TED演讲 | 变得更健康的不能说的秘密

Whenever I get to travel for work,

无论何时外出工作，

I try to find out where my drinking water comes from, and where my poop and pee go.

我都会尝试弄清我饮用水的来源，还有我排泄物的去处。

This has earned me the nickname "The Poo Princess" in my family,

这让我赢得了“大便女皇”的家庭绰号，

and it's ruined many family vacations, because this is not normal.

同时还毁了很多家庭旅行，因为这并不正常。

But thinking about where it all goes is the first step in activating what are actually superpowers in our poop and pee.

但是思考排泄物们都去哪儿了其实是激发它们超级潜能的第一步。

Yeah. And if we use them well, we can live healthier and more beautifully.

是的。而且如果我们好好利用它们，我们可以拥有更加健康而美好的生活。

Check out this landscape in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

这是新墨西哥州圣菲市的自然景观。

Just notice what kinds of words and feelings come to mind.

想想涌入你思绪的是怎样的词汇。

This landscape was watered with treated sewage water. Does that change anything for you?

这样的景观却是用处理过的污水灌溉的。这会影响你的判断吗？

I imagine it might. And that's OK.

我像可能会吧，不过没关系。

How we feel about this is going to determine exactly how innovative we can be.

我们对这件事的看法会决定我们究竟能富有多少革新精神。

And I want to explain how it works, but what words do I use?

我想解释一下原理，先想一下我用了什么词？

I mean, I can use profane words like "shit" and "piss," and then my grandma won't watch the video.

我想我本可以用很污的词来表达，比如“屎”和“尿”，然后我奶奶就会拒绝看这段视频。

Or I can use childish words like "poo" and "pee." Eh.

或者我也可以用幼稚的词汇，像“粑粑”和“尿尿”。额。

Or I can use scientific words like "excrement" and "feces." Humph.

我也可以用更科学的单词，类似于“尿液”和“粪便”

I'll use a mix. It's all I got.

然后我用了混合体。这是我能想到的全部了。

So, in this suburb, the poo and the pee and the wash water are going to this treatment plant right in the middle of the community.

那么，在这片城郊，各种排泄物们和废水正涌向处于区域中心的处理池。

It looks more like a park than a treatment plant.

其实与其说处理池，它看起来更像一个公园。

The poo at the very bottom of all those layers of gravel -- not touching anyone

那些处于所有砂砾层最下方的粪便们--不与其它成员接触

is providing solid food for those marsh plants.

为沼泽植物提供了固体养料。

And the clean, clear water that comes out the other end is traveling underground to water each person's yard.

在另外一头出去的清澈而干净的水会从地下运输用于灌溉每个人的庭院。

So even though they're in a desert, they get their own personal oasis.

所以即使他们身处沙漠之中，他们也可以拥有私人绿洲。

This approach is called Integrated Water Management, or holistic or closed-loop.

这种方法被称为水资源综合治理，也可以说成全面治理或循环利用。

Whatever you want to call it,

你们想叫它什么都可以，

it's in conflict with the status quo of how we think about sanitation, which is contain, treat, push it away.

但它与我们目前对卫生设施体系的看法（收集，处理，排放）是相悖的。

But in this approach, we're doing one step better.

在这套系统中，我们做的更好。

We're designing for reuse from the very beginning,

我们一开始就设计成了循环利用。

because everything does get reused, only now we're planning for it.

由于所有的东西都希望被再利用，直到现在我们还在继续规划。

And often, that makes for really beautiful spaces.

经常，这套系统能帮助创造美妙的空间。

But the most important thing about this system isn't the technicals of how it works.

但是对于这个体系来说，最重要的不是其科技原理，

It's how you feel about it. Do you want this in your yard? Why not?

而是你们对它的感觉。你们希望在你们的后院中拥有它吗？为啥不呢？

I got really curious about this question.

我对这个问题十分好奇。

Why don't we see more innovation in sanitation?

为什么我们没有在污水处理中看到革新？

Why isn't that kind of thing the new normal?

为什么革新迟迟不来？

And I care so much about this question, that I work for a nonprofit called Recode.

我真心关心这个问题，之后我为非营利性组织“科技投资新闻资讯网”工作。

We want to accelerate adoption of sustainable building and development practices.

我们想要提高高承受性建筑及其应用的采纳度。

We want more innovation.

我们想拥抱更多革新。

But a lot of times, whole categories of innovation --

但是很多情况却是，目录上所有革新当中，

ones that can help us live more beautifully -- turn out to be illegal.

那些能够帮助我们生活更美好的，最终往往不合法。

Today's regulations and codes were written under the assumption

如今的法规和条例都是基于假设所写。

that best practices would remain best practices, with incremental updates forever and ever.

那些优质实践永远都是优质的，伴随着的只是不断叠加的升级工程。

But innovation isn't always incremental.

但是创新不总是叠加的。

It turns out, how we feel about any particular new technique gets into everything we do:

事实证明，我们对任何新技术的看法会进入到我们生活的方方面面：

how we talk about it, how we encourage people to study, our jokes, our codes.

我们讨论它的时候，我们鼓励他人的时候，我们的笑话，甚至条例当中……

And it ultimately determines how innovative we can be.

这将最终决定我们能富有多少革新精神。

So, that's the first reason we don't innovate in sanitation.

这也是我们不愿在卫生设施体系当中革新的第一个理由。

We're kind of uncomfortable talking about sanitation, that's why I've gotten called "The Poo Princess" so much.

我们在一定程度上是不愿讨论卫生体系的，这也是我被如此频繁的被称为“大便女皇”的原因。

The second reason is: we think the problem is solved here in the US. But not so.

第二个理由是：我们认为这个问题在美国这儿已经被解决了。但事实并非如此

Here in the US we still get sick from drinking shit in our sewage water.

在美国我们依然会因为饮用含有粪便成分的阴沟水而生病。

Seven million people get sick every year, 900 die annually.

每年有700万人因此生病，一年会有900人死于此因。

And we're not taking a holistic approach to making it better. So we're not solving it.

但我们并没有运用一个更加彻底有效的方法来改善现状。也就是说，我们并没有解决问题。

Where I live in Portland, Oregon, I can't take Echo for a swim during the rainy season,

在我住的地方：俄勒冈州波特兰市，我都无法回应你在雨季游泳的感受，

because we dump raw sewage sometimes into our river.

因为我们时常把未处理过的污水直接倒进河里。

Our rainwater and our sewage go to the same treatment plant. Too much rain overflows into the river.

我们的雨水和污水会进入相同的处理池。这样，过多的雨水就会进入河流之中。

And Portland is not alone here.

波特兰市在这件事上并不孤独。

Forty percent of municipalities self-report dumping raw or partially treated sewage into our waterways.

40%的市政当局在自述汇报中指出曾倾倒未处理或仅部分处理的污水进入水网。

The other bummer going on here with our status quo is that half of all of your poop and pee is going to fertilize farmland.

另一件当下令人不悦的事是我们的排泄物们一半跑去灌溉农场了，

The other half is being incinerated or land-filled.

另一半则被火化或是填埋了。

And that's a bummer to me, because there are amazing nutrients in your daily doody.

我对此很失望，因为我们每天的便便当中其实含有惊人的养分。

It is comparable to pig manure; we're omnivores, they're omnivores.

与猪的粪便是类同的。我们是杂食动物，它们也是。

Think of your poo and pee as a health smoothie for a tree.

想像一下你的排泄物对于一棵树来说就是一杯奶昔

The other bummer going on here is that we're quickly moving all the drugs we take into our waterways.

其实还有一件令人不悦的事，那就是我们正在迅速地把我们摄入体内的药物转入水网当中。

The average wastewater treatment plant can remove maybe half of the drugs that come in.

中等水平的废水处理池只有能力移除废水中的一半药物。

The other half goes right out the other side.

另一半就心安理得的从另一侧出去了。

Consider what a cocktail of pharmaceuticals -- hormones, steroids, Vicodin -- does to a fish, to a dog, to a child.

想一想由各种药物成分，性激素、类固醇、维柯丁（一种止痛药）构成的鸡尾酒，会对一条鱼，对一只狗，一个孩子造成怎样的影响？

But this isn't just some problem that we need to contain.

但这个问题不单单只是它本身。

If we flip this around, we can create a resource that can solve so many of our other problems.

如果能够翻过这一页，我们就能找到一条途径，它能帮我们解决许多别的问题。

And I want to get you comfortable with this idea,

我希望你们能够接受这个想法。

so imagine the things I'm going to show you, these technologies, and this attitude that says,

设想一下我将要展示给你的东西，这些科技，还有这样的态度：

"We're going to reuse this. Let's design to make it beautiful" -- as advanced potty training.

“我们将要拯救这一切。让我们把它设计的更美吧”，致先进的如厕技术。

I think you're ready for it. I think we as a culture are ready for advanced potty training.

我以为你们已经做好心理准备了。我认为我们的文化已经为先进如厕技术做好准备。

And there are three great reasons to enroll today.

这其中有三个重要的理由。

Number one: we can fertilize our food.

第一：这能为我们的食物施肥。

Each one of us is pooping and peeing something that could fertilize half or maybe all of our food, depending on our diet.

我们每个人都产生能够肥沃我们一半甚至全部食物的排泄物，具体取决于我们的食谱。

That dark brown poo in the toilet is dark brown because of what?

我们的便便为什么是深棕色的？

Dead stuff, bacteria. That's carbon.

因为无机物、细菌。都是碳

And carbon, if we're getting that into the soil, is going to bind to the other minerals and nutrients in there.

如果我们把这些碳弄进土壤里，它们将会与土壤中的其它矿物质、养分结合。

Boom! Healthier food. Voilà! Healthier people.

更加健康的食物。哇啦！更加健康的人们。

Chemical fertilizers by definition don't have carbon in them.

化肥从定义上来讲是不含碳的。

Imagine if we could move our animal manure and our human manure to our soil,

想像假如我们能够把这些生物养分全部放进土壤，

we might not need to rely on fossil fuel-based fertilizers, mine minerals from far away.

我们也许就不需要依赖于化石燃料基肥料，或是老远拉来的矿物质了。

Imagine how much energy we could save.

我们会节约多少能量啊。

Now, some of us are concerned about industrial pollutants contaminating this reuse cycle. That can be addressed.

现在，我们其中的一些人也许正担心着工业有害物质污染循环圈。这确实需要被强调。

But we need to separate our discomfort about talking about poo and pee

但是我们需要把因为讨论到排泄物而感到的不适与其区分开来。

so we can calmly talk about how we want to reuse it and what things we don't want to reuse.

只有这样我们才能平静地讨论如何循环利用它们，还有哪些东西我们不希望循环使用。

And get this: if we change our approach to sanitation, we can start to slow down climate change.

还有这个：如果我们改变了卫生设施体系，我们将开始减缓气候变化。

Remember that carbon in the poop?

还记得粪便中的碳吗？

If we can get that into our soil bank, it's going to start to absorb carbon dioxide that we put into the air.

如果那笔碳进账土壤银行，它们会帮助吸收我们自己扔进空气中地二氧化碳。

And that could help slow down global warming.

这就会帮助我们减缓全球变暖。

I want to show you some brave souls who've had the courage to embrace this advanced potty training approach.

我想要给你们展示这些英勇地灵魂，就是那些有勇气去拥抱这种先进如厕技术地人们。

So those folks in New Mexico -- why did they do it?

所以这些在新墨西哥州地人们--他们为什么要这么做呢？

'Cause they're in a desert? 'Cause they save money? Yeah.

因为他们身处沙漠之中吗？是为了省钱吗？当然。

But more importantly, they felt comfortable seeing what was going down the toilet as a resource.

但更重要地是他们会因为目睹卷入厕所的是一种资源而感到更舒心。

Here's an average house in Portland, Oregon.

这是在俄勒冈州，波特兰市的一个普通房子，

This house is special because they have a composting toilet

唯一特别之处是拥有一个堆粪厕所。

turning all their poo and pee, over time, into a soil amendment.

能够逐渐把所有排泄物变为土壤改良剂。

Their wash water, their shower water, is going underground to a series of mulch basins,

产生的洗手水，洗澡水都会进入地下，进入一系列封闭槽中，

and then watering that orchard downhill.

然后用于灌溉山下的果园。

When they went to get this permitted, it wasn't allowed in Oregon.

当他们去申报这个项目时，被俄勒冈州所禁止了。

But it was allowed in five other states nearby.

但却在相邻的五个州得到通过。

That was Recode's -- my organization's -- first code-change campaign.

那是我所在的组织“科技投资新闻资讯网”的第一次修该条例运动。

Here's a great example where the Integrated Water Management approach was the cheapest.

这有一个水资源综合治理的很好的例子，它也是最便宜的方法。

This is three high-rise residential buildings in downtown Portland, and they're not flushing to the sewer system.

这是波特兰市中心的三栋高层住宅楼，它们不会因为谈及下水系统感到脸红。

How? Well, their wash water is getting reused to flush toilets, cool mechanical systems, water the landscape.

这怎么说？嗯，他们的洗澡水会被再利用去冲马桶，冷却机械系统，还有浇灌景观植物。

And then once the building has thoroughly used everything -- aka, shat in it --

当整栋楼已经充分利用了所有的东西，就是曾经的粪便们

it's treated to highest standard right on-site by plants and bacteria, and then infiltrated into the groundwater right below.

他们已经被植物和细菌净化过了，才会进入正下方的地下水系统。

And all that was cheaper than updating the surrounding sewer infrastructure.

这一切要比更新周围的污水基础设施要便宜很多。

So that's the last reason we should get really excited about doing things differently: we can save a lot of money.

所以我们来到了应该为改变而感到激动的最后一个原因：我们可以节省一大笔钱。

This was the first permit of its kind in Oregon.

下面是这类技术在俄勒冈州第一个通过法令的例子。

Brave and open-minded people sat down and felt comfortable saying, "Yeah, that shit makes sense."

勇敢而心胸开阔的人们在圆桌会议上阔谈到：“对，那坨粑粑听起来很有道理。”

"Let's do it." You know?

“我们放手干吧！”你们知道吗？

I keep showing examples where everyone's reusing everything on-site. Why?

我不断的拿出各种例子，其中每个人都在重复使用每一样东西。为什么呢？

Well, when we look at our aging infrastructure -- and it is old -- and we look at the cost of updating it,

当我们目睹了这些老化着的器械，然后我们看到了更新它们的价格，

three-quarters of that cost is just the pipes snaking through our city.

三分之一的钱将花费在更新城市地下管道上。

So as we build anew, as we renovate, it might make more sense to treat and reuse everything on-site.

所以作为我们去整修，去翻新，把它们换成兼备治理和循环的设备也许更合理。

San Francisco realized that it made sense to invest in rebates for every household

旧金山就意识到了这一点：他们在家装当中投资退税活动，

to reuse their wash water and their rainwater to water the backyard,

以此来拯救那些洗浴用水和雨水。人们用这些水去浇灌他们的后院儿，

because the amount of water they would save as a community would be so big.

因为从整体来说这样真的能节约很多水。

But why were all these projects so innovative? The money piece, yeah.

但是为什么说这些项目都很创新呢？从钱的角度来说是一方面。

But more importantly, they felt comfortable with this idea of advanced potty training.

其实更重要的，还是他们想到能够拥有先进如厕技术。

Imagine if we embraced innovation for sanitation the way we have for, say, solar power.

想象如果我们能够运用全新的卫生设施体系，就拿已有的例子途径来说，太阳能。

Think about it -- solar power used to be uncommon and unaffordable.

思考一下它吧，太阳能曾经十分稀少且价格高昂。

Now it's more a part of our web of power than ever before. And it's creating resiliency.

现今它是我们能源链上的重要一员。它也逐渐表现出适应性。

We now have sources of power like the sun that don't vary with our earthly dramas.

我们现在拥有与太阳能类似的能源，而且并不随地球阴晴而改变。

What's driving all that innovation? It's us.

是什么驱动了这些创新？是我们人类。

We're talking about energy. It's cool to talk about energy.

我们正在谈论能源。这听起来很酷炫。

Some folks are even talking about the problems with the limited resources where our current energy is coming from.

有一些人甚至在谈论当下能源紧张的问题。

We encourage our best and brightest to work on this issue -- better solar panels, better batteries, everything.

我们邀请我们当中最棒，最聪明的那批去解决这个问题。更加有效的太阳能板，更高能的电池。

So let's talk about where our drinking water is coming from, where our poo and pee are actually going.

现在让我们来讨论一下我们饮用水的来源吧，其实就是我们排泄物的去处。

If we can get over this discomfort with this entire topic,

如果我们能够克服对于谈论这个话题的不适，

we could create something that creates our future goldmine.

我们就能够创造出埋下未来金矿的东西。

Every time you flush the toilet, I want you to think,

每当你们冲马桶时，我都希望你们能够思考，

"Where is my poop and pee going? Will they be gainfully employed?"

“我的排泄物们都去哪儿了？他们会被高价雇佣吗？”

"Or are they going to be wreaking havoc in some waterway?"

“或者他们会在水道当中制造大动乱吗？”

If you don't know, find out.

如果你们不清楚的话，就要去弄清楚。

And if you don't like the answer, figure out how you can communicate to those who can drive this change

当你们不喜爱答案的时候，就弄明白如何才能与管辖这件事的人联系上，

that you have advanced potty training, that you are ready for reuse.

就说你们掌握先进如厕技术，你们已经对于循环利用有充分准备。

How all of you feel is going to determine exactly how innovative we can be. Thank you so much.

你们所有人的感受将会决定我们究竟能多么富有创新精神。非常感谢。