拯救地球,从我做起

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如果你觉得拯救地球是大人才能做到的事，那你就大错特错了，因为青少年只要开动脑筋，努力研究，行动起来，也一样能作出大贡献！下文中的五个青少年就在用实际行动拯救我们的地球母亲。看看他们都做了些什么吧！

Saving Garbage “保存”垃圾

How much trash does one person produce in a week? How about in a year? Brennan Bird, 23, decided to find out. In 2010, as a student at the University of California, Davis, he saved all of his non-biodegradable1) garbage for an entire year―in his room.

Watching more than 200 pounds of bottles, cans, and other trash pile up led him to make some big lifestyle changes. "It really made me face the impact of my daily decisions," Brennan says.

He now carries a reusable cup everywhere for drinks and cloth bags for buying fruits and vegetables. He buys foods like cereal and rice in bulk2) at a food co-op, filling his own containers.

"If we change the way we live, it can have a profound effect on the world," Brennan says.

Brennan also experiments with other ways to reuse trash―such as building a bench using "bricks" made of discarded3) plastic bottles.

"I'll never look at trash the same way again," Brennan says.

一个人一周会产生多少垃圾？一年又是多少呢？23岁的布伦南・伯德决心找出答案。2010年，在加利福尼亚大学戴维斯分校上学的布伦南把自己一整年里产生的所有不能生物降解的垃圾全部保存了下来――放在自己的房间里。

看着两百多磅的瓶瓶罐罐和其他垃圾日渐堆积起来，这让布伦南在生活方式上做出了一些重大改变。他说：“这件事确实使我开始正视自己的日常决定所带来的影响。”

他现在走到哪里都带着可重复使用的水杯来喝水，买水果和蔬菜时也随身带着布制的购物袋。他在食品合作社购买散装的大米、谷类等食品，并用自带的容器盛装。

“如果我们改变自己的生活方式，就会为世界带来意义深远的影响。”布伦南说。

布伦南还试着通过其他方式使垃圾得到再利用，比如用丢弃的塑料瓶做成的“砖块”做一张长椅。

“我不会再用老眼光看待垃圾了。”布伦南说。

Green Machines 绿色校车

   There are almost half a million school buses on U.S. roads. Can the air pollution they emit be cut?

Jonny Cohen is working on it. A sophomore from Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois, he is the inventor of Green-Shields. One of these thin, clear plexiglass4) shields, placed over the front of a bus, makes the vehicle more aerodynamic5), Jonny says. This means the bus will burn less fuel and emit fewer gas fumes into the air―up to 20 percent less, Jonny found in a recent test.

So far, Jonny, 15, has received, in total, $26,000 in grants from Youth Venture6) and the Pepsi Refresh Project7) to help him develop his idea. He was a finalist for the 2011 Prudential Spirit of Community Award8) as well.

With the help of a team of volunteers, Jonny hopes to finish the prototype of his shield this summer. He is working with the Illinois Department of Transportation to get GreenShields approved for use on school buses.

To other young people with ideas he says, "You really have to stand up and be the change. You can't wait for it to happen."

美国的公路上行驶着近五十万辆校车。我们能不能减少这些校车造成的空气污染呢？

乔尼・科恩正在为此而努力。乔尼来自伊利诺伊州海兰帕克，是海兰帕克中学的一名高二学生。他发明了一种叫做“绿盾”的装置。乔尼说，在校车前方安装一片这种薄而透明的普列克斯玻璃挡板，可以提升校车的空气动力学性能(编者注：即减少空气阻力)。这就意味着校车的油耗将会降低，尾气排放也会减少。乔尼在最近的一次实验中发现，这种装置可使上述两项指标减少20%之多。

迄今为止，15岁的乔尼已经收到了来自“青少年创业基金”和“百事焕新项目”共计2.6万美元的资助，帮助他推进自己的设想。他同时还是2011年“保德信青少年志工菁英奖”的最终候选人。

在一队志愿者的帮助下，乔尼希望能在今年(编者注：指2011年)夏天完成绿盾样品的制作。他正在和伊利诺伊州的交通部门合作，争取获得许可，将绿盾应用于校车上。(编者注：本文写于2011年4月，乔尼与其团队于2012年1月制成了绿盾样品。)

对于其他有想法的年轻人，乔尼说：“你必须挺身而出，做出改变，不能坐等变化自己发生。”

A City Garden 城市园圃

In 2007, gardens were hard to come by on the East Side of San Antonio, Texas. So were places to get fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.

Diana Lopez and other community members decided to change that. They started by converting an abandoned lot filled with trash into a vibrant9) organic garden full of produce.

"It took a lot of research on my part," says Diana, 22, who is employed by the Southwest Workers Union, an organization of low-income workers and families in San Antonio.

She had to learn how to till10) soil and choose the plants and foods that would grow best in the garden.

Today the project has expanded to cover four lots, growing a host of fruits and vegetables. It also teaches young people about gardening and nature. "It's important to get your clothes and your hands dirty," Diana says. "It's all for good, to revitalize our Mother Earth."

2007年，得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的东部地区几乎没有什么果蔬园，那里也很少有地方能买到新鲜的有机蔬菜和水果。

戴安娜・洛佩斯和社区里的其他居民决心改变这一状况。他们开始动手将一片满是垃圾的荒地改造成一处生机盎然、农产丰富的有机园圃。

“我为此做了很多研究工作。”现年22岁的戴安娜说。她是圣安东尼奥市西南工会的工作人员，该工会是一个由低收入工人及家庭形成的组织。

她必须学习如何耕地以及如何挑选出最适合在这个园圃生长的作物。

如今，这个项目的规模已经扩大到了四块地，种植有许多水果和蔬菜。这个项目还教会年轻人许多关于园艺和大自然的知识。“亲身参与实践活动非常重要，”戴安娜说，“这是件好事，是为了让我们的地球母亲重新充满活力。”

Reducing E-Waste 减少电子垃圾

One day, Sachin Rudraraju, 16, noticed two old computers left out beside a trash can in his Powell, Ohio, neighborhood.

"That's where I saw the problem," says the junior at Olentangy Liberty High School―the problem of how to dispose of11) old electronics.

Americans got rid of about 2.3 million tons of computers and other electronics in 2007, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Only 18 percent of it was recycled. Most of the rest went to landfills, where toxins12) such as mercury13) and lead can leak out into the water and air.

In 2008, Sachin founded the Community Recycling Campaign. He and other volunteers have gone door-to-door educating people about recycling electronics. The group has also collected hundreds of computers and computer products―refurbishing14) what they can and properly recycling the rest.

"I think the campaign inspired people," says Sachin, who was also a Prudential Spirit of Community Award finalist. "People understand that it's an important cause."

一天，俄亥俄州鲍威尔的一名16岁少年萨钦・鲁德拉拉朱发现，有两台旧电脑被扔在自家附近的一个垃圾桶旁边。

“正是那一幕让我意识到了这个问题。”这名来自奥伦坦吉自由中学的高三学生表示。他指的是如何处理废旧电器的问题。

据美国国家环境保护局统计，美国人在2007年淘汰了约230万吨的电脑和其他电器，其中仅有18%被回收利用。其余的绝大多数都被送往垃圾填埋场，而这些垃圾中所含的汞和铅等毒素会渗入水和空气当中。

2008年，萨钦发起了社区回收运动。他和其他的志愿者挨家挨户上门普及回收处理电器的知识。他们还收集了数百台电脑和电脑配件，把其中自己可以修好的修整一新，并将其余的做了适当的回收处理。

“我认为这场运动把大家都发动起来了，”萨钦说，“人们认识到这是一项重要的使命。”萨钦同样是“保德信青少年志工菁英奖”的最终候选人。

Lobbying15) for Change

游说政府做出改变

In Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, where Freya Chay lives, renewable energy like wind and solar power is an important topic.

"In Alaska, we have a really big oil and natural gas industry," says the 16-year-old sophomore at Kenai Central High School. But oil and gas pollute the air and water, and there is a limited amount of both, Freya notes. "For me, alternative energy is a way we can get energy without hurting the environment."

Starting with her hometown and working her way to the state capital of Juneau, Freya lobbied officials to pass a state law that encourages the use of alternative energy systems in homes. The law exempts16) some homeowners who install such systems from higher property taxes. This accomplishment won her a 2010 Brower Youth Award for environmental activism.

But Freya is still at work, convincing municipalities17) to enact the law. "It's still a process," she says. "But I feel like [the outcome] is pretty promising18)."

在弗雷亚・蔡伊的家乡阿拉斯加州的基奈半岛，风能和太阳能等可再生能源是当地人的一个重要话题。

“阿拉斯加有规模巨大的石油和天然气工业。”这名基奈中心中学16岁的高二学生说。但是，弗雷亚认识到石油和天然气会污染水和空气，而且二者的储量也都有限。“在我看来，替代能源既可以使我们获得能源，又不会危害环境。”

弗雷亚从她的家乡一路游说到州首府朱诺，希望政府官员们通过一项州法令，鼓励各家各户使用替代能源装置。根据这项法令，一些已安装替代能源装置的家庭可免除较高的房地产税。这一成就使弗雷亚在2010年获得了为环保积极分子设立的“布劳尔青年奖”。

但是弗雷亚仍在继续努力说服市政当局颁行这项法令。“事情还在进行中，”她说，“不过我觉得(结果)很令人期待。”