A plan to recycle the unrecyclable | Ashton Cofer

翻译人员: Wei Wu 校对人员: Sidong Guo

It was just an ordinary Saturday.

那是一个平常的周六。

My dad was outside mowing the lawn,

爸爸在修建草坪，

my mom was upstairs folding laundry,

妈妈在整理衣服，

my sister was in her room doing homework

我的妹妹在屋里做作业，

and I was in the basement playing video games.

我在地下室玩电脑游戏。

And as I came upstairs to get something to drink,

当我从地下室上来找水喝的时候，

I looked out the window

我向窗外望去，

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

然后意识到我原本应该做的事情，

and this is what I saw.

然后这是我看到的。

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

这不是我家的晚饭着火了。

This was my science project.

这是我的科学项目。

Flames were pouring out,

火焰喷了出来，

smoke was in the air

空气中都是烟

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

我们的木质餐桌也就快被点着了。

I immediately started yelling.

我马上叫了起来。

My mom was freaking out,

我妈妈吓坏了，

my dad ran around to put out the fire

我爸爸跑过来灭火

and of course my sister started recording a Snapchat video.

我的妹妹？当然是拿起手机 开始录Snapchat视频。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

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

这只是我的团队的科学项目的开始。

My team is composed of me and three other students

我的团队由包括我在内的四个人组成

who are here in the audience today.

他们都来了，坐在现场观众席。

We competed in FIRST LEGO League

我们参与了 FIRST LEGO 挑战赛，

which is an international LEGO robotics competition for kids,

这是面向孩子的国际乐高机器人竞赛，

and in addition to a robotics game,

在参与机器人比赛之外，

we also worked on a separate science project,

我们也做过一个独立的科学项目，

and this was the project that we were working on.

这就是我们当时做的项目。

So the idea for this project all started

这个项目最初的想法，

when a few months earlier,

是几个月之前，

a couple of my teammates took a trip to Central America

我的几个同学去中美洲玩，

and saw beaches littered with Styrofoam,

看到海滩上大量的塑料泡沫垃圾，

or expanded polystyrene foam.

或者叫发泡聚苯乙烯。

And when they came back and told us about it,

当他们回来告诉我们之后，

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

我们真的都开始重新审视 每天使用的塑料泡沫。

Get a new flat-screen TV?

买了一台超薄电视？

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

包装电视的塑料泡沫可能 比电视机还要大。

Drink a cup of coffee?

喝一杯咖啡？

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

塑料泡沫咖啡杯毫无疑问 会积少成多。

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

那么这些一次性塑料泡沫 用完之后去哪里？

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

由于没有回收利用塑料泡沫的方案，

almost all of them end up right in the landfill,

几乎所有的塑料泡沫 都进了垃圾场，

or the oceans and beaches,

或者丢进海洋或沙滩，

taking over 500 years to degrade.

需要500年时间才能降解。

And in fact, every year, the US alone

事实上，仅美国每年

produces over two billion pounds of Styrofoam,

就有20亿磅塑料泡沫，

filling up a staggering 25 percent of landfills.

惊人的占据了垃圾场的25%。

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

为什么这些塑料泡沫会幽灵般的 累积起来？

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

为什么我们不能回收利用， 就像其它塑料一样？

Well, simply put, recycled polystyrene is too expensive

嗯，简单来说，回收塑料泡沫 成本太高了

and potentially contaminated,

而且有潜在的污染风险，

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

所以塑料泡沫的回收利用 并没有什么市场。

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

结果就是塑料泡沫被认为是 不可回收的原材料，

because it is neither feasible nor viable to recycle polystyrene.

因为循环利用聚苯乙烯 既不经济也不可行。

And in fact, many cities across the US

事实上，美国的很多城市

have even passed ordinances

都通过了法案

that simply ban the production of many products containing polystyrene,

干脆在很多产品中禁止使用聚苯乙烯，

which includes disposable utensils,

包括一次性餐盒器皿，

packing peanuts, takeout containers

食品包装袋，外卖盒子，

and even plastic beach toys,

甚至塑料沙滩玩具，

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

这些都是现代社会 非常实用的产品。

And now France has become the first country

现在法国成为第一个

to completely ban all plastic utensils,

完全禁止塑料容器、杯子、

cups and plates.

和盘子的国家。

But what if we could keep using Styrofoam

但是如果我们能够继续 使用塑料泡沫，

and keep benefiting from its cheap, lightweight, insulating

能够继续享受它的优点： 廉价、轻便、隔热

and excellent packing ability,

以及出色的包装能力，

while not having to suffer from the repercussions

同时又不需要承担

of having to dispose of it?

丢弃它带来的后果？

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

我们是否能够将塑料泡沫转化成 别的可以用的东西？

What if we could make the impossible possible?

万一我们真的让不可能 变成可能了呢？

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

我的团队假设我们可以利用 塑料泡沫中的碳原子

to create activated carbon,

来制作活性炭，

which is used in almost every water filter today.

现在几乎所有的水过滤器 都要用到活性炭。

And activated carbon works by using very small micropores

活性炭的工作原理是利用 自身非常小的孔状结构

to filter out contaminants from water or even air.

来过滤水和空气中的污染物。

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

于是我们一开始尝试了 很多种加热的方法。

and unfortunately, we had many failures.

不幸的是，我们都失败了。

Literally, nothing worked.

什么方法都不管用。

Besides my dad's grill catching on fire,

要么是像我爸爸的烧烤架 那样烧起来，

most of our samples vaporized into nothing,

要么是直接挥发消失了，

or exploded inside expensive furnaces,

要么是在很贵的烤箱里爆炸了，

leaving a horribly sticky mess.

留下刺鼻的糊味。

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

事实上面对这些失败我们非常沮丧， 一度想要放弃了。

So why did we keep trying

那么为什么我们

when all the adults said it was impossible?

在大人们说不可能的时候 还要继续尝试？

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

可能正因为我们是小孩子吧。 我们只知道这么尝试。

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

但是真相是，我们之所以没有放弃 是因为我们相信能做到。

We knew that if we were successful,

我们相信如果我们做到了，

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

我们可以改善环境，让世界 变得更好一点。

So we kept trying

所以我们继续尝试

and failing

继续失败

and trying

继续尝试

and failing.

继续失败。

We were so ready to give up.

我们几乎要放弃了。

But then it happened.

突然，实验成功了。

With the right temperatures, times and chemicals,

合适的温度、时间和化学成分，

we finally got that successful test result

让我们终于获得了成功的实验结果

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

表明我们成功的用塑料泡沫 制造了活性炭。

And at that moment, the thing that had been impossible

那一刻，曾经不可能的事情

all of a sudden wasn't.

突然可能了。

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

这让我们看到虽然我们一开始 经历了这么多失败，

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

我们通过坚持不懈最终能够 得到了预期的结果。

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

更重要的是，我们不仅是能够 制造活性炭

for purifying water,

用来净化水源，

but we were also able to reduce Styrofoam waste,

我们可以用这种方法来 减少塑料泡沫污染。

solving two global problems with just one solution.

一个方法同时解决了 两大世界难题。

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

从那时开始，我们更加鼓舞， 继续推进这个项目，

performing more tests to make it more effective

不断改进实验使其 更加高效

and testing it in real world situations.

并且在多种真实环境中进行测试。

We then proceeded to receive funding

后来我们拿到了资金支持

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

获得了来自美国陆军 NSTA 的 “e电子使命 STEM行动”

sponsored by the US Army,

基金的支持。

as well as FIRST Global Innovation Awards

同时我们也获得了由XPRIZE赞助的

sponsored by XPRIZE.

FIRST全球创新大奖。

And we were also honored

同时我们在谷歌科学市集中

with the Scientific American Innovator Award

被授予了科学美国人

from Google Science Fair.

创新大奖。

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

拿到这些投资之后，我们计划 就我们的方法提交一份专利

and to continue to work on our project.

并继续推进我们的项目。

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

所以，是的，虽然我们开始的时候 烧了我爸爸的烧烤架

and failing so many times that we almost quit,

并且失败了那么多次以至于 我们都快要放弃了

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

回过头看我们觉得这一切 都是值得的。

We took a problem that many people said was impossible

我们选了一个很多人都觉得 不可能解决的问题

and we made it possible,

使之成为可能，

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

并且在我们所有的努力都失败的时候 没有半途而废。

We learned that you can't have success

我们明白了如果想要成功

without a little,

没有一点，或者很多失败

or a lot, of failure.

是不可能的。

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

所以在未来，不要害怕你的 烧烤架着火了，

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

因为你永远不知道你的灵感 何时擦出火花。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）