉快。

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

He floats on a trickle that reaches a stream,

它漂浮在山涧，山涧汇入小溪，

a stream that flows into a river,

小溪流向小河，

and a river that reaches the ocean.

小河流向了海洋，

After months lost at sea,

在漂浮于海洋数月后，

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

它缓慢卷入了一个巨大的垃圾漩涡，

a place known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

那个地方叫作“太平洋垃圾带”。

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

海洋涡流困住了无数垃圾碎片，

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

这是世界上五大海洋垃圾漩涡之一。

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

在这些地方，污染物把海水变成了浑浊的塑料汤。

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

一些动物，比如海鸟，不小心陷入这里无法自救。

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

还有其他动物，误将鲜艳的塑料当做食物。

Plastic makes them feel full when they're not,

于是，即使不吃东西也不会有饥饿感，

so they starve to death

然后它们就饿死了，

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

并把这些来自塑料的有毒物质带入了食物链。

For example, it's eaten by lanternfish,

举个例子，那些物质被小灯笼鱼吃了，

the lanternfish are eaten by squid,

灯笼鱼又被乌贼吃了，

乌贼又被金枪鱼吃了，

the squid are eaten by tuna,

金枪鱼被我们吃了。

and the tuna are eaten by us.

大多数塑料是无法生物降解的，

And most plastics don't biodegrade,

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

这也就意味着，它们只会分解成越来越小的碎片，

called micro plastics,

这种碎片叫做“微塑料”，

which might rotate in the sea eternally.

它们可能会在海中循环，永远地留在海里。

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

而三号瓶子却幸免于它兄弟们遭遇的炼狱。

A truck brings him to a plant

一辆卡车将它带到工厂,

where he and his companions are squeezed flat

在这里，它和小伙伴们被压平，

之后再被压缩成块。

and compressed into a block.

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

嗯，这听起来也很糟糕，但是不要着急，

It gets better.

情况会有转机的。

The blocks are shredded into tiny pieces,

那些压缩块被切成小片，

which are washed and melted,

经过洗涤、熔化，

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

又变成了可以利用的材料。

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

奇迹般地，三号瓶子做好了准备，

即将摇身一变，成为某样全新的物品。

as something completely new.

For this bit of plastic with such humble origins,

于是，看起来十分普通的塑料，

suddenly the sky is the limit.

也能够大放异彩了。