To eliminate waste, we need to rediscover thrift | Andrew Dent

翻译人员: Zihao Wang 校对人员: Peipei Xiang

Let's talk about thrift.

让我们说说节俭。

Thrift is a concept where you reduce, reuse and recycle,

节俭是一个关于减少使用， 重复利用，回收再利用的一个概念，

but yet with an economic aspect I think has a real potential for change.

但在经济方面，我觉得 它可以带来真正的改变。

My grandmother, she knew about thrift.

我的祖母，她知道怎么节俭。

This is her string jar.

这是她放皮筋儿的罐子，

She never bought any string.

她从来不买皮筋儿，

Basically, she would collect string.

只是收集它们。

It would come from the butcher's, it would come from presents.

这些皮筋儿来自于肉铺， 或者是礼品包装。

她会把绳子存到罐子里， 当需要用时，再取出来。

She would put it in the jar and then use it when it was needed.

用完后——不管是 用它来扎玫瑰花束，

When it was finished, whether it was tying up the roses

还是我的自行车部件，

or a part of my bike,

用完后它就会重新回到罐子中。

once finished with that, it'd go back into the jar.

这是一个很棒的节约理念； 你只用你需要的，

This is a perfect idea of thrift; you use what you need,

不用去买太多东西， 所以能省不少钱。

you don't actually purchase anything, so you save money.

Kids also inherently know this idea.

孩子们天生就知道如何节俭，

When you want to throw out a cardboard box,

当你想丢弃一个纸箱时，

the average kid will say, "Don't! I want to use it for a robot head

孩子一般会说， “别扔！我想用来做机器人的头，

or for a canoe to paddle down a river."

或者做成独木舟去漂流。”

They understand the value of the second life of products.

他们知道产品二次利用的价值。

So, I think thrift is a perfect counterpoint

我认为节俭与我们当今所处的

to the current age which we live in.

时代完美对应。

All of our current products are replaceable.

目前我们所有的产品都是可替代的。

When we get that bright, new, shiny toy,

当我们得到一件 崭新的、闪亮的玩具，

it's because, basically, we got rid of the old one.

是因为我们把旧的丢掉了。

The idea of that is, of course, it's great in the moment,

没错，当时的感觉很美好，

but the challenge is, as we keep doing this,

但如果我们一直这么做，

we're going to cause a problem.

就会产生一个问题。

That problem is that there is really no way.

问题就是，那些东西 根本没有办法真正的消失。

When you throw something away, it typically goes into a landfill.

当我们丢掉一些东西时， 它们通常会被送到垃圾填埋场。

Now, a landfill is basically something which is not going to go away,

而垃圾填埋场是不会消失的，

and it's increasing.

而且现在规模还在不断增加。

At the moment, we have about 1.3 billion tons of material every year

现在，我们每年把13亿吨垃圾

going into landfills.

送到垃圾填埋场。

By 2100, it's going to be about four billion tons.

2100年，这个数字会达到40亿吨。

See, instead, I'd prefer if we started thrifting.

而我希望我们开始学会节俭，

What that means is, we consider materials when they go into products

这意味着，我们要思考： 在产品的各个阶段，从生产制造，

and also when they get used,

到消费使用，

and, at the end of their life: When can they be used again?

最后到寿终正寝， 材料什么时候能被二次利用？

It's the idea of completely changing the way we think about waste,

我们要彻底改变对垃圾的看法，

so waste is no longer a dirty word --

让垃圾不再是一个肮脏的词——

我们几乎再也不需要 用“垃圾”这个词。

we almost remove the word "waste" completely.

我们看到的只有资源。

All we're looking to is resources.

Resource goes into a product

这些资源会被制作成产品，

and then can basically go into another product.

然后通过再利用变成另一件产品。

We used to be good at thrifting.

我们过去很擅长节俭。

My grandmother, again, used to use old seed packets

再说回我的祖母， 她曾经用旧的种子包装纸

to paper the bathroom walls.

来当浴室的墙纸。

I think, though, there are companies out there who understand this value

我认为，一些公司明白 产品重复利用的价值，

and are promoting it.

而且正在推广它。

And a lot of the technologies that have been developed for the smart age

许多智能时代的科技，

can also be adapted to reduce, reuse and also thrift more proficiently.

也能帮助我们更好地 减少使用，重复利用，勤俭节约。

And as a materials scientist,

作为一个材料学家，

what I've been tracking over the last couple of decades

我一直在研究过去二十年

is how companies are getting smart at thrifting,

企业在节俭方面取得的成效，

研究它们如何理解节俭这个概念，

how they're able to understand this concept

并通过节俭获取利润。

and profit from it.

I'm going to give you two examples.

我给讲你们讲两个例子。

第一个是好的， 第二个是不太好的。

The first one, a good one; the second one, not so good.

The first is the automotive industry.

第一个例子是关于汽车制造业的。

Not always known as the most innovative or creative of industries,

没有多少人会认为 这是一个极具创新的产业，

but it turns out, they're really, really good at recycling their products.

而事实上，这个产业在 回收再利用方面做得十分出色。

Ninety-five percent of every single car that goes on the road

所有在路上跑的汽车中，有95%

gets recycled here.

都会被回收循环使用。

And of that car, about 75 percent of the entire car

而每辆车75%的部分

actually gets used again.

又会被回收重新使用。

That includes, of course, the old steel and aluminum

回收的部分包括，废弃的钢和铝，

还有那些来自挡泥板 和汽车内部的塑料制品，

but then also the plastics from the fender and the interiors,

车窗玻璃和挡风玻璃，

glass from the windows and the windshield

and also the tires.

以及轮胎。

There's a mature and successful industry that deals with these old cars

有一个成熟的、成功的产业， 专门处理报废车辆，

and basically recycles them and puts them back into use

对它们进行回收，并重新利用到

as new cars or other new products.

新的汽车或其他产品中去。

Even as we move towards battery-powered cars,

甚至我们的电动汽车，

there are companies that claim they can recycle up to 90 percent

一些公司宣称， 它们最多可以回收再利用

of the 11 million tons of batteries that are going to be with us in 2020.

到 2020 年所生产的 1100 万吨电池中的90%。

That, I think, is not perfect,

我认为，这并不完美，

but it's certainly good, and it's getting better.

但已经非常不错了， 而且还有改善的空间。

The industry that's not doing so well is the architecture industry.

在这一方面做得 不太好的是建筑行业，

One of the challenges with architecture has always been

其中一个原因是，

when we build up, we don't think about taking down.

我们只考虑建筑物建造， 却不考虑拆卸的问题，

我们不会拆卸或拆除建筑物， 只会直接摧毁。

We don't dismantle, we don't disassemble, we demolish.

That's a challenge,

这是一个挑战，

because it ends up that about a third of all landfill waste in the US

因为美国垃圾填埋场中有三分之一

is architecture.

都是建筑垃圾。

We need to think differently about this.

我们应该想想怎么解决这个问题。

There are programs that can actually reduce some of this material.

有些做法可以减少建筑垃圾的产生。

A good example is this.

举一个比较好的例子，

These are actually bricks that are made from old demolition waste,

这些砖头是用建筑废渣料生产的，

which includes the glass, the rubble, the concrete.

其成分包括玻璃、瓦砾和混凝土。

You put up a grinder, put it all together, heat it up

把它们放进研磨机中，加热，

and make these bricks we can basically build more buildings from.

生产出的砖头又能被 用于更多建筑中去了。

But it's only a fraction of what we need.

但这只是很小的一部分。

My hope is that with big data and geotagging,

我希望，我们能利用 大数据和地理定位

we can actually change that,

改变这种状况，

and be more thrifty when it comes to buildings.

把节俭这个概念运用到建筑业中。

If there's a building down the block which is being demolished,

如果不远处有一栋楼正在被拆毁，

are there materials there

拆下来的这些材料中

that the new building being built here can use?

有没有一些是这边的 新建筑物可以使用的？

Can we use that, the ability to understand

我们是否可以认为

that all the materials available in that building are still usable?

这个建筑物所有的 建筑材料仍然可用？

Can we then basically put them into a new building,

我们是否可以将它们用于 建造新的建筑物

without actually losing any value in the process?

且不丧失它们自身的任何价值？

So now let's think about other industries.

让我们再想想其他行业。

What are other industries doing to create thrift?

其它行业是如何节俭的呢？

Well, it turns out that there are plenty of industries

现在许多行业

都在思考如何解决

that are also thinking about their own waste

生产废料这个问题。

and what we can do with it.

A simple example is the waste that they basically belch out

一个简单的例子， 就是在工业生产中

as part of industrial processes.

排放的工业废气。

Most metal smelters give off an awful lot of carbon dioxide.

许多金属冶炼厂会在生产中 排放大量的二氧化碳。

Turns out, there's a company called Land Detector

我发现一个叫 Land Detector 的公司

在中国和南非开展工作，

that's actually working in China and also soon in South Africa,

他们搜集工业废气——

that's able to take that waste gas --

about 700,000 tons per smelter --

一个冶炼厂可以搜集70万吨废气——

and then turn it into about 400,000 tons of ethanol,

这些废气能转换成40万吨乙醇，

which is equivalent to basically powering 250,000, or quarter of a million, cars

这相当于给25万量汽车提供了

for a year.

一年的燃料。

That's a very effective use of waste.

这是有效利用生产废料的方法。

How about products more close to home?

那我们身边的产品呢？

This is a simple solution.

这里有一个简单的办法，

And it, again, takes the idea of reducing, reusing,

还是基于减少使用，重复利用的概念，

but then also with economic advantage.

但同时能给经济带来好处。

So it's a simple process of changing from a cut and sew,

这是一个简单的流程， 不再采用需要将

where typically between 20 and 30 materials are used

20到30种材料的裁剪和缝制——

which are cut from a large cloth and then sewn together or even sometimes glued,

即从大块布料中剪下 再缝制或粘在一起的做法，

they changed it and said that they just knitted the shoe.

而是改用编织的方式。

The advantage with this is not just a simplification of the process,

优点不仅仅是简化了流程，

而且我只需要一样材料， 没有浪费任何东西，

it's also, "I've got one material. I have zero waste,"

and then also, "I'm able to potentially recycle that at the end of its life."

以及在它寿终正寝时， 我还可以对它回收利用。

Digital manufacturing is also allowing us to do this more effectively.

数字化制造也可以帮助我们 进行更有效的回收再利用。

这个例子说明了一种材料的

In this case, it's actually creating the theoretical limit of strength

for a material:

理论极限强度：

你不可能找到比这强度

you cannot get any stronger for the amount of material

than this shape.

更强的模型。

So it's a basic simple block,

这是一个基本的、简单的方块，

but the idea is, I can extrapolate this, I can make it into large formats,

但我可以在此基础上进行延伸， 并制作一些大型的东西，

I can make it into buildings, bridges,

比如用来建楼、造桥，

but also airplane wings and shoes.

还可以用来制作 飞机机翼和普通的鞋子。

The idea here is, I'm minimizing the amount of material.

这背后的逻辑就是 将使用的材料降到最少。

Here's a good example from architecture.

这是一个来自建筑业的很好的例子。

Typically, these sorts of metal nodes are used to hold up large tent structures.

这个金属连接节点通常被用于 固定大的帐篷结构。

In this case, it in was in the Hague, along a shopping center.

这是关于荷兰海牙的 一个大型购物中心，

他们用了1600个左边的节点，

They used 1600 of the materials on the left.

The difference is, by using the solution on the right,

而用右边这个节点的不同之处在于，

they cut down the number of steps from seven to one,

他们将安装步骤从7步减到了1步，

because the one on the left is currently welded,

因为左边的这个是焊接而成的，

the one on the right is simply just printed.

而右边这个是直接打印出来的。

And it was able to reduce waste to zero,

这么做，可以实现零浪费，

cost less money

还能降低成本，

and also, because it's made out of steel,

同时，因为它是钢制品，

can be eventually recycled at the end of its life.

以后可以重新回收再利用。

Nature also is very effective at thrift.

大自然在节约方面 也是极其高效的，

Think about it: nature has zero waste.

想一想：大自然不会生产任何垃圾，

Everything is useful for another process.

每一样东西都能物尽其用。

So, in this case, nanocellulose,

例如，纳米纤维，

which is basically one of the very fine building blocks of cellulose,

它是纤维素极细微的组成部分，

which is one of the materials that makes trees strong,

纤维素是能让树木如此 坚固的物质之一，

you can isolate it, and it works very much like carbon fiber.

你可以对它进行分离， 它的性质跟碳纤维非常相似。

So, take that from a tree, form it into fibers,

从树木中提取纤维素， 接着再制成纤维，

and then those fibers can strengthen things,

然后这些纤维能用来加固东西，

例如飞机、建筑物、汽车。

such as airplanes, buildings, cars.

The advantage of this, though, is it's not just bioderived,

这一做法的优点是， 纳米纤维不仅仅来自于

可再生的生物资源，

comes from a renewable resource,

but also that it is transparent,

同时它还是透明的，

so it can be used in consumer electronics, as well as food packaging.

因此可以应用在 消费电子产品和食品包装上。

Not bad for something that basically comes from the backyard.

这种再利用还不错吧！

Another one from the biosource is synthetic spider silk.

另一种来自生物界的材料 是合成蜘蛛丝。

Now, it's very hard to actually create spider silk naturally.

用天然的方法 制造蜘蛛丝是很难的，

You can basically get it from spiders,

你只能从蜘蛛获得蜘蛛丝，

但蜘蛛数量多了， 它们会自相残杀、互相蚕食，

but in large numbers, they tend to kill each other, eat each other,

所以如果你像收集蚕丝那样

so you've got a problem with creating it,

去收集蜘蛛丝的话，就会遇到问题。

in the same way you do with regular silk.

那么，你可以做的 就是从蜘蛛中提取 DNA，

So what you can do is instead take the DNA from the spider,

and put it into various different things.

并将它放到不同的地方培养。

You can put it into bacteria, you can put it into yeast,

你可以把它放到细菌里， 放到酵母里，

放到牛奶里。

you can put it into milk.

And what you can do then is,

之后，你能做的是，

the milk or the bacteria produce in much larger volumes

当牛奶或细菌产生 大量的丝状物后，

and then from that, spin a yarn and then create a fabric or a rope.

提取出来纺纱， 接着制作织物或绳子。

Again, bioderived, has incredible strength -- about the same as Kevlar --

它来源于生物，有着惊人的强度—— 大约和芳纶纤维一样强，

so they're using it in things like bulletproof vests and helmets

因此可以用来制作防弹背心和头盔，

以及户外夹克，

and outdoor jackets.

It has a great performance.

性能十分出众。

But again, it's bioderived, and at the end of its life,

但别忘了，这是生物衍生物，

当它不再有使用价值时， 就可以变成土地里的肥料，

it potentially can go back into the soil and get composted

作为一种新的东西重新被利用。

to again be potentially used as a new material.

I'd like to leave you with one last form which is biobased,

最后，我还想给你们介绍 一种基于生物的产品，

而我觉得，这才是终极的节俭。

but this, I think, is like the ultimate thrift.

Think about the poster child for conspicuous consumption.

想想挥霍式消费的典型代表，

It's the water bottle.

那就是矿泉水瓶。

We have too many of them, they're basically going everywhere,

我们有非常多的这样的水瓶， 它们无处不在，

they're a problem in the ocean.

是海洋污染重要来源之一。

What do we do with them?

那我们能做些什么呢？

我们不仅应该让 水瓶可以回收再利用，

This process is able not just to recycle them,

but to recycle them infinitely.

而且应该让这个过程无限进行下去。

Why is that interesting?

为什么这点很有意思呢？

Because when we think about reusing and recycling,

因为像那些能重复利用 和回收再利用的东西，

metals, glass, things like that, can be recycled as many times as you like.

比如金属、玻璃等等， 都能被回收再利用很多次。

There's metal in your car

比如你的汽车的金属配件，

that may well have come from a 1950s Oldsmobile,

可能来自19世纪50年代的 奥尔兹莫比尔汽车。

because you can recycle it infinitely with no loss of performance.

因为你可以无限地 回收这些金属，没有一点损耗。

而塑料只能被回收再利用一到两次，

Plastics offer about once or twice of recycling,

不管是塑料水瓶， 还是塑料椅子——

whether it's a bottle, whether it's a chair --

whatever it is, if it's carpet --

不论是什么，还比如地毯——

after two times of recycling, whether it goes back into another chair, etc,

如果它被回收过两次后， 不论被用来制作椅子还是其他东西，

它的强度都会降低， 不能再被用来制作任何东西了。

it tends to lose strength, it's no longer of any use.

然而我们可以利用酶， 让塑料可以无限回收再利用。

This, though, just using a few enzymes, is able to recycle it infinitely.

I take a bottle or a chair or some other plastic product,

比如，我可以拿塑料瓶、 塑料椅或其他塑料制品，

I basically put it in with a few enzymes, they break it apart,

在里面加入一些酶， 酶会将它们分解成

they basically put it back into its original molecules.

最原始的分子形态。

And then from those molecules,

之后，用这些分子，

重新制作塑料椅、地毯和塑料水瓶。

you can build another chair or carpet or bottle.

So, the cycle is infinite.

所以，这可以是个无限循环。

The advantage with that, of course,

当然，这样做的优点是，

is that you have potentially zero loss of material resources.

你不会浪费任何物质资源。

Again, the perfect idea of thrift.

再强调一次， 这是一个节俭的好方法。

So in conclusion, I just want to have you think about -- if you make anything,

总结一下，我想让大家思考—— 如果你需要制作什么东西，

if you're any part of a design firm,

如果你是设计公司的一员，

if you basically are refurbishing your house --

如果你需要翻修你的房子——

any aspect where you make something,

不论你想做什么东西，

think about how that product could potentially be used

都请想一想，这个产品二次利用，

as a second life, or third life or fourth life.

三次利用，四次利用后 都能拿来做什么。

Design in the ability for it to be taken apart.

产品应该被设计成易被分解的。

That, to me, is the ultimate thrift,

我认为这就是终极的节俭，

我想这会是我祖母希望看到的。

and I think that's basically what my grandmother would love.

(Applause)

（掌声）