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Robin Nagle: What I discovered in New York City trash
Robin Nagle: El que vaig descobrir a les escombraries de Nova York.
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Els habitants de la ciutat de Nova York produeixen 11,000 tonelades d'escombraries cada dia. Cada dia! Aquesta estadística increïble és només una de les raons per les quals la Robin Nagle va començar un projecte de recerca amb el departament de sanitat de la ciutat. Va fer les rutes, va fer servir escombres mecàniques i fins i tot va conduir un camió de la basura--tot per a poder respondre una pregunta molt simple però complexa: qui neteja el que embrutem?
Robin Nagle - Trash anthropologist
Robin Nagle is an anthropologist with a very particular focus... garbage. Full bio
Robin Nagle is an anthropologist with a very particular focus... garbage. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I was about 10 years old
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Tenia uns 10 anys
00:14
on a camping trip with my dad
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en una acampada amb el meu pare
00:16
in the Adirondack Mountains, a wilderness area
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a les muntanyes Adirondack, una zona salvatge
00:19
in the northern part of New York State.
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a la part nord de l'estat de Nova York.
00:22
It was a beautiful day.
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Feia un molt bon dia.
00:23
The forest was sparkling.
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El bosc era enlluernador.
00:25
The sun made the leaves glow like stained glass,
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El sol feia brillar les fulles dels arbres com una vidriera,
00:28
and if it weren't for the path we were following,
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i si no fos pel camí que estavem seguint,
00:32
we could almost pretend we were
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haguéssim pogut fer veure que érem
00:33
the first human beings to ever walk that land.
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els primers humans que caminaven per aquella terra.
00:37
We got to our campsite.
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Vam arribar al nostre lloc d'acampada.
00:38
It was a lean-to on a bluff
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Era un rafal en un penya-segat
00:40
looking over a crystal, beautiful lake,
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amb vistes a un preciós llac d'aigua cristal·lina,
00:43
when I discovered a horror.
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quan vaig descobrir una cosa horrible.
00:46
Behind the lean-to was a dump,
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Darrere del rafal hi havia un abocador,
00:49
maybe 40 feet square
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potser una plaça d'uns 4 metres
00:50
with rotting apple cores
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amb cors de pomes podrides
00:53
and balled-up aluminum foil,
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i paper d'alumini embolcallat,
00:54
and a dead sneaker.
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i una bamba de tenis morta.
00:56
And I was astonished,
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I em vaig quedar esbalaïda,
00:59
I was very angry, and I was deeply confused.
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estava molt enfadada i molt confusa.
01:02
The campers who were too lazy
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Els acampadors que eren tan mandrosos
01:04
to take out what they had brought in,
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per emportar-se el que havien portat,
01:06
who did they think would clean up after them?
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qui es pensaven que netejaria tot allò?
01:09
That question stayed with me,
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Aquella pregunta se'm va quedar gravada,
01:11
and it simplified a little.
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i es va simplificar una mica.
01:13
Who cleans up after us?
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Qui neteja el que embrutem?
01:16
However you configure
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Sigui com sigui que conjugueu la pregunta
01:17
or wherever you place the us,
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o sigui on sigui que poseu el nosaltres,
01:19
who cleans up after us in Istanbul?
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qui neteja el que fem a Istanbul?
01:21
Who cleans up after us in Rio
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Qui neteja el que fem a Rio?
01:24
or in Paris or in London?
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o a París, o a Londres?
01:26
Here in New York,
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Aquí a Nova York,
01:28
the Department of Sanitation cleans up after us,
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el Departament de Sanitat neteja el que embrutem,
01:30
to the tune of 11,000 tons of garbage
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al voltant d'unes 11,000 tones d'escombraries
01:33
and 2,000 tons of recyclables every day.
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i 2,000 tones de reciclatge cada dia.
01:37
I wanted to get to know them as individuals.
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Volia coneixe'ls com a individus.
01:40
I wanted to understand who takes the job.
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Volia entendre qui agafa la feina.
01:43
What's it like to wear the uniform
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Com és portar l'uniforme
01:45
and bear that burden?
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i carregar amb aquest problema?
01:47
So I started a research project with them.
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Així que vaig començar un projecte de recerca amb ells.
01:50
I rode in the trucks and walked the routes
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Vaig conduir en els camions i caminar per les rutes
01:52
and interviewed people in offices and facilities
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i vaig entrevistar gent a les oficines i instal·lacions
01:55
all over the city,
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de tota la ciutat,
01:56
and I learned a lot,
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i vaig aprendre molt,
01:58
but I was still an outsider.
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però encara era una estranya.
02:00
I needed to go deeper.
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Necessitava anar més endins.
02:02
So I took the job as a sanitation worker.
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Així que vaig acceptar la feina de treballadora sanitària.
02:05
I didn't just ride in the trucks now. I drove the trucks.
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Ara no només anava dins els caminons. Jo conduïa els camions.
02:08
And I operated the mechanical brooms and I plowed the snow.
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I vaig fer servir les escombres mecàniques i apartar la neu.
02:11
It was a remarkable privilege
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Era un privilegi remarcable
02:13
and an amazing education.
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i una educació fantàstica.
02:16
Everyone asks about the smell.
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Tothom pregunta sobre l'olor.
02:18
It's there, but it's not as prevalent as you think,
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Hi és, però no dura tan com podeu creure,
02:21
and on days when it is really bad,
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i en els dies que és molt dolenta,
02:22
you get used to it rather quickly.
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t'hi acostumes bastant ràpid.
02:25
The weight takes a long time to get used to.
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Tardes més temps a acostumar-te al pes.
02:28
I knew people who were several years on the job
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Conec a gent que van estar molts anys fent aquesta feina
02:30
whose bodies were still adjusting to the burden
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i els seus cosos encara s'estaven acostumant al pes
02:33
of bearing on your body
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de carregar en el teu propi cos
02:35
tons of trash every week.
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tonelades de brossa cada setmana.
02:38
Then there's the danger.
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Llavors hi ha el perill.
02:40
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
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D'acord amb l'agència d'estadística laboral,
02:43
sanitation work is one of the 10 most dangerous
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la feina de sanitari és una de les 10 ocupacions més perilloses
02:45
occupations in the country,
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del país,
02:47
and I learned why.
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i vaig aprendre perquè.
02:49
You're in and out of traffic all day,
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Entres i surts del tràfic tot dia,
02:50
and it's zooming around you.
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i els cotxes van passant ràpidament al teu voltant.
02:51
It just wants to get past you, so it's often
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Només volen passar-te, així que sovint són
02:53
the motorist is not paying attention.
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els motoristes que no estàn atents.
02:55
That's really bad for the worker.
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Això és molt dolent per al treballador.
02:57
And then the garbage itself is full of hazards
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I les escombraries en sí estàn plenes de riscos
02:59
that often fly back out of the truck
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ja que sovint es surten del camió
03:01
and do terrible harm.
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i fan un dany horrible.
03:03
I also learned about the relentlessness of trash.
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També vaig aprendre l'implecabilitat de les escombraries.
03:06
When you step off the curb
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Quan et baixes de la vorera
03:07
and you see a city from behind a truck,
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i veus una ciutat des de darrera un camió,
03:10
you come to understand that trash
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entens que les escombraries
03:12
is like a force of nature unto itself.
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són com una força de la natura cap a sí mateixes.
03:14
It never stops coming.
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Mai deixen d'aparèixer.
03:17
It's also like a form of respiration or circulation.
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També són com una manera de respiració o circulació.
03:20
It must always be in motion.
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Sempre ha d'estar en moviment.
03:23
And then there's the stigma.
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I llavors hi ha l'estigma.
03:25
You put on the uniform, and you become invisible
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Et poses l'uniforme, i et tornes invisible
03:28
until someone is upset with you for whatever reason
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fins que algú s'enfada amb tu per qualsevol raó
03:31
like you've blocked traffic with your truck,
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com per haver bloquejat el tràfic amb el teu camió,
03:33
or you're taking a break too close to their home,
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o estàs descansant massa a prop de casa seva,
03:36
or you're drinking coffee in their diner,
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o beus cafè a la seva cafeteria,
03:39
and they will come and scorn you,
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i venen i et desprecien,
03:41
and tell you that they don't want you anywhere near them.
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i et diuen que no et volen a prop seu de cap manera.
03:44
I find the stigma especially ironic,
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Crec que el despreci és molt irònic,
03:47
because I strongly believe that sanitation workers
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perquè crec que els treballadors sanitaris
03:50
are the most important labor force
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són la força treballadora més important
03:52
on the streets of the city, for three reasons.
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als carrers de la ciutat, per tres raons.
03:55
They are the first guardians of public health.
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Són els principals guardians de la sanitat pública.
03:58
If they're not taking away trash
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Si no s'emporten les escombraries
04:00
efficiently and effectively every day,
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eficientment i eficaçment cada dia,
04:02
it starts to spill out of its containments,
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es comencen a apilar als contenedors,
04:05
and the dangers inherent to it threaten us
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i els perills inherents a elles ens amenacen
04:09
in very real ways.
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de maneres molt directes.
04:10
Diseases we've had in check for decades and centuries
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Enfermetats que haviem deixat enrere durant dècades i segles
04:13
burst forth again and start to harm us.
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tornen a aparèixer i comencen a fer-nos mal.
04:16
The economy needs them.
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L'economia els necessita.
04:17
If we can't throw out the old stuff,
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Si no podem llençar les coses velles,
04:20
we have no room for the new stuff,
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no tenim lloc per a les coses noves,
04:22
so then the engines of the economy
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llavors els motors de l'economia
04:24
start to sputter when consumption is compromised.
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comencen a escupir quan el consum està compromès.
04:27
I'm not advocating capitalism, I'm just pointing out their relationship.
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No estic defensant el capitalisme, només estic senyalant la seva relació.
04:31
And then there's what I call
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I llavors hi ha el que anomeno
04:33
our average, necessary quotidian velocity.
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la nostra mitjana i necessària velocitat quotidiana.
04:37
By that I simply mean
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El que vull dir, simplement,
04:39
how fast we're used to moving
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és com de ràpid estem acostumats a moure'ns
04:41
in the contemporary day and age.
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en el dia i any contemporànis.
04:43
We usually don't care for, repair, clean, carry around
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Normalment no ens preocupem per arreglar, netejar o portar
04:48
our coffee cup, our shopping bag,
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la nostra tassa de cafè, la nostra bossa de la compra,
04:51
our bottle of water.
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o la nostra ampolla d'aigua.
04:52
We use them, we throw them out, we forget about them,
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Els fem servir, els llancem, ens oblidem d'ells
04:55
because we know there's a workforce
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perquè sabem que hi ha una mà d'obra
04:57
on the other side that's going to take it all away.
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a l'altre costat que s'ho emportarà.
05:00
So I want to suggest today a couple of ways
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Així que avui vull suggerir un parell de maneres
05:02
to think about sanitation that will perhaps help
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de pensar sobre la sanitat que potser ajudaràn
05:07
ameliorate the stigma
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a millorar l'estigma
05:09
and bring them into this conversation
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i portar-los a aquesta conversa
05:12
of how to craft a city that is sustainable and humane.
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de com crear una ciutat que sigui sostenible i humana.
05:17
Their work, I think, is kind of liturgical.
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La seva feina, crec, és com litúrgica.
05:21
They're on the streets every day, rhythmically.
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Són al carrer cada dia, ritmicament.
05:24
They wear a uniform in many cities.
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I porten un uniforme en moltes ciutats.
05:26
You know when to expect them.
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Saps quan esperar-los.
05:28
And their work lets us do our work.
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I la seva feina ens permet fer la nostra feina.
05:32
They are almost a form of reassurance.
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Són quasi una forma de consol.
05:34
The flow that they maintain
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El flux que mantenen
05:36
keeps us safe from ourselves,
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els manté sans i estalvis de nosaltres mateixos,
05:38
from our own dross, our cast-offs,
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de la nostra propia porqueria, els nostres abandons,
05:41
and that flow must be maintained always
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i aquest fluix ha d'estar sempre en moviment
05:44
no matter what.
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passi el que passi.
05:46
On the day after September 11 in 2001,
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El dia després de l'11 de setembre del 2001,
05:49
I heard the growl of a sanitation truck on the street,
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vaig sentir el grunyit d'un camió sanitari al carrer,
05:53
and I grabbed my infant son and I ran downstairs
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i vaig agafar el meu fill petit i vaig baixar corrents
05:55
and there was a man doing his paper recycling route
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i allà hi havia un home fent la seva ruta de reciclatge de paper
05:58
like he did every Wednesday.
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com feia cada dimecres.
06:00
And I tried to thank him for doing his work
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Vaig intentar donar-li les gràcies per fer la seva feina
06:02
on that day of all days,
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en aquell dia, de tots els dies,
06:05
but I started to cry.
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però vaig començar a plorar.
06:07
And he looked at me,
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I em va mirar,
06:09
and he just nodded, and he said,
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i va assentir, i va dir,
06:12
"We're going to be okay.
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"Tot anirà bé.
06:15
We're going to be okay."
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Tot anirà bé."
06:18
It was a little while later that I started
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Va ser una mica després que vaig començar
06:19
my research with sanitation,
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la meva recerca amb la sanitat,
06:20
and I met that man again.
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i vaig trobar-me amb aquell home un altre cop.
06:22
His name is Paulie, and we worked together many times,
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Es diu Paulie, i vam treballar junts molts cops,
06:25
and we became good friends.
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i ens vam fer bons amics.
06:27
I want to believe that Paulie was right.
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Vull creure que en Paulie tenia raó.
06:29
We are going to be okay.
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Que tot anirà bé.
06:32
But in our effort to reconfigure
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Però en el nostre esforç per a reconfigurar
06:34
how we as a species exist on this planet,
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com nosaltres existim com a espècies en aquest planeta,
06:37
we must include and take account of
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hem d'incluir i tenir en compte
06:40
all the costs, including the very real human cost
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tots els costos, incluint el cost real i humà
06:44
of the labor.
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de la feina.
06:45
And we also would be well informed
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I també estariem ben informats
06:48
to reach out to the people who do that work
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d'apropar-nos a la gent que fa aquesta feina
06:50
and get their expertise
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i aconseguir la seva experiència
06:52
on how do we think about,
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en com pensem nosaltres,
06:54
how do we create systems around sustainability
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com creem sistemes al voltat de la sostenibilitat
06:57
that perhaps take us from curbside recycling,
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que potser ens treuen de la vorera del reciclatge,
07:01
which is a remarkable success across 40 years,
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que és un èxit remarcable a través de 40 anys,
07:03
across the United States and countries around the world,
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dels Estats Units i de molts països a tot el món,
07:06
and lift us up to a broader horizon
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i ens alcen a un horitzó més ampli
07:09
where we're looking at other forms of waste
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on podem veure altres formes d'escombraries
07:12
that could be lessened
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que podrien ser disminuïdes
07:14
from manufacturing and industrial sources.
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d'origens manufacturats i industrials.
07:16
Municipal waste, what we think of when we talk about garbage,
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Residus municipals, en el que pensem quan parlem d'escombraries,
07:20
accounts for three percent of the nation's waste stream.
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causa el tres percent del riu d'escombraries de la nació.
07:24
It's a remarkable statistic.
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És una estadística remarcable.
07:27
So in the flow of your days,
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Així que en el flux dels vostres dies,
07:29
in the flow of your lives,
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en el flux de les vostres vides,
07:31
next time you see someone whose job is
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el pròxim cop que veieu a algú, la feina del qual sigui
07:34
to clean up after you,
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netejar les vostres escombraries,
07:37
take a moment to acknowledge them.
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pareu-vos un moment a acceptar-los.
07:39
Take a moment to say thank you.
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Pareu-vos un moment a dir gràcies.
07:44
(Applause)
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(Aplaudiments)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Robin Nagle - Trash anthropologistRobin Nagle is an anthropologist with a very particular focus... garbage.
Why you should listen
Robin Nagle has been the anthropologist-in-residence at the Department of Sanitation in New York City since 2006.
Nagle's fascination with trash stems from her desire to understand the all-too-often invisible infrastructure that guides the flow of garbage through a megalopolis like New York. After all, the city produces 11,000 tons of rubbish each day... and all of that has to be dealt with somewhere and by someone. If not, damaging health problems and consequences for all. So why do sanitation workers experience such stigma, all too often scorned and berated while on the job? Nagle, who is also director of NYU's Draper Interdisciplinary Master's program in humanities and social thought, determined to find out. She got her sanitation worker license and has spent much time with workers on the job, getting an up-close view of the city's garbage and the systems in place to deal with it.
Her book, Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City was published in 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. See also the profile of her work -- and a photoessay of her favorite places in New York City.
Robin Nagle | Speaker | TED.com