101.Plastic Pollution

Our Plastic Pollution Crisis is Too Big for Recycling to Fix

Every minute, every single day, the equivalent of a truckload of plastic enters our oceans. In the name of profit and convenience, corporations are literally choking our planet with a substance that does not just “go away” when we toss it into a bin.

每一天，每一分钟，相当于一卡车那么多的塑料垃圾被倾入我们的海洋。公司企业们以利润和便利为名，正在用这些物质（塑料）使我们的星球窒息，这些塑料并不会只是被扔进垃圾桶就这么“消失”掉。

We buy a soda, sip it for a few minutes, and toss its permanent packaging “away”. We eat potato chips, finish them, then throw their permanent packaging “away”. The cycle is endless, and it happens countless times every single day. But here’s the catch – there is no “away”. As far as we try to toss a piece of plastic – whether it’s into a recycling bin or not – it does not disappear. Chances are, it ends up polluting our communities, oceans or waterways in some form.

我们买苏打水，啜饮几分钟，并将其永久性的包装（塑料瓶）“丢掉”；吃完薯片以后，然后将它们的永久性包装（包装袋）“扔掉”。 这样的循环是无止境的，每一天都会发生无数次，但是关键是这些丢掉不是真的就“没了”，我们扔了塑料后，无论它是否会进入回收站，它都不会消失，最终它可能会以某种形式污染我们的社区，海洋或水道。

For years, we’ve been conned into thinking the problem of plastic packaging can be solved through better individual action. We’re told that if we simply recycle we’re doing our part. We’re told that if we bring reusable bags to the grocery store, we’re saving the world. We think that if we drink from a reusable bottle, we’re making enough of a difference. But the truth is that we cannot recycle our way out of this mess.

多年来，我们一直认为乱扔塑料包装的问题可以通过更好的个人行动来解决。我们都知道，如果参与回收利用，我们就尽了职责。我们都知道，如果将可重复使用的袋子带到杂货店，我们就是在拯救世界。我们认为，如果用可重复使用的瓶子喝水，就已经做出了足够大的改变。但事实是，无论再怎么回收利用，我们始终无法解决（塑料危机的）难题。

Recycling alone will never stem the flow of plastics into our oceans; we have to get to the source of the problem and slow down the production of all this plastic waste. We need corporations – those like Coca-Cola, Unilever, Starbucks and Nestlé that continue to churn out throwaway plastic bottles, cups, and straws – to step up and show real accountability for the mess they’ve created.

单靠回收不会阻止塑料流入我们的海洋; 我们必须找出问题的根源，并减缓所有这些塑料垃圾的产生。我们需要像可口可乐，联合利华，星巴克和雀巢这样持续生产一次性塑料瓶、杯子和吸管的大公司站出来，对他们所制造的“垃圾”承担责任。

equivalent  相等的

In the name of 以……为名

choking  使窒息

substance  物质

permanent  永久的

recycle  回收利用

countless 无数的

Recycling 回收利用

stem 阻止