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DiannaCohen_2010Z-_关于塑料污染的严峻事实_
I'm a visual artist, and I'm also one of the co-founders of the Plastic Pollution Coalition . 我是个视觉艺术家, 也是塑料污染联盟的创始人之一。
visual:adj.视觉的,视力的;栩栩如生的; co-founders:n.共同创立者; Coalition:n.联合;结合,合并;
I've been working with plastic bags, which I cut up and sew back together as my primary material for my artwork for the last 20 years. 过去20年,我一直参与塑料包的工作, 我艺术创作的原材料是裁制和缝合塑料 。
sew:v.缝;缝制;缝补;做针线活;
I turn them into two and three-dimensional pieces and sculptures and installations . 让塑料变为平面和立体型艺术, 雕塑和艺术装置。
three-dimensional:adj.三维的;立体的;真实的; sculptures:n.[建]雕塑(sculpture的复数); v.雕刻; installations:n.[军]设施;装置(installation的复数形式);[机]设备;
Upon working with the plastic, after about the first eight years, some of my work started to fissure and break down into smaller little bits of plastic. 在与塑料打交道的八年之后, 我的一些作品开始开裂 碎成许多小塑料块。
fissure:vi.裂开;分裂;n.裂缝;裂沟(尤指岩石上的);vt.裂开;分裂;
And I thought, "Great. 我想,“好极了。
It's ephemeral just like us." 塑料就像我们人类一样短命。”
ephemeral:adj.短暂的;朝生暮死的;n.只生存一天的事物;
Upon educating myself a little further about plastics, 我自学进一步深入了解塑料,
I actually realized this was a bad thing. 我的确了解到塑料是个坏材料。
It's a bad thing that plastic breaks down into smaller little bits, because it's always still plastic. 塑料碎成许多小块, 但它还是塑料,这很糟糕。
And what we're finding is that a lot of it is in the marine environment. 我们发现有很多塑料 漂浮于大海。
marine:adj.海的;海产的;海生的;海船的;n.(尤指美国或英国皇家)海军陆战队士兵;
I then, in the last few years, learned about the Pacific garbage patch and the gyre . 然而在过去的几年, 我知道太平洋垃圾环流和垃圾漩涡。
garbage:n.垃圾;废物; patch:n.补丁;小片;眼罩;色斑;v.修补;打补丁;缝补; gyre:n.回转;旋回;旋转;vi.旋回;
And my initial reaction -- and I think this is a lot of people's first reaction to learning about it -- is, "Oh my God! 我第一反应-- 我想这也是多数人的第一反应, 知道这之后-- “喔,我的上帝！
initial:adj.最初的; n.(名字的)首字母; v.用姓名的首字母作标记(或签名)于; reaction:n.反应,感应;反动,复古;反作用;
We've got to go out there and clean this thing up." 我们要去那里并清理这些塑料。”
So I actually developed a proposal to go out with a cargo ship and two decommissioned fishing trawlers , a crane , a chipping machine and a cold-molding machine. 所以我提议 一只货船, 两只退役拖网渔船, 一台起重机,一台削片机 和一台冷压机出海。
proposal:n.提议,建议;求婚; cargo:n.(船或飞机装载的)货物; decommissioned:v.正式停止使用(武器、核电站等);(decommission的过去分词和过去式) trawlers:n.拖网渔船;拖网捕鱼的人; crane:n.吊车,起重机;鹤;vi.伸着脖子看;迟疑,踌躇;vt.用起重机起吊;伸长脖子; chipping:n.破片;碎屑;
And my intention was to go out to the gyre, raise awareness about this issue and begin to pick up the plastic, chip it into little bits and cold mold it into bricks 我计划是航行到垃圾环流带, 提高对于此污染的高度重视, 开始回收塑料, 切割它变成小片,然后冷压变成塑料块,
intention:n.意图;目的;意向;愈合; awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道; issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行; mold:n.模具;模型;霉菌;类型;v.用可塑材料塑成;浇铸;发霉;
that could potentially be used as building materials in underdeveloped communities . 它可能被用来作为欠发达社区的 建筑材料。
potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地; underdeveloped:adj.不发达的; communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
I began talking with people who actually had been out to the gyre and were studying the plastic problem in the marine environment and upon doing so, 我同那些曾去过 垃圾环流带的人们谈过, 他们也曾研究过塑料污染对海洋环境的污染, 交谈之后,
I realized actually that cleaning it up would be a very small drop in the bucket relative to how much is being generated every day around the world, and that actually I needed to back up and look at the bigger picture. 我开始意识到海上清理塑料 相比起 全球每天产生塑料的生产量 就如大海捞针一样, 我必须回过头想想,要展望更大的蓝图。
bucket:n.大桶状物; v.拼命划桨; relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物; generated:v.产生;引起;(generate的过去式和过去分词)
And the bigger picture is: we need to find a way to turn off the faucet . 真正的解决办法就是: 我们需要在源头找到解决方法。
faucet:n.旋塞;插口;
We need to cut the spigot of single-use and disposable plastics, which are entering the marine environment every day on a global scale . 我们需要切断 一次性使用塑料和一次性塑料的源头, 使得它们在全球范围内每天不会再进入大海 。
spigot:n.龙头;栓;饮水的地方; single-use:一次性的; disposable:adj.可任意处理的;可自由使用的;用完即可丢弃的; global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢;
So in looking at that, I also realized that I was really angry. 看看这个,我也知道我非常生气。
I wasn't just concerned about plastic that you're trying to imagine out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean -- of which I have learned there are now 11 gyres , potentially, of plastic in five major oceans in the world. 我并不只关心 你也可能想象到的在太平洋中部 我们现在所知的, 权威数据是,11个垃圾塑料环流带, 遍及世界五大海洋。
concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词) gyres:n.旋转;螺旋形(gyre的复数);v.旋转(gyre的第三人称单数);
It's not just that gyre of plastic that I'm concerned about -- it's the gyre of plastic in the supermarket. 我不仅仅是关心塑料环流带, 也包括超市的塑料包围圈。
I'd go to the supermarket and all of my food is packaged in plastic. 我要去超市,所有事物都是塑料包装。
All of my beverages are packaged in plastic, even at the health food market. 所有饮料都是塑料包装, 甚至健康的有机市场。
beverages:n.饮料;酒水;饮料类(beverage的复数形式); health food:adj.保健食品的;
I'm also concerned about the plastic in the refrigerator, and I'm concerned about the plastic and the toxins that leach from plastic into us and into our bodies. 我也关注在冰箱的塑料, 还有塑料以及滤取塑料的毒素 被我们吃下和吸收到我们身体里。
toxins:n.[毒物]毒素,毒质;毒素类(toxin的复数); leach:n.过滤;过滤器;vt.过滤;萃取;vi.被过滤;
So I came together with a group of other people who were all looking at this issue, and we created the Plastic Pollution Coalition. 我和其他的一群人们 都关注这个塑料污染问题, 组建了塑料污染联盟。
We have many initiatives that we're working on, but some of them are very basic. 我们为解决这问题开始许多活动, 它们中的一些是非常简单的。
initiatives:n.积极性;主动权(initiative的复数);创始;
One is: if 80 to 90 percent of what we're finding in the ocean -- of the marine debris that we're finding in the ocean -- is plastic, then why don't we call it what it is. 其中一个是:在大海, 我们发现百分80到百分90 海洋废弃物是塑料, 然后我们为什么不称其为:
debris:n.碎片,残骸;
It's plastic pollution. 塑料污染。
Recycling -- everybody kind of ends their books about being sustainable and greening with the idea of recycling. 再循环。关于可持续和再循环的环保想法的书籍都是 类似的观点。
Recycling:n.(资源,垃圾的)回收利用;v.回收;再循环利用(recycle的现在分词); sustainable:adj.可以忍受的;足可支撑的;养得起的;可持续的;
You put something in a bin and you don't have to think about it again. 大家扔东西到垃圾桶里,但是从来没有再想过此事。
What is the reality of that? 现实是什么呢？
In the United States, less than seven percent of our plastics are recycled . 在美国,塑料垃圾回收率少于百分之七。
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) recycled:n.再生纸;回收站;adj.[环境]回收利用的;可循环再造的;
And if you really look into it, particularly when it comes to plastic bottles, most of it is only down-cycled, or incinerated , or shipped to China. 大家想实际看看, 特别当塑料变成塑料瓶, 绝大多数塑料瓶仅被降级回收, 或者焚烧,或运到中国。
particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; incinerated:v.把…烧成灰烬;焚毁;(incinerate的过去分词和过去式)
It is down-cycled and turned into lesser things, while a glass bottle can be a glass bottle again or can be used again -- a plastic bottle can never be a plastic bottle again. 当一个塑料瓶 可以被重制成一个塑料瓶, 或者重被使用时, 正是被降级回收,使得塑料瓶被制成小塑料体,使得一个塑料瓶不再被制成塑料瓶回收利用。
lesser:adj.较少的;次要的;更小的;adv.较少地;更小地;不及;
So this is a big issue for us. 对我们而言,这是个重大问题。
Another thing that we're looking at and asking people to think about is we've added a fourth R onto the front of the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," three R's, and that is refuse. 我们关注,并让人们思考的另一件事 是我们 在原本3个R原则前, Reduce（减量）、Reuse（复用）、Recycle（再生）, 加了第四个R原则,它就是拒绝使用（Refuse）。
Whenever possible, refuse single-use and disposable plastics. 无论何时,拒绝使用一次性使用塑料和即丢塑料。
Alternatives exist; some of them are very old-school . 有替代品的使用。 其中一些是非常老套。
Alternatives:n.可供选择的事物;(alternative的复数) old-school:adj.古老的;古旧的;传统的;
I myself am now collecting these cool Pyrex containers and using those instead of Glad and Tupperware containers to store food in. 我自己现在收集这些很酷的耐热玻璃容器, 使用这些而替换高兴派和特百惠派塑料容器 来储存食物。
Pyrex:n.派热克斯玻璃(一种耐热玻璃); Tupperware:n.特百惠塑料容器(主要用于贮存食物);
And I know that I am doing a service to myself and my family. 我知道我这样做 有利于我自己和我的家庭。
It's very easy to pick up a stainless-steel bottle or a glass bottle, if you're traveling and you've forgotten to bring your stainless-steel bottle and fill that up with water or filtered water, versus purchasing plastic bottled water. 我们选择使用不锈钢瓶 和玻璃瓶是很容易的, 你如果要出门,记得带不锈钢瓶, 让它灌满水,或者滤过水, 而不要购买塑料瓶装水。
filtered:v.过滤;(用程序)筛选;缓行;(filter的过去分词和过去式) versus:prep.对;与...相对;对抗; purchasing:n.购买;采购;v.买;购买;采购;(purchase的现在分词)
I guess what I want to say to everybody here -- and I know that you guys know a lot about this issue -- is that this is a huge problem in the oceans, but this is a problem that we've created as consumers and we can solve. 我猜我想要告诉大家的是 我知道你们大家关于此塑料污染知道得很多 漂在大海上的塑料是个严重的问题, 但这是我们做为消费者自身产生的问题, 我们也能自身解决这问题。
consumers:n.消费者;顾客;用户;(consumer的复数)
We can solve this by raising awareness of the issue and teaching people to choose alternatives. 我们通过提高这问题的意识, 教导人们选择可替换性产品,能够解决这问题。
So whenever possible, to choose alternatives to single-use plastics. 所以无论何时,请选择使用可替换性产品, 拒绝使用一次性使用塑料和即丢塑料。
We can cut the stem -- tide the stem of this into our oceans and in doing so, save our oceans, save our planet, save ourselves. 我们可以切断源头,阻止这塑料污染 到我们的海洋里, 通过如上4R行动, 拯救我们的海洋,拯救我们的家园,拯救我们自己。
stem:n.花草的茎或梗;高脚酒杯的脚;烟斗柄;词干;v.阻止;封堵;遏止; tide:n.潮汐; v.顺应潮水航行;
Thank you. (Applause) 谢谢。