What I discovered in New York City trash | Robin Nagle

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Miloš Milosavljević

I was about 10 years old

Imala sam oko 10 godina

on a camping trip with my dad

i bila sam na kampovanju sa ocem

in the Adirondack Mountains, a wilderness area

u planinama Adirondek, u divljini

in the northern part of New York State.

u severnom delu države Njujork.

It was a beautiful day.

Dan je bio predivan.

The forest was sparkling.

Šuma je blistala.

The sun made the leaves glow like stained glass,

Lišće je od sunca sijalo kao vitraž

and if it weren't for the path we were following,

i da nije bilo staze koju smo pratili

we could almost pretend we were

skoro da smo mogli da zamislimo da smo

the first human beings to ever walk that land.

prvi ljudi koji su tuda hodali.

We got to our campsite.

Došli smo do našeg logorišta.

It was a lean-to on a bluff

To je bio običan krovni oslonac na strmini

looking over a crystal, beautiful lake,

koji je gledao na predivno kristalno jezero

when I discovered a horror.

i tada sam se užasnula.

Behind the lean-to was a dump,

Iza krovnog oslonca bila je deponija,

maybe 40 feet square

od možda tri kvadratna metra

with rotting apple cores

sa trulim ostacima jabuke,

and balled-up aluminum foil,

smotanom aluminijumskom folijom

and a dead sneaker.

i mrtvom patikom.

And I was astonished,

Bila sam zapanjena,

I was very angry, and I was deeply confused.

veoma besna i duboko zbunjena.

The campers who were too lazy

Kamperi koji su bili previše lenji

to take out what they had brought in,

da ponesu ono što su doneli -

who did they think would clean up after them?

šta su mislili, ko će da počisti za njima?

That question stayed with me,

Pitanje me je mučilo neko vreme

and it simplified a little.

i malo se pojednostavilo.

Who cleans up after us?

Ko čisti za nama?

However you configure

Kako god da ovo postavite

or wherever you place the us,

ili gde god da se postavite,

who cleans up after us in Istanbul?

ko čisti za nama u Istanbulu?

Who cleans up after us in Rio

Ko čisti za nama u Riju,

or in Paris or in London?

Parizu ili Londonu?

Here in New York,

Ovde u Njujorku,

the Department of Sanitation cleans up after us,

Odeljenje za čistoću čisti za nama,

to the tune of 11,000 tons of garbage

uz zvuk 11 000 tona smeća

and 2,000 tons of recyclables every day.

i 2 000 tona materijala za recikliranje svakog dana.

I wanted to get to know them as individuals.

Htela sam da ih upoznam pojedinačno.

I wanted to understand who takes the job.

Htela sam da shvatim ko preuzima posao.

What's it like to wear the uniform

Kako je to nositi uniformu

and bear that burden?

i takav teret?

So I started a research project with them.

Sa njima sam počela istraživački projekat.

I rode in the trucks and walked the routes

Vozila sam se u kamionama i pešačila maršrutama

and interviewed people in offices and facilities

i intervjuisala sam ljude u kancelarijama i postrojenjima

all over the city,

širom grada

and I learned a lot,

i dosta toga sam saznala,

but I was still an outsider.

ali sam još bila autsajder.

I needed to go deeper.

Morala sam da odem dublje.

So I took the job as a sanitation worker.

Tako da sam se zaposlila kao radnica čistoće.

I didn't just ride in the trucks now. I drove the trucks.

Sada se nisam samo vozila u kamionima. Vozila sam kamione.

And I operated the mechanical brooms and I plowed the snow.

Upravljala sam mehaničkim metlama i čistila sneg.

It was a remarkable privilege

Bila je to jedinstvena privilegija

and an amazing education.

i neverovatno obučavanje.

Everyone asks about the smell.

Svi pitaju za smrad.

It's there, but it's not as prevalent as you think,

Ima ga, ali nije tako dominantan kao što mislite,

and on days when it is really bad,

a danima kada je zaista loše,

you get used to it rather quickly.

brzo se naviknete na njega.

The weight takes a long time to get used to.

Treba dosta vremena da se priviknete na teret.

I knew people who were several years on the job

Znam ljude koji su na poslu proveli nekoliko godina

whose bodies were still adjusting to the burden

i čija tela su se još prilagođavala na teret

of bearing on your body

nošenja tona smeća

tons of trash every week.

na svojim telima svake nedelje.

Then there's the danger.

Tu je i opasnost.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

Prema Kancelariji za statistiku rada,

sanitation work is one of the 10 most dangerous

posao u čistoći jedno je od 10 najopasnijih

occupations in the country,

zanimanja u zemlji,

and I learned why.

a saznala sam i zašto.

You're in and out of traffic all day,

Ceo dan ste u saobraćaju

and it's zooming around you.

koji juri oko vas.

It just wants to get past you, so it's often

Samo bi hteli da vas zaobiđu, tako da često

the motorist is not paying attention.

vozač ne obraća pažnju.

That's really bad for the worker.

To je jako loše za radnika.

And then the garbage itself is full of hazards

I samo smeće je puno opasnih stvari

that often fly back out of the truck

koje često izleću iz kamiona

and do terrible harm.

i prave užasnu štetu.

I also learned about the relentlessness of trash.

Takođe sam saznala o nemilosrdnosti smeća.

When you step off the curb

Kada siđete s pločnika

and you see a city from behind a truck,

i vidite grad iz kamiona,

you come to understand that trash

počinjete da shvatate da je smeće

is like a force of nature unto itself.

kao sila prirode koja deluje sama na sebe.

It never stops coming.

Nikada ne prestaje da se pojavljuje.

It's also like a form of respiration or circulation.

Takođe je kao oblik disanja ili cirkulacije.

It must always be in motion.

Uvek mora da bude u pokretu.

And then there's the stigma.

A tu je i žig.

You put on the uniform, and you become invisible

Obučete uniformu i postajete nevidljivi

until someone is upset with you for whatever reason

dok se neko ne naljuti na vas iz nekog razloga,

like you've blocked traffic with your truck,

recimo, blokirali ste saobraćaj kamionom

or you're taking a break too close to their home,

ili pravite pauzu preblizu njihovom domu

or you're drinking coffee in their diner,

ili pijete kafu u njihovom kafeu,

and they will come and scorn you,

i doći će i izgrdiće vas

and tell you that they don't want you anywhere near them.

i reći vam da vas ne žele nigde blizu sebe.

I find the stigma especially ironic,

Žigosanje mi je posebno ironično

because I strongly believe that sanitation workers

jer čvrsto verujem da su radnici čistoće

are the most important labor force

najbitnija radna snaga

on the streets of the city, for three reasons.

na ulicama grada, iz tri razloga.

They are the first guardians of public health.

Oni su prvi čuvari javnog zdravlja.

If they're not taking away trash

Ako ne odnose smeće,

efficiently and effectively every day,

efikasno i efektivno svakog dana,

it starts to spill out of its containments,

ono počinje da curi iz kontejnera

and the dangers inherent to it threaten us

i opasnosti vezane za smeće nam prete

in very real ways.

na veoma stvarne načine.

Diseases we've had in check for decades and centuries

Zaraze s kojima nemamo problema decenijama i vekovima

burst forth again and start to harm us.

ponovo izleću i počinju da nam škode.

The economy needs them.

Oni su potrebni ekonomiji.

If we can't throw out the old stuff,

Ako ne možemo da izbacimo staro,

we have no room for the new stuff,

nemamo mesta za novo,

so then the engines of the economy

tako da pokretna snaga ekonomije

start to sputter when consumption is compromised.

počinje da zastaje kad se ugrozi potrošnja.

I'm not advocating capitalism, I'm just pointing out their relationship.

Ne zastupam kapitalizam, samo ukazujem na povezanost.

And then there's what I call

A tu je i ono što zovem

our average, necessary quotidian velocity.

našom prosečnom, neophodnom svakodnevnom brzinom.

By that I simply mean

Pod time prosto mislim

how fast we're used to moving

na to koliko brzo smo navkinuti da se krećemo

in the contemporary day and age.

u savremenom dobu.

We usually don't care for, repair, clean, carry around

Obično nas nije briga za popravku, čišćenje,

our coffee cup, our shopping bag,

za to da nosimo našu šolju za kafu, našu torbu za kupovinu,

our bottle of water.

našu flašicu vode.

We use them, we throw them out, we forget about them,

Koristimo ih, bacimo ih i zaboravimo na njih

because we know there's a workforce

jer znamo da postoji radna snaga

on the other side that's going to take it all away.

sa druge strane koja će ih pokupiti.

So I want to suggest today a couple of ways

Danas želim da predložim par načina

to think about sanitation that will perhaps help

za razmišljanje o čistoći koji će možda pomoći

ameliorate the stigma

da se ukloni žig

and bring them into this conversation

i da se oni uvedu u ovaj razgovor

of how to craft a city that is sustainable and humane.

o tome kako postići da grad bude održiv i human.

Their work, I think, is kind of liturgical.

Mislim da je njihov rad pomalo liturgijski.

They're on the streets every day, rhythmically.

Svakog dana su na ulici u ritmu.

They wear a uniform in many cities.

U mnogo gradova nose uniforme.

You know when to expect them.

Znate kada da ih očekujete.

And their work lets us do our work.

I njihov posao omogućava naš.

They are almost a form of reassurance.

Oni su skoro neki oblik garancije.

The flow that they maintain

Tok koji održavaju

keeps us safe from ourselves,

čuva nas od nas samih,

from our own dross, our cast-offs,

od naše nečistoće, odbačenih stvari

and that flow must be maintained always

i taj tok mora uvek da se održava

no matter what.

bez obzira na sve.

On the day after September 11 in 2001,

Dan nakon 11. septrembra 2001.,

I heard the growl of a sanitation truck on the street,

čula sam zavijanje đubretarskog kamiona na ulicama

and I grabbed my infant son and I ran downstairs

i zgrabila sam sina koji je tad bio novorođenče i potrčala dole

and there was a man doing his paper recycling route

i tu je bio čovek koji je išao svojom maršrutom za reciklažu papira

like he did every Wednesday.

isto kao i svake srede.

And I tried to thank him for doing his work

Pokušala sam da mu se zahvalim za to što radi svoj posao

on that day of all days,

baš tog dana, od svih dana,

but I started to cry.

ali počela sam da plačem.

And he looked at me,

I on me je pogledao

and he just nodded, and he said,

i samo je klimnuo glavom i rekao:

"We're going to be okay.

"Bićemo u redu.

We're going to be okay."

Bićemo u redu."

It was a little while later that I started

Kasnije sam započela

my research with sanitation,

svoje istraživanje o čistoći

and I met that man again.

i ponovo sam srela tog čoveka.

His name is Paulie, and we worked together many times,

Zove se Poli i radili smo zajedno mnogo puta

and we became good friends.

i postali smo dobri prijatelji.

I want to believe that Paulie was right.

Želim da verujem da je Poli bio u pravu.

We are going to be okay.

Bićemo u redu.

But in our effort to reconfigure

Ali u našim naporima da reorganizujemo

how we as a species exist on this planet,

svoje postojanje kao vrste na ovoj planeti,

we must include and take account of

moramo da uračunamo i uzmemo u obzir

all the costs, including the very real human cost

sve troškove, uključujući i stvarni trošak

of the labor.

ljudskog rada.

And we also would be well informed

I takođe treba da budemo dobro informisani

to reach out to the people who do that work

da dopremo do ljudi koji obavljaju taj posao

and get their expertise

i dobijemo njihovo stručno mišljenje

on how do we think about,

o tome kako razmišljamo o održivosti,

how do we create systems around sustainability

kako pravimo sisteme oko nje,

that perhaps take us from curbside recycling,

što će nas možda odvesti od recikliranja na pločniku,

which is a remarkable success across 40 years,

što je neverovatan uspeh za 40 godina,

across the United States and countries around the world,

preko SAD i zemalja širom sveta,

and lift us up to a broader horizon

i podići nas do šireg horizonta

where we're looking at other forms of waste

gde posmatramo druge oblike otpada

that could be lessened

koji mogu da se smanje,

from manufacturing and industrial sources.

od proizvodnje do industrijskih izvora.

Municipal waste, what we think of when we talk about garbage,

Komunalni otpad, na koji mislimo kada pričamo o smeću,

accounts for three percent of the nation's waste stream.

obuhvata 3% protoka otpada u državi.

It's a remarkable statistic.

To je neverovatna statistika.

So in the flow of your days,

Tako da u toku svojih dana,

in the flow of your lives,

u toku svojih života,

next time you see someone whose job is

sledeći put kada vidite nekoga čiji je posao

to clean up after you,

da čisti za vama,

take a moment to acknowledge them.

odvojite vreme da im odate priznanje.

Take a moment to say thank you.

Da im kažete hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)