ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Graham Hill - Journalist
Graham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; he travels the world to tell stories of sustainability and minimalism. He tweets at @GHill.

Why you should listen
Graham Hill is the founder of LifeEdited, dedicated to helping people design their lives for more happiness with less stuff. When he started the company in 2010, it brought the ideas of his previous project, the eco-blog and vlog TreeHugger.com, into design and architecture. (The TreeHugger team joined the Discovery Communications network as a part of their Planet Green initiative, and Hill now makes appearances on the green-oriented cable channel.)

Before Treehugger, Hill studied architecture and design (his side business is making those cool ceramic Greek coffee cups). His other company, ExceptionLab, is devoted to creating sustainable prototypes -- think lamps made from recycled blinds and ultra-mod planters that are also air filters.

Hill is the author of Weekday Vegetarian, available as a TED Book on Amazon and Apple's iBooks.

 

More profile about the speaker
Graham Hill | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

Graham Hill: Menos cousas, máis felicidade

Filmed:
4,988,747 views

O escritor e deseñador Graham Hill pregunta: Podemos ter menos cousas, en menos espacio, e ter mais felicidade? El conségueo empregando menos espacio, e expón tres regras para correxir a túa vida.
- Journalist
Graham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; he travels the world to tell stories of sustainability and minimalism. He tweets at @GHill. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:19
What's in the box?
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Que hai na caixa?
00:22
Whatever it is must be pretty important,
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Sexa o que sexa, ten que ser bastante importante
00:24
because I've traveled with it, moved it,
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porque viaxei con ela, movina
00:27
from apartment to apartment to apartment.
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de apartamento a apartamento a apartamento.
00:30
(Laughter)
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(Gargalladas)
00:32
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
00:35
Sound familiar?
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Sóavos familiar?
00:38
Did you know that we Americans
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Sabiades que nós, os americanos,
00:40
have about three times the amount of space
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temos sobre tres veces mais espacio
00:42
we did 50 years ago?
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do que tiñamos fai 50 anos?
00:44
Three times.
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Tres veces
00:47
So you'd think, with all this extra space,
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Así que un pensa: con todo este espacio extra,
00:50
we'd have plenty of room for all our stuff.
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teremos unha chea de habitacións para todas as nosas cousas.
00:53
Nope.
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Pois non.
00:55
There's a new industry in town,
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Hai unha nova industria agora,
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a 22 billion-dollar, 2.2 billion sq. ft. industry:
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unha industria de 200 mil m2, e 22.000 millóns de dólares:
01:00
that of personal storage.
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la do almacenamento persoal.
01:02
So we've got triple the space,
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Así que temos o triple de espacio,
01:04
but we've become such good shoppers
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pero convertémonos en tan bos compradores
01:07
that we need even more space.
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que precisamos aínda máis espacio
01:10
So where does this lead?
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Así que, a onde leva isto?
01:12
Lots of credit card debt,
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Montóns de débedas en tarxetas de crédito,
01:14
huge environmental footprints,
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pegadas ambientais enormes,
01:17
and perhaps not coincidentally,
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e pode que non por coincidencia,
01:19
our happiness levels flat-lined over the same 50 years.
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o noso nivel de felicidade mantívose igual durante 50 anos.
01:22
Well I'm here to suggest there's a better way,
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Ben, pois estou aquí para contar que hai unha maneira mellor,
01:25
that less might actually equal more.
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que menos pode significar máis.
01:28
I bet most of us have experienced at some point
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Aposto a que a maioría de vos experimentáchedes algunha vez
01:30
the joys of less:
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a felicidade do "menos":
01:33
college -- in your dorm,
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na universidade: na residencia
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traveling -- in a hotel room,
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viaxando: nunha habitación de hotel,
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camping -- rig up basically nothing,
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de acampada: armado con case nada,
01:41
maybe a boat.
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quizais un barco.
01:43
Whatever it was for you, I bet that, among other things,
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Fose o que fose, aposto que, ademais doutras cousas,
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this gave you a little more freedom,
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esto deuvos un pouco de liberdade,
01:48
a little more time.
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un pouco máis de tempo.
01:51
So I'm going to suggest
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Así que vou a suxerir
01:53
that less stuff and less space
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que menos cousas e menos espacio
01:55
are going to equal a smaller footprint.
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van a equivaler a unha pegada máis pequena.
01:57
It's actually a great way to save you some money.
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É unha maneira moi boa para aforrar cartos.
01:59
And it's going to give you a little more ease in your life.
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E nos vai a dar un pouco máis de facilidades nas nosas vidas.
02:02
So I started a project called Life Edited at lifeedited.org
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Asi que comecei un proxecto chamado Life Edited en lifeedited.org
02:05
to further this conversation
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para desenvolver este diálogo
02:07
and to find some great solutions in this area.
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e atopar algunhas boas solucións nesta área.
02:10
First up: crowd-sourcing my 420 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan
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Primeiro: agrupar o meu apartamento de 128 m2 de Manhattan
02:14
with partners Mutopo and Jovoto.com.
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cos compañeiros Mutopo e Jovoto.com.
02:17
I wanted it all --
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Eu queríao todo:
02:19
home office, sit down dinner for 10,
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oficina, lugar con sitio para 10,
02:22
room for guests,
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habitación de invitados,
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and all my kite surfing gear.
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e todo o meu equipo de surf con cometa.
02:26
With over 300 entries from around the world,
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Con máis de 300 entradas de todo o mundo,
02:29
I got it, my own little jewel box.
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conseguino, a miña propia caixiña maravillosa.
02:32
By buying a space that was 420 sq. ft.
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Comprando un espacio de 128 m2
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instead of 600,
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en lugar de 180
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immediately I'm saving 200 grand.
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inmediatamente aforro 200.000 dólares.
02:40
Smaller space is going to make for smaller utilities --
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Un espacio máis pequeno, conleva aparellos máis pequenos,
02:43
save some more money there,
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polo que aforras máis cartos,
02:46
but also a smaller footprint.
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e tamén unha pegada máis pequena.
02:48
And because it's really designed
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E como está realmente deseñado
02:50
around an edited set of possessions -- my favorite stuff --
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para grupo de posesións concretas, as miñas cousas favoritas,
02:52
and really designed for me,
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e realmente deseñado para min,
02:54
I'm really excited to be there.
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estou moi emocionado de vivir alí.
02:56
So how can you live little?
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Así que, como podes vivir mais pequeno?
02:58
Three main approaches.
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Tres reglas principais.
03:00
First of all, you have to edit ruthlessly.
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Primeiro, tes que editar sen piedade.
03:03
We've got to clear the arteries of our lives.
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Temos que limpar as arterias das nosas vidas.
03:06
And that shirt that I hadn't worn in years?
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Esa camiseta que non me puxen dende fai anos?
03:09
It's time for me to let it go.
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É o momento de que a deixe ir.
03:11
We've got to cut the extraneous out of our lives,
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Temos que quitar o superfluo da nosa vida,
03:14
and we've got to learn to stem the inflow.
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e temos que aprender a frear a entrada.
03:17
We need to think before we buy.
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Temos que pensar antes de comprar.
03:19
Ask ourselves,
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Preguntándonos a nós mesmos,
03:21
"Is that really going to make me happier? Truly?"
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"De verdade isto vaime facer mais feliz? Realmente?"
03:24
By all means,
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Por suposto,
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we should buy and own some great stuff.
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debemos comprar e posuir cousas xeniais.
03:28
But we want stuff that we're going to love for years,
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Pero queremos cousas que vaiamos a amar por anos,
03:31
not just stuff.
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non só "cousas".
03:33
Secondly, our new mantra:
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En segundo lugar, o noso novo mantra:
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small is sexy.
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o pequeno é sexy.
03:37
We want space efficiency.
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Queremos espacio eficiente.
03:39
We want things that are designed
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Queremos cousas que estean deseñadas
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for how they're used the vast majority of the time,
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para como as usaremos a gran maioría do tempo,
03:43
not that rare event.
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non para raros eventos.
03:45
Why have a six burner stove
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Por que ter seis cociñas
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when you rarely use three?
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cando como moito se usan tres?
03:49
So we want things that nest,
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Queremos cousas empacables,
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we want things that stack, and we want it digitized.
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cousas que encaixen, e queŕemolo todo dixitalizado.
03:54
You can take paperwork,
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Podes coller todos os papeis do traballo,
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books, movies,
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libros, películas,
03:58
and you can make it disappear -- it's magic.
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e podes facelos desaparecer: é maxia.
04:01
Finally, we want multifunctional spaces and housewares --
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Por último, queremos espacios e aparellos multifuncionais:
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a sink combined with a toilet,
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unha pileta combinada cun váter,
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a dining table becomes a bed --
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unha mesa que se convirte en cama,
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same space,
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no mesmo espacio,
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a little side table
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unha mesiña
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stretches out to seat 10.
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que se extende para sentar a 10.
04:15
In the winning Life Edited scheme in a render here,
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No esquema de gañanzas Life Edited, neste apartamento,
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we combine a moving wall with transformer furniture
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combinamos unha parede móbil con mobles transformables
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to get a lot out of the space.
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para conseguir un montón de espacio.
04:22
Look at the coffee table --
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Mirade a mesa de café:
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it grows in height and width
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crece en anchura e altura
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to seat 10.
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para sentar a 10.
04:28
My office folds away,
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A miña oficina está alí,
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easily hidden.
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facilmente ocultable.
04:32
My bed just pops out of the wall with two fingers.
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A miña cama desplégase da parede con só dous dedos.
04:35
Guests? Move the moving wall,
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Invitados? Move a parede,
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have some fold-down guest beds.
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tconsegue algunhas camas de invitados plegables.
04:40
And of course, my own movie theater.
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E, por suposto, o meu propio cine.
04:43
So I'm not saying that we all need to live
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Non estou dicindo que todos teñamos que vivir
04:45
in 420 sq. ft.
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en 128 m2.
04:47
But consider the benefits of an edited life.
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Pero considerade os beneficios dunha vida editada.
04:50
Go from 3,000 to 2,000,
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Ir de 900 a 600
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from 1,500 to 1,000.
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de 450 a 300.
04:55
Most of us, maybe all of us,
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A maioría de nos, pode que todos,
04:57
are here pretty happily for a bunch of days
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somos bastante felices pasando uns días
04:59
with a couple of bags,
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con un par de mochilas,
05:01
maybe a small space, a hotel room.
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pode que un lugar pequeno, unha habitación de hotel.
05:03
So when you go home and you walk through your front door,
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Así que, cando chegues áa casa e cruces a porta,
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take a second and ask yourselves,
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para un segundo e pregúntate,
05:08
"Could I do with a little life editing?
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"Podería con unha vida pequena editada?
05:10
Would that give me a little more freedom?
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Daríame un pouco máis de liberdade?
05:12
Maybe a little more time?"
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Pode que un pouco máis de tempo?"
05:16
What's in the box?
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Que hai na caixa?
05:19
It doesn't really matter.
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Non importa, en realidade.
05:22
I know I don't need it.
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Sei que non o necesito.
05:25
What's in yours?
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Que hai nas vosas?
05:27
Maybe, just maybe,
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Pode, só pode,
05:29
less might equal more.
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que menos signifique máis.
05:31
So let's make room
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Así que fagamos sitio
05:33
for the good stuff.
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para as boas cousas.
05:35
Thank you.
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Grazas.
05:37
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Isabel González
Reviewed by Eulalia Baroja

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Graham Hill - Journalist
Graham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; he travels the world to tell stories of sustainability and minimalism. He tweets at @GHill.

Why you should listen
Graham Hill is the founder of LifeEdited, dedicated to helping people design their lives for more happiness with less stuff. When he started the company in 2010, it brought the ideas of his previous project, the eco-blog and vlog TreeHugger.com, into design and architecture. (The TreeHugger team joined the Discovery Communications network as a part of their Planet Green initiative, and Hill now makes appearances on the green-oriented cable channel.)

Before Treehugger, Hill studied architecture and design (his side business is making those cool ceramic Greek coffee cups). His other company, ExceptionLab, is devoted to creating sustainable prototypes -- think lamps made from recycled blinds and ultra-mod planters that are also air filters.

Hill is the author of Weekday Vegetarian, available as a TED Book on Amazon and Apple's iBooks.

 

More profile about the speaker
Graham Hill | Speaker | TED.com