A plan to recycle the unrecyclable | Ashton Cofer

譯者: Marssi Draw 審譯者: Regina Chu

It was just an ordinary Saturday.

那天只是個平凡的星期六。

My dad was outside mowing the lawn,

我爸在外面除草，

my mom was upstairs folding laundry,

我媽在樓上摺衣服，

my sister was in her room doing homework

我姊在她房間寫作業，

and I was in the basement playing video games.

我在地下室打電動。

And as I came upstairs to get something to drink,

我上樓去喝東西的時候

I looked out the window

看向窗外，

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

才意識到有件事我應該要做，

這就是我看到的。

and this is what I saw.

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

喔不，這不是我家的晚餐著火了，

This was my science project.

這是我的科展計畫。

Flames were pouring out,

火焰滾滾冒出，

smoke was in the air

煙散在空氣中，

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

看起來就像 我家的木頭露臺快著火了。

I immediately started yelling.

我馬上開始大叫。

My mom was freaking out,

我媽快瘋了，

my dad ran around to put out the fire

我爸為了滅火跑來跑去，

and of course my sister started recording a Snapchat video.

當然我姊也開始用 Snapchat 錄影做記錄。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

這是我的小組一開始的科展計畫。

My team is composed of me and three other students

小組有我和另外三個學生，

who are here in the audience today.

他們今天也都在觀眾席。

We competed in FIRST LEGO League

我們參加過 FIRST 樂高聯賽，

which is an international LEGO robotics competition for kids,

那是專設給兒童的 世界級樂高機器人比賽，

and in addition to a robotics game,

而且除了機器人比賽，

we also worked on a separate science project,

我們也做了另一個科學實驗，

and this was the project that we were working on.

這就是我們一直在做的計畫。

So the idea for this project all started

這個計畫的點子

when a few months earlier,

是在那之前幾個月前開始，

a couple of my teammates took a trip to Central America

我的幾個組員到中美洲去玩，

and saw beaches littered with Styrofoam,

看到海灘上到處是保麗龍，

or expanded polystyrene foam.

或是其他聚苯乙烯塑料。

And when they came back and told us about it,

他們回來之後告訴我這件事，

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

我們就開始去想 日常生活中看到的保麗龍，

Get a new flat-screen TV?

收到一臺新的平板電視嗎？

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

你收到的保麗龍會比那臺電視大。

Drink a cup of coffee?

喝咖啡嗎？

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

嗯，保麗龍咖啡杯 當然會越積越多。

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

這些東西被用過一次之後 會跑哪去？

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

既然目前沒有處理 廢棄保麗龍的好方式，

almost all of them end up right in the landfill,

幾乎所有保麗龍 最後都會直接到掩埋場，

or the oceans and beaches,

或是海洋裡、沙灘上，

taking over 500 years to degrade.

要花超過五百年時間分解。

And in fact, every year, the US alone

而且事實上，光是美國一整年

produces over two billion pounds of Styrofoam,

就生產 20 億磅的保麗龍，

filling up a staggering 25 percent of landfills.

足足可以填滿 25% 的掩埋場。

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

為什麼我們會有這些幽靈 囤積廢棄的保麗龍？

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

為什麼不能像很多塑膠一樣 回收保麗龍？

Well, simply put, recycled polystyrene is too expensive

簡而言之，回收保麗龍太貴，

and potentially contaminated,

而且保麗龍本身有可能受汙染，

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

所以回收保麗龍的市場需求非常小。

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

結果是保麗龍被當成是 非再生材料，

because it is neither feasible nor viable to recycle polystyrene.

因為回收保麗龍既不可行也不可能。

And in fact, many cities across the US

事實上很多美國城市

have even passed ordinances

甚至已經通過法令

that simply ban the production of many products containing polystyrene,

禁止很多含有聚苯乙烯的產品生產，

which includes disposable utensils,

包括了免洗餐具、

packing peanuts, takeout containers

填充用的保麗龍球、外帶餐盒，

and even plastic beach toys,

甚至是塑膠製的海灘玩具，

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

所有產品在當代社會都很實用。

And now France has become the first country

現在法國也成為第一個

to completely ban all plastic utensils,

完全禁止塑膠餐具

cups and plates.

和杯盤的國家。

But what if we could keep using Styrofoam

但有沒有可能 我們可以繼續用保麗龍，

and keep benefiting from its cheap, lightweight, insulating

保有它便宜、輕量、絕緣

and excellent packing ability,

和絕佳的包裝特性，

while not having to suffer from the repercussions

而不必苦於必須丟棄的下場？

of having to dispose of it?

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

我們有沒有可能 把它變成有用的東西？

What if we could make the impossible possible?

我們有沒有可能 讓不可能變成可能？

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

我的小組假設我們能 用存在保麗龍裡的碳

to create activated carbon,

製造活性碳，

which is used in almost every water filter today.

現在過濾水都用這個。

And activated carbon works by using very small micropores

而且活性碳用非常小的微孔

to filter out contaminants from water or even air.

過濾出水，甚至是空氣中的汙染物。

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

所以我們開始各種加熱測試，

and unfortunately, we had many failures.

不幸的是我們失敗很多次。

Literally, nothing worked.

說真的，沒有成功過。

Besides my dad's grill catching on fire,

除了我爸的烤肉架著火，

most of our samples vaporized into nothing,

我們大部分的樣品也都人間蒸發，

or exploded inside expensive furnaces,

或是在昂貴的火爐裡爆炸，

leaving a horribly sticky mess.

留下一團黏黏的東西。

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

其實我們大受失敗打擊 到幾乎想要放棄。

So why did we keep trying

那為什麼我們還繼續試，

when all the adults said it was impossible?

即使所有大人 都跟我們說不可能？

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

嗯，可能因為我們是小孩， 我們什麼也不懂。

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

但真相是我們繼續嘗試 是因為我們認為還有可能。

We knew that if we were successful,

我們知道如果成功，

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

就可以幫助環境、 讓地球變成更好的地方。

So we kept trying

所以我們繼續嘗試、

and failing

繼續失敗、

and trying

繼續嘗試、

and failing.

繼續失敗。

We were so ready to give up.

我們都已經準備好要放棄了。

But then it happened.

但後來成功了。

With the right temperatures, times and chemicals,

有了對的溫度、時間和化學物質，

we finally got that successful test result

我們終於測試成功，

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

看到廢棄保麗龍變成活性碳。

And at that moment, the thing that had been impossible

在那當下， 那個一直以來不可能的事情

all of a sudden wasn't.

瞬間都變可能了。

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

我們看見雖然一開始失敗很多次，

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

我們還是堅持到底， 從中得到想要的結果。

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

而且，不只是我們可以製造活性碳

for purifying water,

來過濾水，

but we were also able to reduce Styrofoam waste,

我們還可以減少廢棄保麗龍，

solving two global problems with just one solution.

只用一個方法 解決全球的兩個麻煩。

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

從那之後，我們受到鼓舞， 讓計畫更進一步

performing more tests to make it more effective

做更多測試，讓它更有效益，

and testing it in real world situations.

並用在真實生活之中。

We then proceeded to receive funding

我們開始收到資金，

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

來自全美科學教師協會的 E 網路科學競賽 STEM 行動計畫，

sponsored by the US Army,

由美軍贊助，

as well as FIRST Global Innovation Awards

以及第一全球創新獎，

sponsored by XPRIZE.

由 XPRIZE 基金會贊助。

And we were also honored

我們也很榮幸

with the Scientific American Innovator Award

得到美國科學創新獎，

from Google Science Fair.

由 Google 科學展頒發。

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

運用這些資金，我們預計為 這個程序申請完全專利，

and to continue to work on our project.

並繼續我們的計畫。

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

沒錯，雖然我們 是從燒了我爸的烤架開始，

and failing so many times that we almost quit,

而且失敗無數次到幾乎要放棄，

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

現在回頭看都還是覺得 非常值得，

We took a problem that many people said was impossible

我們把每個人都認為 不可能解決的麻煩

and we made it possible,

變成可能，

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

我們堅持到底， 即使我們做的事看起來毫無希望。

We learned that you can't have success

我們學到了你不可能成功，

without a little,

卻沒經歷過一些

or a lot, of failure.

或是非常多失敗。

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

所以未來你的烤架著火時， 不要害怕，

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

因為你永遠不知道 你的點子什麼時候可能點燃。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）