Your Empty Wine Bottle Could Help Rebuild Coastlines | Franziska Trautmann | TED

翻译人员: 璐Lu 王WANG 校对人员: Bruce Wang

As a kid growing up on a Louisiana bayou,

作为一个在路易斯安那州河口长大的孩子

the boogeyman was the existential threat

我的梦魇就是

of my state being washed away with the Mississippi River.

我们州会被密西西比河冲走 面临生存危机。

Louisiana loses a football field's worth of land every 100 minutes

路易斯安那州受到海岸侵蚀影响 每100分钟就会失去

due to coastal erosion.

一块足球场那么大的土地。

It's an unimaginably large amount to a kid.

这对一个孩子来说 是个难以想象的天文数字。

But in my lifetime so far,

但是到目前为止，在我的一生中，

we've lost over 600 square miles.

我们已经损失了600多平方英里。

That's more area than New York City,

这比纽约市、旧金山、华盛顿特区

San Francisco, DC and Atlanta combined.

和亚特兰大的总面积还要大。

It's due to sea level rise,

这是由海平面上升、

warming waters, increasingly severe storms

水域变暖、日益严重的风暴

and exploration of the oil and gas industry.

以及石油和天然气行业的勘探 造成的。

Fast forward to 2020,

快进到2020年，

in my last full semester as an engineering student

在我作为工程系学生的 最后一个完整学期间

and over a Two-Buck Chuck,

我和我男朋友边喝着“两美元查克酒”

my boyfriend and I lamented over the lack

一边对对路易斯安那州

of glass recycling in Louisiana.

缺乏玻璃回收感到遗憾。

My state was landfilling about 295 million pounds of glass annually.

我所在的州每年填埋约 2.95亿磅的玻璃。

The bottle we just finished would likely end up in a landfill.

我们刚喝完的酒瓶子 很可能会被丢进垃圾填埋场。

It felt like a total waste,

这感觉真的很浪费

and we wanted to figure out how we could get all of this glass recycled.

所以我们想弄清楚 如何才能把这些玻璃都回收利用。

The next day,

第二天，

it took a quick Google search to remember that glass comes from sand,

我们快速谷歌了一下才想起来 玻璃来自于沙子，

and that sand is an increasingly finite resource.

而沙子 是一种越来越有限的资源。

We also learned about everything sand is needed for,

对了，我们还了解了一下 需要沙子的一切东西，

including toothpaste, by the way.

包括牙膏。

And the last puzzle piece we found was this small, human-sized machine

我们发现的最后的关键 是这台一人高的小型机器，

that could crush one bottle at a time into sand,

它一次可以将一个瓶子压成沙子，

and we jumped into action,

然后我们就开始行动了，

setting up a GoFundMe campaign

我们发起了一个GoFundMe众筹活动

and a pilot project in the backyard of a fraternity house.

并且在兄弟会的后院 开启了一个试点项目。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now you might be thinking to yourself,

现在你可能会想了

how in the world would two college kids

两个大学生究竟怎么能

ever be able to make a dent in these problems?

在这些问题上有所作为呢？

And that would be valid.

你这么想很合理。

Plenty of people told us the exact same thing.

很多人都这么跟我们说。

But we didn’t listen, because we knew

但是我们没有听，

that no matter how small of an impact we made,

因为我们知道 无论我们产生的影响有多小

it would be worth it.

都是值得的。

It felt like we could alleviate two problems with one solution:

好像我们可以用一个解决方案 来消除两个问题：

convert the otherwise landfilled glass back into sand

将原本该被填埋的玻璃 变回沙子，

and use it in restoration projects across the state.

然后将其用于 横跨全州的修复项目。

Easy, right?

小菜一碟是吧？

(Laughs)

（笑声）

But we didn't listen to the haters,

但是我们没有听喷子的话，

which is actually why we named our company Glass Half Full.

这也是为什么我们把公司叫做 半满玻璃瓶 (Glass Half Full)。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But that glass-half-empty mindset

其实那种半空玻璃杯的悲观心态

might actually be one of the biggest threats we face today.

可能才是我们今天面对的 最大的威胁。

Because climate apathy might be the new climate denial.

因为对气候的漠然 可能是新的气候变化否定论。

Meaning that the biggest threat to our environment

这意味着我们的环境 面临的最大威胁

may no longer be people who deny our part in the changing climate

可能不再是那些否认 我们正在气候变化中的人，

but people who deny that we can actually make a difference.

而是那些否认我们可以 真的对此有所作为的人。

Now climate change is happening right before our eyes.

如今气候变化正发生 在我们眼前。

It's terrifying.

非常可怕。

I've witnessed firsthand the severity of rapidly intensifying hurricanes

我亲眼目睹了像艾达这样 迅速增强的飓风的

like Ida.

破坏力。

But dread, doom and gloom tend to get us nowhere.

但是恐惧、厄运和悲观 不会给我们任何帮助。

Whereas hope, combined with action,

而希望，与行动结合起来，

can be one of the most powerful tools to enact change.

却可以成为实现变革的 最有力的工具之一。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Since that late night wine-fueled idea over four years ago,

自从四年前的深夜 那个由葡萄酒推动的想法以来，

we've been able to divert more than eight million pounds of glass

我们已经将超过8百万磅的玻璃 从垃圾填埋场

from our landfills.

成功转移了出来。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼和掌声）

We quickly grew out of that small, tiny machine

我们很快成长并超越了 那台小小的机器

and upgraded a lot along the way.

并一路更新换代。

We continue to work with over 50 scientists and engineers

我们持续与南部海湾沿岸的 50多位科学家和工程师

across the Gulf South.

展开合作。

And they helped me learn if this is good-smelling mud or not.

他们帮我了解这个是不是 好闻的泥巴。

But also understanding the interactions of our sand with the plants, animals

也帮我了解我们区域的沙子 与植物、动物甚至是真菌

and even fungi of our region.

之间的相互作用。

We've also answered difficult scientific questions

我们还回答了 棘手的科学问题

as well as questions like,

以及诸如这样的问题，

can you actually walk on sand made from glass?

你真的能在 玻璃制成的沙滩上行走吗？

And I exposed my toes to the internet to answer that.

为了回答那个问题， 我得把我的脚趾发到网上。

In a few short months, we'll be opening up our new facility,

在短短的几个月后， 我们将开办新的工厂，

enabling us to recycle the 295 million pounds of glass

让我们每年能够将 2.95亿磅进入垃圾填埋厂的玻璃

entering our landfills annually.

进行回收利用。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼和掌声）

And with a combination of biodegradable sandbags and native marsh grasses,

通过将可生物降解的沙袋 和原生沼泽草结合起来，

we've already restored thousands of square meters along our coast,

我们已经恢复了沿海 数千平方米的面积，

converting open water back into thriving wetlands.

将开阔水域 重新变成了繁荣的湿地。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼和掌声）

But the key to our success so far

但是我们成功走到今天这一步的关键

isn’t that we had all of the answers in the beginning

不是我们从一开始 就掌握了所有问题的答案

or tons of money to try this thing out.

也不是因为我们有大量资金去试验。

The key was that we simply started,

关键是我们敢于放手去做，

and we kept going.

并且一路坚持。

Somewhere, the belief that we, as individuals, could enact change

在某一刻，我们作为小小个体 也可以推动变革的信念

trumped our doubts.

击败了我们的疑虑。

And for us, finding a way to help with a problem

对我们来说， 找到一种方法来解决

much, much bigger than us

比我们大得多的问题

meant taking that first step.

就意味着要迈出第一步。

And in our case, it was a step in the sand,

就我们而言， 就是在沙子上迈出的那一步，

in an eroding but once magnificent swamp.

在不断被侵蚀但曾经壮丽的沼泽中的那一步。

Thank y’all.

谢谢大家。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼和掌声）