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

譯者: Marssi Draw 審譯者: Regina Chu

Let's talk about thrift.

我們來談談節約。

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

節約的概念是減少、再利用、回收，

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

但還帶著一層經濟上的含意， 我認為這點很有改革的潛力。

My grandmother, she knew about thrift.

我祖母懂節約。

This is her string jar.

這是她裝繩子的罐子。

She never bought any string.

她從來不買繩子。

Basically, she would collect string.

基本上她都自己收集。

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

可能是肉販給的， 或是附在禮物上的。

她會放在罐子裡，要用的時候再拿。

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

不管是用繩子來綁玫瑰花，

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

還是我的腳踏車零件，

or a part of my bike,

只要繩子用好，就會放回罐子裡。

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

這是節約的好方法；用你所需，

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

因為你沒買東西，所以也省了錢。

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

Kids also inherently know this idea.

小孩也天生就會這招。

When you want to throw out a cardboard box,

你想扔紙箱子的時候，

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

一般小孩都會說：「不要丟， 我想拿來做機器人的頭，

or for a canoe to paddle down a river."

或是用來做獨木舟， 可以在河裡划水。」

They understand the value of the second life of products.

他們了解物品再生的價值。

So, I think thrift is a perfect counterpoint

我想節約是我們所處的 這個時代的完美對立面。

to the current age which we live in.

All of our current products are replaceable.

現在所有商品都能被取代。

When we get that bright, new, shiny toy,

我們拿到耀眼、嶄新、炫麗的玩具，

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

基本上是因為我們丟了舊的。

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

重點是，當下那一刻當然很美好，

but the challenge is, as we keep doing this,

但問題是，如果我們繼續這樣下去，

we're going to cause a problem.

我們又會製造出麻煩。

That problem is that there is really no way.

麻煩在於真的無地可容。

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

當你丟了某樣東西， 最後它會在垃圾掩埋場。

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

基本上掩埋場不會消失，

and it's increasing.

反而會一直增加。

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

現在我們每年有 13 億噸的東西

going into landfills.

進了掩埋場。

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

到了 2100 年大約會有 40 億噸。

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

所以我希望大家開始節約。

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

這意味著我們要思考材料， 在這些材料變成商品、

and also when they get used,

被使用過後，

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

以及在它們壽終正寢時： 它們何時可再次被利用？

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

這個概念會完全改變 我們思考廢棄物的方式，

so waste is no longer a dirty word --

廢棄物不在是個骯髒的詞彙──

we almost remove the word "waste" completely.

我們幾乎刪除了「廢棄物」這個詞。

我們要找的就是資源。

All we're looking to is resources.

Resource goes into a product

資源會變成商品，

and then can basically go into another product.

之後可以再變成另一個商品。

We used to be good at thrifting.

以前我們很擅長節約。

My grandmother, again, used to use old seed packets

我祖母以前常用舊的種子袋

to paper the bathroom walls.

貼在浴室當壁紙。

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

我知道市面上 有些公司懂得這個價值，

and are promoting it.

也在宣傳這個價值。

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

許多開發給智能時代的科技，

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

同樣也能被改造，減少、再利用， 且更有效能的節約。

And as a materials scientist,

身為材料科學家，

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

我追蹤了 20 年，

is how companies are getting smart at thrifting,

來看公司行號如何聰明節約，

他們是怎麼能了解這個概念，

how they're able to understand this concept

並從中獲利。

and profit from it.

I'm going to give you two examples.

我舉兩個例子來說明。

第一個是很好的例子； 第二個不太好。

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

The first is the automotive industry.

第一個是汽車產業。

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

這行不是以創新、創意聞名的產業，

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

但是他們真的很擅長回收產品。

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

95% 在路上跑的車子

gets recycled here.

會回收到這裡。

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

至於車子本身大概 75% 的車體

actually gets used again.

會被重新利用。

That includes, of course, the old steel and aluminum

這當然包含了舊方向盤和鋁，

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

而且還有擋泥板和車內的塑膠，

glass from the windows and the windshield

窗戶的玻璃和擋風玻璃，

and also the tires.

以及輪胎。

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

有個成熟且成功的產業 在處理這些老舊汽車，

and basically recycles them and puts them back into use

回收再利用車輛，

as new cars or other new products.

讓它們變成新車或其它新產品。

Even as we move towards battery-powered cars,

甚至在我們朝電動汽車邁進的時候，

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

還是有公司主張，他們能從 1100 噸電池中回收高達九成，

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

這些電池在 2020 年 就會再給我們利用。

That, I think, is not perfect,

我想這雖不完美，

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

但肯定很好，而且會變得更好。

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

做得不太好的產業是建築業。

One of the challenges with architecture has always been

他們一直以來的挑戰在於

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

我們蓋的時候沒想過要拆。

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

我們不分解、不拆開，我們破壞。

That's a challenge,

這是個挑戰，

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

因為美國掩埋場中三分之一的垃圾

is architecture.

來自建築業。

We need to think differently about this.

我們得要換個角度來思考這件事。

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

現在有些程式可以做到減少材料。

A good example is this.

這裡有個好例子。

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

這些磚塊其實是用廢建材做的，

which includes the glass, the rubble, the concrete.

裡面包含了玻璃、碎石和混凝土。

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

只要架起一個研磨機， 全部放一起，加熱，

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

我們就能用這些磚蓋起更多的建築。

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

但這只是我們所需的一小部分。

My hope is that with big data and geotagging,

我希望透過大數據和定位

we can actually change that,

能夠真正改變這一點，

and be more thrifty when it comes to buildings.

並且在蓋建築的時候可以更節約。

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

如果下個街區有棟建築準備要拆，

are there materials there

那裡的舊建材

that the new building being built here can use?

能用來蓋新建築嗎？

Can we use that, the ability to understand

我們能否運用能力來理解

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

所有舊建築裡 可得的材料都能再利用？

Can we then basically put them into a new building,

我們能否就這樣把廢材蓋成新建物，

without actually losing any value in the process?

且在過程中毫不損失任何價值？

So now let's think about other industries.

現在我們來想想其他產業。

What are other industries doing to create thrift?

其他產業是怎麼做到節約？

Well, it turns out that there are plenty of industries

其實有很多產業

也在思考自己的廢棄物，

that are also thinking about their own waste

以及能怎麼處理。

and what we can do with it.

最簡單的例子就是他們直接

A simple example is the waste that they basically belch out

在生產過程中排除廢棄物。

as part of industrial processes.

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

許多金屬冶煉廠釋放 極大量的二氧化碳。

Turns out, there's a company called Land Detector

有間公司叫地察 (Land Detector)，

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

在中國營運，不久後也會在南非，

that's able to take that waste gas --

他們能把廢氣──

about 700,000 tons per smelter --

每個熔爐大約是 70 萬噸──

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

變成 40 萬噸的乙醇，

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

這等於可以供 25 萬臺車

for a year.

運行一整年。

That's a very effective use of waste.

用這個方式處理廢棄物的效益很高。

How about products more close to home?

那居家用品呢？

This is a simple solution.

有一個簡單的方法

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

同樣也是採用減少、再利用的概念，

but then also with economic advantage.

但還包含了經濟優勢。

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

這個簡單的改造過程藉由裁縫，

where typically between 20 and 30 materials are used

通常會有二、三十種用過的東西，

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

從一大塊布剪下來，然後縫在一起， 有時候甚至要用黏的，

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

他們改裝後說，他們編了這支鞋。

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

這樣做的優點不只是簡化過程，

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

還有「我運用原料，做到零廢棄」，

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

加上「在這東西走到生命盡頭時， 我還能回收它」。

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

數位化製造也讓我們 能更有效地達成這個目標。

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

在這個部分，真的是幫原料 製造一個理論上的強度極限：

for a material:

you cannot get any stronger for the amount of material

你無法讓這麼多的原料變得更強韌，

than this shape.

除非用這個形狀。

So it's a basic simple block,

這是基本磚，

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

概念是，我可以向外推， 可以做成很大型的樣式，

I can make it into buildings, bridges,

可以做成建築、橋梁，

but also airplane wings and shoes.

還有機翼和鞋子。

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

這裡的概念是，我減少原料的用量。

Here's a good example from architecture.

我來舉一個建築上的好例子。

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

這些金屬接頭常用來支撐大帳篷。

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

這個例子是在海牙， 一個購物中心旁邊。

他們用了 1600 個左邊的原料。

They used 1600 of the materials on the left.

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

不同的是，改用右邊的之後，

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

他們把七個步驟減少到只剩一個，

because the one on the left is currently welded,

因為左邊要用焊接的，

the one on the right is simply just printed.

而右邊只要用印的。

And it was able to reduce waste to zero,

所以能做到零廢棄，

cost less money

減少支出，

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

還有因為這是鋼材做的，

can be eventually recycled at the end of its life.

最終可以回收。

Nature also is very effective at thrift.

大自然在節約上也做得很成功。

Think about it: nature has zero waste.

你們想想：大自然是零廢棄。

Everything is useful for another process.

每個東西對某個過程都有助益。

So, in this case, nanocellulose,

這個例子是奈米纖維素，

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

基本上這是非常精細的纖維素構件，

which is one of the materials that makes trees strong,

也是讓樹木茁壯的元素之一，

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

你可以將它分離，就能達到 非常像碳纖維的功能。

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

所以從樹上分解，做成纖維狀，

and then those fibers can strengthen things,

這些纖維可以強化東西，

例如飛機、建築和汽車。

such as airplanes, buildings, cars.

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

它的優點不只是從生物衍生而來，

來自可再生資源，

comes from a renewable resource,

but also that it is transparent,

而且是透明的，

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

所以可以用在電子產品 和食物包裝上。

Not bad for something that basically comes from the backyard.

自家後院就有的東西還算不錯。

Another one from the biosource is synthetic spider silk.

另一個來自生物資源的例子 是合成蜘蛛絲。

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

真的要做天然蜘蛛絲很難。

You can basically get it from spiders,

你可以從蜘蛛身上取得絲，

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

但牠們大多會自相殘殺、吃掉彼此，

so you've got a problem with creating it,

所以要製造會有問題，

如果你用和一般絲同樣方式。

in the same way you do with regular silk.

所以可以做的 是從蜘蛛身上取 DNA，

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

and put it into various different things.

然後放進不同的東西裡，

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

可以放進細菌裡、酵母裡，

you can put it into milk.

放進牛奶裡。

And what you can do then is,

接下來你可以做的是……

the milk or the bacteria produce in much larger volumes

牛奶或細菌會製造出更大的量，

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

你就可以從中紡紗，製作布料或繩索。

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

同樣的生物衍生、無比強韌， 和刻維拉纖維差不多，

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

所以被用來像是防彈衣、安全帽

和戶外夾克等等。

and outdoor jackets.

It has a great performance.

效能很好。

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

同樣的，生物衍生， 而且在它的生命盡頭

能夠回歸大地、拿來堆肥，

it potentially can go back into the soil and get composted

有機會再拿來做成新的材料。

to again be potentially used as a new material.

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

最後我想介紹給大家的是 以生物為基礎，

但我想這也是極致的節約。

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

Think about the poster child for conspicuous consumption.

想想炫耀型消費的最佳範例。

It's the water bottle.

水瓶。

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

我們有太多水瓶，基本上到處都是，

they're a problem in the ocean.

是海洋裡的大麻煩。

What do we do with them?

我們該拿它們怎麼辦？

This process is able not just to recycle them,

這個過程不只是要回收，

but to recycle them infinitely.

而是要無限的回收。

Why is that interesting?

這有什麼意思？

Because when we think about reusing and recycling,

因為每當我們想到再利用和回收，

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

金屬、玻璃這類的東西， 你愛回收幾次都可以。

There's metal in your car

你車子裡的金屬

that may well have come from a 1950s Oldsmobile,

可能來自 1950 年代的老爺車，

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

因為你可以無限回收， 而且它的功效絲毫不減。

Plastics offer about once or twice of recycling,

塑膠大約能回收一到兩次，

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

不管是瓶子、椅子，

whatever it is, if it's carpet --

還是地毯，

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

兩次回收後，不管是回收成 另一張椅子還是什麼，

都會失去它的強度，變得一無是處。

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

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

針對這點，其實只要用一點酶 就能讓它永久回收。

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

我拿瓶子、椅子或其它塑膠製品，

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

放進一點酶，將之分解，

they basically put it back into its original molecules.

就會將它還原到最初的分子。

And then from those molecules,

然後從那些分子，

你就可以做出另一個 椅子、地毯或瓶子。

you can build another chair or carpet or bottle.

So, the cycle is infinite.

因此循環是無限的。

The advantage with that, of course,

當然，這個優點是

is that you have potentially zero loss of material resources.

你能有零損失的原料資源。

Again, the perfect idea of thrift.

同樣是節約的絕佳點子。

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

結論是，我只希望大家想想， 如果你製造任何東西，

if you're any part of a design firm,

如果你是設計公司的一員，

if you basically are refurbishing your house --

如果你正在改建房子，

any aspect where you make something,

不管你在做什麼，

think about how that product could potentially be used

想想那個產品

在它第二、第三、第四次生命中， 可以如何再利用。

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

Design in the ability for it to be taken apart.

用讓它能被分解的方式來設計它。

That, to me, is the ultimate thrift,

對我來說，這就是節約的極致，

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

我想這也是我祖母會喜歡的方式。

(Applause)

（掌聲）