The joy of taking out the trash | Aparna Nancherla

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs

翻译人员: TED Translators Admin 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

You might not know this just from looking at me,

你可能光看我不知道，

but you might guess it from smelling me.

但闻到我的味道就会猜到。

One of my favorite things to do is take out the trash.

我最喜欢做的一件事就是扔垃圾。

It's the laziest way to technically pare down your possessions,

从技术上讲，这是最懒惰的方法 来减少你的私有物。

because the one thing you can never do enough of

因为有一件事你永远也做不完的，

in a small New York City apartment like mine

在像我这样的纽约市小公寓里

is get rid of stuff.

把东西处理掉。

The stuff that our modern consumerist carbon-powered culture

我们的现代消费主义碳动力文化

让我们没完没了地买东西，

makes us buy endlessly and often for no reason.

而且经常毫无理由地去买。

Getting rid of people never hurts either.

摆脱人们也不会造成伤害。

Roommates, family members,

室友，家人，那个在你客厅里 呆了几个星期的老太太。

that old lady who's been in your living room for weeks.

Who is she anyway?

她到底是谁？

No squatters allowed.

禁止擅自占地。

I don't care if you're a ghost.

我不在乎你是不是鬼。

Also, not to brag,

另外，也不是为了吹牛，

but I've been micro-decluttering since before Marie Kondo got big.

但在近藤麻里（Marie Kondo）闻名之前，

我就已经开始微整理了。

In fact, I've cut out her step

事实上，我已经省去了她捡东西的步骤，

of picking things up and figuring out whether they spark joy in me

并弄清楚它们是否能激发我的乐趣，

because I already know what sparks joy in me,

因为我已经知道什么能激发我的快乐，

扔垃圾。

throwing out trash.

What kind of trash?

什么样的垃圾？

Well, I'll give you a clue.

好吧，我给你一个线索。

It starts with H and it ends with air.

它以 H 开头，以 air 结尾。

That's right, it's a lot of hair.

没错，就是一堆头发（Hair）。

Don't try and picture how much; you'll feel sick.

不要尝试想象有多少，你会觉得恶心。

And if you don't feel sick, you haven't pictured enough.

而且，如果你没有觉得恶心， 那说明你想象得不够多。

I shed like an Instagram influencer sheep dog

我就像一个 Instagram 网红的牧羊犬一样掉发，

who's decided fur is the only thing holding her career back.

她认为毛发是她事业的唯一障碍。

We're all trying to reduce our carbon footprints and consumption.

我们都在努力减少我们的碳足迹和消耗，

So by throwing out trash,

所以，我所说的扔掉垃圾，

I also naturally mean recycling and composting.

自然也是指回收和堆肥，

I try to do both.

我尽量做到这两点。

In fact, I once carried a takeout container across half the city

实际上，我曾经带着一个外卖箱

穿越半个城市，

just to put it in the right bin.

只是为了将其放在正确的垃圾箱中。

Where's my inspiring biopic?

我的励志传记片在哪呢？

But then I learned recycling frequently isn't working.

但是后来我了解到经常回收是行不通的，

Even if we all separate out glass, cans and cardboard,

即使我们将玻璃、罐头和纸板都分类，

a lot of stuff doesn't neatly fit into those categories.

很多东西并不完全适合这些类别。

Paper envelopes lined with bubble wrap can't be recycled.

衬有气泡膜的纸质信封不能回收，

Pizza boxes with grease stains can't be recycled.

有油渍的披萨盒不能回收。

That memory from seventh grade when I ...

那是七年级的时候，当我……

Ah, who am I kidding?

哦，我在跟谁开玩笑？

All of seventh grade can't be recycled.

所有七年级？都无法回收！

There's even a term for it: aspirational recycling.

甚至还有一个术语来形容它， 即渴望回收。

At first, I thought that's if you went to spin class last week,

一开始我以为那是指 如果你上周去上室内单车课，

so it should count for this week too.

那么这周也应该算你去了。

China used to import a lot of the US's recyclables,

中国过去进口了很多美国的可回收物，

but they stopped accepting foreign garbage in 2018

但他们作为污染禁令的一部分

as part of a pollution ban.

在 2018 年停止接受外国垃圾。

Whatever happened to one country's trash is another country's treasure?

如果一个国家的垃圾

成为了另一个国家的宝藏？

Now, a lot of US recycling goes straight to landfills.

现在，美国许多回收物 直接进入垃圾填埋场。

The EPA says that only 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled.

环保局（EPA）说 只有 10％ 的塑料有被回收。

Not that this is about me,

并不是说我， 但这让我的焦虑膨胀了，

but this balloons my anxiety the size of the giant Pacific garbage patch

像漂浮在太平洋海面上的 巨大垃圾地的大小，

way out in the ocean

我们最终都会去那里 参加下一个目的地婚礼。

where we'll all eventually go for our next destination wedding.

So, if you're American,

所以，如果你是美国人，

hound your political representatives to work on this recycling issue,

恳请你的政治代表 在这个回收问题上努力，

and try to create less waste overall by reusing materials.

并尽量通过材料的再利用 来减少整体的浪费。

Here's stuff I've been reusing in my life:

这些是我一生中 一直在重复使用的东西：

plastic bags, salsa jars and old fights with my boyfriend.

塑料袋，辣调味汁瓶， 以及与我男朋友的所有拌嘴。

Now, the next time I have to throw out the trash,

现在，下次我必须扔掉垃圾时，

I can confidently ask:

我可以自信地问：

Hey, can I reuse this loose ball of hair again?

嘿，这个松散的毛球我还能再利用吗？

And you know what? I probably can.

你知道吗？我大概可以。

In fact, I'm going to give it to that old ghost lady as a going away present.

其实，我准备把它送给那个老鬼婆

作为临别礼物。

Thank you.

谢谢。