A plan to recycle the unrecyclable | Ashton Cofer

Translator: Linda Zigmundova Reviewer: Linda Magáthová

It was just an ordinary Saturday.

Bola to sobota ako každá iná.

My dad was outside mowing the lawn,

Môj otec kosil vonku trávnik,

my mom was upstairs folding laundry,

moja mama bola v dome a skladala prádlo,

my sister was in her room doing homework

moja sestra si robila v izbe úlohy

and I was in the basement playing video games.

a ja som v suteréne hral videohry.

And as I came upstairs to get something to drink,

Išiel som si zobrať niečo na pitie a po ceste

I looked out the window

som sa pozrel z okna,

and realized that there was something that I was supposed to be doing,

keď som si spomenul, na čom som mal pracovať.

Uvidel som toto.

and this is what I saw.

No, this wasn't my family's dinner on fire.

Nie, nehorela to naša rodinná večera.

This was my science project.

Bol to môj vedecký projekt.

Flames were pouring out,

Plamene zbesilo šľahali

smoke was in the air

a cez dym som ani nevidel.

and it looked like our wooden deck was about to catch fire.

Vyzeralo to, že sa chytí aj drevená plošina.

I immediately started yelling.

Okamžite som začal kričať.

Mama bola z toho celá vykoľajená,

My mom was freaking out,

my dad ran around to put out the fire

môj otec vybehol von zahasiť oheň

and of course my sister started recording a Snapchat video.

a moja sestra to samozrejme natáčala na Snapchat video.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

This was just the beginning of my team's science project.

Bol to len začiatok vedeckého projektu môjho tímu.

My team is composed of me and three other students

V tíme som ja a ďalší traja študenti,

who are here in the audience today.

ktorí sú dnes v publiku.

We competed in FIRST LEGO League

Zúčastnili sme sa súťaže FIRST LEGO.

which is an international LEGO robotics competition for kids,

Je to medzinárodná súťaž LEGO robotov pre deti.

and in addition to a robotics game,

Okrem hrania hier

we also worked on a separate science project,

sme pracovali na inom vedeckom projekte,

and this was the project that we were working on.

bol to tento projekt.

So the idea for this project all started

Nápad sme dostali

when a few months earlier,

pred niekoľkými mesiacmi,

a couple of my teammates took a trip to Central America

keď dvaja z nás boli na dovolenke v Strednej Amerike

and saw beaches littered with Styrofoam,

a videli pláže pokryté polystyrénom

or expanded polystyrene foam.

a polystyrénovou penou.

And when they came back and told us about it,

Po návrate nám o tom povedali.

we really started thinking about the ways in which we see Styrofoam every day.

Začali sme si všímať, kde všade nachádzame polystyrén.

Get a new flat-screen TV?

Kúpiš si novú telku?

You end up with a block of Styrofoam bigger than the TV itself.

Skončíš s blokom polystyrénu, dvakrát takým ako samotná telka.

Drink a cup of coffee?

Dáš si kávu?

Well, those Styrofoam coffee cups are sure going to add up.

Tie umelé poháriky sa tiež počítajú.

And where do all these items go after their one-time use?

A kde všetky tieto predmety po jednom použití skončia?

Since there aren't any good existing solutions for used Styrofoam,

Keďže momentálne žiadne riešenie pre použitý polystyrén nie je,

almost all of them end up right in the landfill,

skoro všetky skončia na skládke

or the oceans and beaches,

alebo v oceánoch a na plážach.

taking over 500 years to degrade.

Rozklad im trvá 500 rokov.

And in fact, every year, the US alone

Každým rokom len USA

produces over two billion pounds of Styrofoam,

vyprodukuje vyše 900-tisíc ton polystyrénu,

filling up a staggering 25 percent of landfills.

ktorý zaberá ohromujúcich 25 percent skládok.

So why do we have these ghost accumulations of Styrofoam waste?

Prečo teda máme takúto nevídanú akumuláciu tohto odpadu?

Why can't we just recycle them like many plastics?

Prečo sa nemôže polystyrén recyklovať takisto ako plast?

Well, simply put, recycled polystyrene is too expensive

Jednoducho povedané, recyklovaný polystyrén je príliš drahý

and potentially contaminated,

a je potenciálne kontaminovaný.

so there is very little market demand for Styrofoam that has to be recycled.

Na trhu teda nie je veľký dopyt po recyklovanom polystyréne.

And as a result, Styrofoam is considered a nonrenewable material,

Z čoho vyplýva, že polystyrén sa považuje za neobnoviteľný materiál,

because it is neither feasible nor viable to recycle polystyrene.

lebo jeho zrecyklovanie sa nedá zrealizovať.

And in fact, many cities across the US

Mnoho miest v USA prijalo nariadenia

have even passed ordinances

that simply ban the production of many products containing polystyrene,

o zákaze výroby viacerých produktov obsahujúcich polystyrén.

which includes disposable utensils,

Tieto zahŕňajú príbor na jedno použitie,

packing peanuts, takeout containers

penové výplne balíkov, nádoby na jedlo

and even plastic beach toys,

a aj plážové hračky z plastu.

all products that are very useful in today's society.

Všetko výrobky, ktoré sa v dnešnej dobe považujú za užitočné.

And now France has become the first country

Francúzsko sa stalo prvou krajinou,

to completely ban all plastic utensils,

ktorá prijala úplný zákaz plastových

cups and plates.

príborov, pohárov a tanierov.

But what if we could keep using Styrofoam

Čo keby sme však mohli polystyrén naďalej používať

and keep benefiting from its cheap, lightweight, insulating

a využívať jeho lacnosť, ľahkosť, izoláciu

and excellent packing ability,

a skvelé baliace schopnosti,

while not having to suffer from the repercussions

a netrpieť následkami, keď príde na jeho likvidáciu?

of having to dispose of it?

What if we could turn it into something else that's actually useful?

Čo keby sme ho mohli premeniť na niečo užitočné?

What if we could make the impossible possible?

Čo keby sme mohli uskutočniť nemožné?

My team hypothesized that we could use the carbon that's already in Styrofoam

Môj tím vytvoril hypotézu o použití uhlíka nachádzajúceho sa v polystyréne

to create activated carbon,

na vytvorenie aktívneho uhlíka,

which is used in almost every water filter today.

ktorý sa dnes používa na filtrovanie vody.

And activated carbon works by using very small micropores

Aktívny uhlík pracuje na princípe mikropórov

to filter out contaminants from water or even air.

a filtruje znečisťujúce látky z vody a vzduchu.

So we started out by doing a variety of heating tests,

Začali sme teda teplotnými testami

and unfortunately, we had many failures.

a, nanešťastie, veľakrát sme zlyhali.

Literally, nothing worked.

Doslova, nič nefungovalo.

Besides my dad's grill catching on fire,

Okrem zhoreného grilu môjho otca,

most of our samples vaporized into nothing,

väčšina našich pokusov sa buď vyparila

or exploded inside expensive furnaces,

alebo v drahej peci vybuchla

leaving a horribly sticky mess.

a zanechala lepkavý neporiadok.

In fact, we were so saddened by our failures that we almost gave up.

Skoro sme to vzdali, takí sme boli smutní z našich zlyhaní.

So why did we keep trying

Prečo sme neprestali skúšať

when all the adults said it was impossible?

i keď dospelí to považovali za nemožné?

Well, maybe it's because we're kids. We don't know any better.

Možno preto, že sme deti. Čo my o tom vieme.

But the truth is, we kept trying because we thought it was still possible.

My sme si mysleli, že je to možné, preto sme neprestali skúšať.

We knew that if we were successful,

Vedeli sme, že pri úspechu

we would be helping the environment and making the world a better place.

prispejeme k zlepšeniu prostredia na svete.

So we kept trying

Tak sme skúšali

and failing

a zlyhali

and trying

a skúšali

and failing.

a zlyhali.

We were so ready to give up.

Boli sme pripravení to vzdať.

But then it happened.

Vtedy sa to konečne podarilo.

With the right temperatures, times and chemicals,

Za správnej teploty, času a zmesi chemikálií

we finally got that successful test result

sa konečne výsledok testu podaril.

showing us that we had created activated carbon from Styrofoam waste.

Vytvorili sme aktívny uhlík z polystyrénového odpadu.

And at that moment, the thing that had been impossible

A v tom momente to, čo bolo nemožné,

all of a sudden wasn't.

sa odrazu možným stalo.

It showed us that although we had many failures at the beginning,

I keď sme na začiatku zlyhávali,

we were able to persevere through them to get the test results that we wanted.

vydržali sme a dosiahli želaný výsledok.

And moreover, not only were we able to create activated carbon

Najviac sme nielen vytvorili aktívny uhlík

for purifying water,

na filtrovanie vody,

but we were also able to reduce Styrofoam waste,

tiež sme znížili množstvo polystyrénového odpadu.

solving two global problems with just one solution.

V jednom riešení sme vyriešili dva globálne problémy.

So from then on, we were inspired to take our project further,

Inšpirovalo nás to ďalej, aby sme pokračovali v projekte,

performing more tests to make it more effective

testovali efektívnosť

and testing it in real world situations.

a testovali v reálnych situáciách.

We then proceeded to receive funding

Dostali sme aj financie

from the NSTA's eCYBERMISSION STEM-in-Action program

od NSTAs eCYBERMISSIOM STEM-in-Action, čo je program

sponsored by the US Army,

sponzorovaný americkou armádou,

as well as FIRST Global Innovation Awards

a tiež od Ceny za globálnu inováciu

sponsored by XPRIZE.

sponzorovanou XPRIZE.

And we were also honored

Boli sme tiež ocenení

with the Scientific American Innovator Award

cenou Vedeckej inovácie Ameriky

from Google Science Fair.

na súťaži Google Science Fair.

And using these funds, we plan to file a full patent on our process

Za tieto financie plánujeme dať náš proces patentovať

and to continue to work on our project.

a pokračovať v práci na našom projekte.

So yes, although we started with catching my dad's grill on fire

Áno, začali sme síce s podpálením otcovho grilu

and failing so many times that we almost quit,

a skoro sme to vzdali kvôli všetkým zlyhaniam,

it was well worth it when we look back at it now.

keď sa na to pozerám teraz, všetko sa to oplatilo.

We took a problem that many people said was impossible

Problém považovaný za nevyriešiteľný sme vyriešili.

and we made it possible,

Vytrvali sme, i keď nič nefungovalo.

and we persevered when it looked like nothing that we did would work.

We learned that you can't have success

Naučili sme, že úspech

without a little,

neexistuje bez niekoľkých alebo aj mnohých zlyhaní.

or a lot, of failure.

So in the future, don't be afraid if your grill goes up in flames,

Nezľaknite sa, ak vám vzbĺkne gril,

because you never know when your idea might just catch fire.

nikdy neviete, kedy sa váš nápad chytí.

Thank you.

Ďakujem.

(Applause)

(potlesk)