TEDCity2.0
Robin Nagle: What I discovered in New York City trash
罗宾·内格尔: 我在纽约垃圾中的发现
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纽约市民每天产出1万1千吨的垃圾。每天！这惊人的统计数据只是罗宾·内格尔之所以开始与纽约环卫局合作研究的原因之一。她自己沿途清理垃圾，操纵机械扫帚，甚至自己开垃圾车。她所能回答的听似简单其实复杂的问题是：谁在清理我们留下的垃圾？
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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我10岁左右的时候，
00:14
on a camping trip with my dad
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有一次和爸爸一起去
00:16
in the Adirondack Mountains, a wilderness area
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阿第伦达克山脉露营。那是一片
00:19
in the northern part of New York State.
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位于纽约州北部的野生地带。
00:22
It was a beautiful day.
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那天天气特别好。
00:23
The forest was sparkling.
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森林里处处闪闪发光。
00:25
The sun made the leaves glow like stained glass,
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阳光照耀下，树叶闪闪地象晶莹的彩色玻璃。
00:28
and if it weren't for the path we were following,
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如果没有脚下的小路，
00:32
we could almost pretend we were
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我们完全可以假装我们是
00:33
the first human beings to ever walk that land.
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首批到达这片树林的人类。
00:37
We got to our campsite.
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我们最终到达了我们的营地。
00:38
It was a lean-to on a bluff
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那是一个在悬崖上的营地，
00:40
looking over a crystal, beautiful lake,
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可以向下俯瞰一个水晶般晶莹美丽的湖泊。
00:43
when I discovered a horror.
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后来我却发现了很糟糕的事。
00:46
Behind the lean-to was a dump,
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就在悬崖营地的后面，
00:49
maybe 40 feet square
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有个足足有 40 英尺见方的大垃圾堆。
00:50
with rotting apple cores
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里面有烂苹果核、
00:53
and balled-up aluminum foil,
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用过的铝箔纸、
00:54
and a dead sneaker.
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和破旧的运动鞋。
00:56
And I was astonished,
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我当时非常吃惊，
00:59
I was very angry, and I was deeply confused.
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非常生气，也非常非常困惑。
01:02
The campers who were too lazy
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来露营的人实在太懒了，
01:04
to take out what they had brought in,
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连自己带来的垃圾都不肯收拾。
01:06
who did they think would clean up after them?
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他们觉得谁会替他们清理善后呢？
01:09
That question stayed with me,
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这个问题一直困扰着我。
01:11
and it simplified a little.
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成了一个更精练的问题。
01:13
Who cleans up after us?
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谁来清理我们留下的垃圾？
01:16
However you configure
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但是你可以把这个问题
01:17
or wherever you place the us,
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放在任何你生活的地方。
01:19
who cleans up after us in Istanbul?
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在伊斯坦布清理我们留下的垃圾？
01:21
Who cleans up after us in Rio
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在里约清理我们留下的垃圾？
01:24
or in Paris or in London?
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在巴黎或伦敦呢？
01:26
Here in New York,
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在纽约，这里，
01:28
the Department of Sanitation cleans up after us,
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是环卫部门清理我们留下的
01:30
to the tune of 11,000 tons of garbage
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多达11,000吨的垃圾
01:33
and 2,000 tons of recyclables every day.
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和每天2000吨的可回收垃圾。
01:37
I wanted to get to know them as individuals.
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我个人想去了解这些环卫工人，
01:40
I wanted to understand who takes the job.
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我想知道谁在做这样的工作。
01:43
What's it like to wear the uniform
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穿上环卫服
01:45
and bear that burden?
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承担起这份责任的感觉是什么样？
01:47
So I started a research project with them.
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所以我开始了一项关于环卫工人的研究课题。
01:50
I rode in the trucks and walked the routes
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我坐在垃圾车上，沿着收垃圾的路线，
01:52
and interviewed people in offices and facilities
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采访全纽约在办公室和工作现场
01:55
all over the city,
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的环卫人员。
01:56
and I learned a lot,
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我学到了很多，
01:58
but I was still an outsider.
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但我仍然是个局外人。
02:00
I needed to go deeper.
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我需要更深入地了解。
02:02
So I took the job as a sanitation worker.
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于是我真的找了份环卫工人的工作。
02:05
I didn't just ride in the trucks now. I drove the trucks.
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现在我不仅仅是坐在垃圾车里，我开着垃圾车。
02:08
And I operated the mechanical brooms and I plowed the snow.
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我自己操纵着电动扫帚扫大街、在路上铲雪。
02:11
It was a remarkable privilege
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那可是一种非凡的特权，
02:13
and an amazing education.
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也是令人叹服的受教育过程。
02:16
Everyone asks about the smell.
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每个人都会问到垃圾臭味。
02:18
It's there, but it's not as prevalent as you think,
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是有臭味，但它不是你想的那样糟糕。
02:21
and on days when it is really bad,
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有的时候气味确实很臭。
02:22
you get used to it rather quickly.
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但你很快就会适应了。
02:25
The weight takes a long time to get used to.
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垃圾的重量却需要很长时间来适应。
02:28
I knew people who were several years on the job
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我就知道即使有几年工作经验的熟练工，
02:30
whose bodies were still adjusting to the burden
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他们的身体还试着在
02:33
of bearing on your body
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适应每周
02:35
tons of trash every week.
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成吨的垃圾。
02:38
Then there's the danger.
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那么这里面就存在着风险。
02:40
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
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跟据劳动统计局的报告，
02:43
sanitation work is one of the 10 most dangerous
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环卫工作是美国
02:45
occupations in the country,
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十大最危险工种之一。
02:47
and I learned why.
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我后来慢慢明白了为什么。
02:49
You're in and out of traffic all day,
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你整天都在路上，
02:50
and it's zooming around you.
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就身处车流之中。
02:51
It just wants to get past you, so it's often
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来往的车辆只想着超过你，
02:53
the motorist is not paying attention.
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开车的人往往不够小心。
02:55
That's really bad for the worker.
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对环卫工人来说，这实在太糟糕了。
02:57
And then the garbage itself is full of hazards
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还有呢，垃圾本身就充满了毒害，
02:59
that often fly back out of the truck
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这些毒物经常会从垃圾车里飘出，
03:01
and do terrible harm.
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造成可怕的伤害。
03:03
I also learned about the relentlessness of trash.
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我还了解到垃圾的残酷和可怕。
03:06
When you step off the curb
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当你走下路沿，
03:07
and you see a city from behind a truck,
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在环卫车旁观察一个城市，
03:10
you come to understand that trash
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你会慢慢认识到垃圾
03:12
is like a force of nature unto itself.
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真的就像大自然本身的力量。
03:14
It never stops coming.
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它从来都是源源而来的。
03:17
It's also like a form of respiration or circulation.
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它也像呼吸或循环的一种形式。
03:20
It must always be in motion.
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它总是在动态中。
03:23
And then there's the stigma.
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最后一点，环卫工人被污名化。
03:25
You put on the uniform, and you become invisible
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当你穿上环卫制服，你被视而不见了。
03:28
until someone is upset with you for whatever reason
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直到有人找到什么理由难为你，
03:31
like you've blocked traffic with your truck,
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嫌你的环卫车阻碍交通呀，
03:33
or you're taking a break too close to their home,
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嫌你在离他们家很近的地方休息呀，
03:36
or you're drinking coffee in their diner,
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嫌你在他们的小餐馆喝咖啡呀。
03:39
and they will come and scorn you,
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他们会走过来嘲笑你，
03:41
and tell you that they don't want you anywhere near them.
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告诉你离他们远点。
03:44
I find the stigma especially ironic,
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我觉得这样的污名化非常地可笑，
03:47
because I strongly believe that sanitation workers
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因为我坚信环卫工人们
03:50
are the most important labor force
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是城市街道上的
03:52
on the streets of the city, for three reasons.
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最重要的劳动力。 原因有三点。
03:55
They are the first guardians of public health.
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他们是公共卫生的第一道屏障。
03:58
If they're not taking away trash
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如果他们每天不
04:00
efficiently and effectively every day,
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高效迅速地清理垃圾的话，
04:02
it starts to spill out of its containments,
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垃圾会从容器中泄露，
04:05
and the dangers inherent to it threaten us
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它本身的毒害会以一种非常真实的方式
04:09
in very real ways.
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威胁到我们的生活。
04:10
Diseases we've had in check for decades and centuries
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我们经过数个世纪和数十年攻克的疾病
04:13
burst forth again and start to harm us.
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会再次爆发，开始威胁我们的健康。
04:16
The economy needs them.
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（第二）国民经济需要环卫工人。
04:17
If we can't throw out the old stuff,
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如果我们不丢掉旧的东西，
04:20
we have no room for the new stuff,
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我们就没有空间装新的东西。
04:22
so then the engines of the economy
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那样的话，经济的引擎
04:24
start to sputter when consumption is compromised.
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就会停歇，因为人们的消费减少了。
04:27
I'm not advocating capitalism, I'm just pointing out their relationship.
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我不主张资本主义，我在这里只是指出它们的关系。
04:31
And then there's what I call
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（第三个原因）就是我称之为
04:33
our average, necessary quotidian velocity.
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我们平均、 必要、经常性的活动速度。
04:37
By that I simply mean
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我的意思是说
04:39
how fast we're used to moving
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在如今的年代和日子里，我们是如此地
04:41
in the contemporary day and age.
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习惯于奔忙。
04:43
We usually don't care for, repair, clean, carry around
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我们通常不会在意、修理、 清洁、 随身携带
04:48
our coffee cup, our shopping bag,
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我们的咖啡杯，购物袋
04:51
our bottle of water.
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和水瓶。
04:52
We use them, we throw them out, we forget about them,
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我们使用它们，然后扔掉它们，然后忘掉他们，
04:55
because we know there's a workforce
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因为我们知道会有一支工作队伍
04:57
on the other side that's going to take it all away.
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在一旁把这些东西清理掉。
05:00
So I want to suggest today a couple of ways
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所以今天我想建议大家去
05:02
to think about sanitation that will perhaps help
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想想环卫工人的处境，
05:07
ameliorate the stigma
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也许能够帮助他们正名。
05:09
and bring them into this conversation
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把他们请来参与谈论
05:12
of how to craft a city that is sustainable and humane.
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如何建设一个可持续的人道的城市。
05:17
Their work, I think, is kind of liturgical.
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我认为他们的工作是很崇高的，
05:21
They're on the streets every day, rhythmically.
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他们每天按时地辛勤地在街上工作。
05:24
They wear a uniform in many cities.
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在很多城市他们穿着环卫服不停工作。
05:26
You know when to expect them.
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你知道他们会准时来清理垃圾。
05:28
And their work lets us do our work.
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是他们使我们可以安心于自己的工作。
05:32
They are almost a form of reassurance.
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他们几乎成了安心工作的保证。
05:34
The flow that they maintain
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他们所保持的工作流量
05:36
keeps us safe from ourselves,
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让我们自身安全无忧，
05:38
from our own dross, our cast-offs,
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而不必担心我们剩下的糟粕和垃圾。
05:41
and that flow must be maintained always
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这样的工作流量不管怎样
05:44
no matter what.
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都需要保持稳定性。
05:46
On the day after September 11 in 2001,
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2001年9月11日的第二天，
05:49
I heard the growl of a sanitation truck on the street,
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我听着街上环卫卡车咆哮而来，
05:53
and I grabbed my infant son and I ran downstairs
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我拉着年幼的儿子跑下楼。
05:55
and there was a man doing his paper recycling route
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有个回收报纸的工人
05:58
like he did every Wednesday.
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正在做他每周三都做的工作。
06:00
And I tried to thank him for doing his work
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我要感谢他做的这些工作
06:02
on that day of all days,
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在那么特殊的日子里，
06:05
but I started to cry.
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但我忍不住哭了起来。
06:07
And he looked at me,
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他望着我，
06:09
and he just nodded, and he said,
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只是点点头，然后说，
06:12
"We're going to be okay.
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"我们会没事的。
06:15
We're going to be okay."
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我们会没事的。“
06:18
It was a little while later that I started
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后来在我刚刚开始
06:19
my research with sanitation,
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研究环卫工作的时候，
06:20
and I met that man again.
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我再次遇见了那个人。
06:22
His name is Paulie, and we worked together many times,
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他的名字叫保利，我们多次一起工作过，
06:25
and we became good friends.
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还成为了好朋友。
06:27
I want to believe that Paulie was right.
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我愿意相信保利的话是对的。
06:29
We are going to be okay.
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我们会没事的。
06:32
But in our effort to reconfigure
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但我们作为这个星球的一份子，
06:34
how we as a species exist on this planet,
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我们需要努力地进行重建。
06:37
we must include and take account of
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我们必须考虑到
06:40
all the costs, including the very real human cost
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所有的消耗，包括非常现实的劳动力
06:44
of the labor.
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消耗。
06:45
And we also would be well informed
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而且我们需要更好地了解情况，
06:48
to reach out to the people who do that work
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和各行业的
06:50
and get their expertise
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专家交流
06:52
on how do we think about,
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我们自己的看法，
06:54
how do we create systems around sustainability
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关于如何建立一个可持续发展体系的看法。
06:57
that perhaps take us from curbside recycling,
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这或许把我们从街道垃圾回收，
07:01
which is a remarkable success across 40 years,
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这个成功地走过了40年历史，
07:03
across the United States and countries around the world,
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跨越了美国在内的无数国家的工作，
07:06
and lift us up to a broader horizon
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引领到一个更大的范畴里。
07:09
where we're looking at other forms of waste
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我们可以考虑如何
07:12
that could be lessened
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减少
07:14
from manufacturing and industrial sources.
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来自制造业和其他工业来源的垃圾。
07:16
Municipal waste, what we think of when we talk about garbage,
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城市垃圾，我们通常认识中的垃圾
07:20
accounts for three percent of the nation's waste stream.
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其实只占国内垃圾总量的3％。
07:24
It's a remarkable statistic.
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这是个惊人的数据。
07:27
So in the flow of your days,
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所以在你的生活的每一天，
07:29
in the flow of your lives,
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在你生命之河里，
07:31
next time you see someone whose job is
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下一次当你看到有人在
07:34
to clean up after you,
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清理你留下的垃圾时，
07:37
take a moment to acknowledge them.
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请找个时间向他们致意，
07:39
Take a moment to say thank you.
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找个时间说声谢谢。
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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