This is all of my trash from the past five years.
這是我過去五年內製造的垃圾。
Lauren lives zero-waste and saves all her trash in this jar.
Lauren 實行零廢棄生活，並將所有垃圾放進這個罐子裡。
I'm Lauren Singer. I live in Brooklyn, New York, and I'm the founder of a blog called Trash is for Tossers. It's all about living in a zero-waste lifestyle. I also have a company called The Simply Co., where we make organic vegan laundry detergent. And I have a zero-waste-lifestyle store called Package Free.
我是 Lauren Singer。我住在紐約布魯克林區，我也是 Trash is for Tossers 這個部落格的創立者。裡面的內容都是關於「零廢棄生活」。 我也開了一家公司，叫做 The Simply Co.，我們生產有機純素洗衣精。我也有一間零廢棄生活商店，叫做 Package Free。
I realized that I cared about the environment, but I wasn't living that way, so I decided to go zero-waste. I was an environmental studies major at NYU. And I always was really passionate about environmentalism since I read Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, in high school. But it wasn't really until my senior year of college when I was in a course called the Environmental Studies Capstone Course, which is the last class you have to take as an environmental studies major.
我發現雖然我很關心環境，但我的生活方式對環境並不友善，所以我決定要實行零廢棄生活。我以前就讀紐約大學，主修環境學系。我一直都對環境保護主義很熱衷，這是因為我高中時讀了瑞秋．卡森的《寂靜的春天》。但我真正開始有所行動是大四的時候，我修了一門課叫做「環境學總整課程」，這是主修環境學系最後一堂必修課。
And in that class, there was a girl that every day would bring a plastic bag full of food, a plastic clamshell, a plastic fork and knife, and a plastic drink, and a bag of chips, and she would eat her whole dinner and then throw it in the trash. And I thought she was the worst person that I've ever seen for being in environmental studies major but making a lot of trash.
那堂課上有個女生每天都會帶一袋塑膠袋，裡面裝滿食物、一個塑膠餐盒、一支塑膠叉和塑膠刀、一罐塑膠瓶飲料、一袋洋芋片，她會把晚餐全部吃完，然後把垃圾全部丟進垃圾桶。我就想，這個人真的是史上最糟糕的人了，竟然主修環境學還製造這麼多垃圾。
But one day, I went home after class to make dinner, and I opened my fridge, and I realized that every single thing that I had in there was packaged in plastic. And I looked around my apartment and found that all of my beauty products were packaged in plastic, my cleaning products were packaged in plastic, my clothes predominantly were made of plastic. And I realized that I was just as bad as the girl I was staring at in class, thinking that she was the worst. And so I decided to make a change.
但有一天，我下課回家做晚餐，然後我打開冰箱，發現冰箱裡的所有東西都是塑膠包裝。接著我環顧我整層公寓，發現所有的美妝產品都是塑膠包裝、清潔用品也是塑膠包裝、我的衣服主要都是由塑膠做成的。我才發現，我跟我在課堂上盯著看的那個女孩一樣糟糕，竟然還覺得她是最糟糕的人。所以我決定要改變。
First, I decided to go plastic-free. But then I learned about this zero-waste lifestyle, and I decided to go zero-waste to really align what I cared about, which is environmental sustainability, with my day-to-day actions and really live my values.
我剛開始想要實行無塑膠生活。但我後來接觸到零廢棄生活方式，就決定要實踐這種生活，讓我對環境永續的關心與我日常生活的行為一致，並真正實踐我相信的價值。
So what's in the jar?
所以在罐子裡有什麼？
Wrappers of food that I had in my house before I started going zero-waste, straws that I got from restaurant—I've learned to ask for my drink without a straw—things that connect price tags to the clothing, protective seals, tags that come on, like, the inside of clothing, silica packets, a credit card, present ribbon, Band-Aids, and lots of festival bracelets.
我實行零廢棄生活之前家裡的食物包裝、餐廳拿到的吸管－－我現在已經學會不再跟餐廳拿吸管－－衣服上掛吊牌的塑膠掛條、塑膠套、衣服裡面的標籤、乾燥劑、一張信用卡、禮物緞帶、OK 繃，還有一堆節慶手環。
My three main sources of trash were food waste, food packaging, and product packaging. And so, to eliminate those, I just started composting. I started shopping at the farmer's market so I can get food without packaging. And I started making all of my own beauty and cleaning products. And by doing those three things, I eliminated essentially all of my waste.
我三個主要的垃圾來源是廚餘、食物包裝和產品包裝。所以，為了要消除這些垃圾，我開始將廚餘拿去作堆肥。我開始上農夫市集，這樣就能買到沒有包裝的食物。我也開始製作自己的美妝產品跟清潔產品。開始實行這三件事情後，我減少了我大部分的垃圾來源。
For me, how I do that is by being prepared by leaving my house with my stainless steel containers and my reusable coffee cup and all of these multiuse items that help me prevent trash in the first place. So I don't even have to make it at all.
對我來說，要做到這些事情，就是離開家門前要先準備不鏽鋼容器，還有能重複使用的咖啡杯，還有所有的環保產品，可以讓我首先就先避免掉了垃圾。所以我甚至完全不需要製造垃圾。
One criticism is "How can you have a menstrual cycle and live a zero-waste lifestyle?" But I use a menstrual cup, which is a washable silicone cup. That enables you to go completely single-use-disposable-free on your period. Another criticism that I get is toilet paper. How can you go to the bathroom and live a zero-waste lifestyle? Well, I just got a bidet so you can actually stop using toilet paper altogether. Ha-ha. So, there.
有個對我的批評是這樣的：「妳怎麼可能在生理期還實行無廢棄生活？」但我用的是月亮杯，是可以重複清洗的矽膠杯。這讓你可以完全在生理期時重複使用一項產品。另一個批評是衛生紙。妳怎麼可能上廁所還不製造垃圾？這個嘛，我剛拿到一個坐浴桶，這樣你就可以真的完全不需要衛生紙了。哈哈。所以，就是這樣。
I used to think that the solution to environmental problems was through politicians and proactive policy decisions. But I realize that individuals have a huge impact on the world and the climate. And so, with every American making four and a half pounds of trash per person per day, we contribute to this overall climate issue. And so, by us taking simple steps to reduce our waste, if we all take little steps and all make little changes, that has a big positive impact. And I believe we can make a difference.
我以前都覺得環境問題只有透過政治人物和積極的政策才能解決。但我發現個人行為也能對世界和氣候有巨大影響。每個美國人每天都會製造 4.5 磅的垃圾，我們對這全面的氣候問題也有責任。所以說，我們透過簡單的方式來減少垃圾，如果我們都能邁進一小步、做些小改變，那就會有巨大的正面影響。我相信我們能有所改變。
