and for the past 14 years

過去 14 年來，

I've been teaching crap.

我都在教廢物。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Not that I'm a bad teacher,

不是因為我是個壞老師，

but I've been studying and teaching

而是因為一直以來我都在研究、教導

about human waste

人類的排泄物，

and how waste is conveyed

以及廢物如何透過廢水處理廠運送，

through these wastewater treatment plants,

還有我們如何規劃與設計這些處理廠，

and how we engineer and design

讓我們能保護地表水，像是河川。

these treatment plants so that we can protect

我的科學職業生涯奠基在

surface water like rivers.

運用頂尖的分子技術、

I've based my scientific career

應用去氧核糖核酸 (DNA) 與核糖核酸 (RNA) 的技術，

on using leading-edge molecular techniques,

並透過生物反應器檢視細菌量，

DNA- and RNA-based methods

然後再次優化這些機制。

to look at microbial populations in biological reactors,

經過這些年，

and again to optimize these systems.

我對廁所有種病態的迷戀，

And over the years,

大家都知道我會偷溜進廁所，

I have developed an unhealthy obsession with toilets,

還會帶著智慧型手機，

and I've been known to sneak into toilets

在世界各地都一樣。

and take my camera phone

但靠著這個方式，

all over the world.

我發現那不只和科技有關，

But along the way, I've learned

也和所謂的廢物文化有關。

that it's not just the technical side,

舉例來說，

but there's also this thing called the culture of crap.

在座有多少人用洗的，

So for example,

有多少人用擦的？

how many of you are washers

（笑聲）

and how many of you are wipers?

你們應該都知道我在講什麼。

(Laughter)

如果你是用洗的，

If, well, I guess you know what I mean.

那你就會用水清洗肛門，這是術語。

If you're a washer, then you use water

如果你是用擦的，

for anal cleansing. That's the technical term.

那你就會用衛生紙，

And if you're a wiper,

或是世界上有些地方沒有衛生紙，

then you use toilet paper

就會用報紙、舊布或玉米穗軸。

or, in some regions of the world

這不只是件微不足道的事，

where it's not available, newspaper

相反的，了解並解決 公共衛生問題是非常重要的事。

or rags or corncobs.

有個大問題是，

And this is not just a piece of trivia,

世界上有 25 億人

but it's really important to understand

沒有適當的衛生設備。

and solve the sanitation problem.

他們沒有現代化的廁所。

And it is a big problem:

還有 11 億人的廁所

There are 2.5 billion people in the world

是在大街、河堤，或公共空間，

who don't have access to adequate sanitation.

同樣的，術語稱為

For them, there's no modern toilet.

露天排泄，

And there are 1.1 billion people

但這真的單純只是

whose toilets are the streets

公開大便。

or river banks or open spaces,

如果你住在排泄物之中，

and again, the technical term for that is

排泄物圍繞著你，你就會生病。

open defecation,

那會進入你的飲用水和食物中，

but that is really simply

直接進入你的週遭環境裡。

shitting in the open.

聯合國估計

And if you're living in fecal material

每年有 150 萬名孩童死亡

and it's surrounding you, you're going to get sick.

是因為缺乏適當的公共衛生。

It's going to get into your drinking water,

這是可避免的， 每 20 秒就能救一個人，

into your food, into your immediate surroundings.

每小時就能救 171 人，

So the United Nations estimates

每天就能救 4,100 人。

that every year, there are 1.5 million child deaths

因此，為了避免露天排泄，

because of inadequate sanitation.

市政當局會做公共建設，

That's one preventable death every 20 seconds,

像在市區周圍和鄉村裡蓋茅坑。

171 every hour,

例如，南非的誇祖魯-納塔爾省

4,100 every day.

已經蓋了幾萬個這種茅坑。

And so, to avoid open defecation,

但還有個問題，

municipalities and cities

當你增加到幾萬個茅坑，

build infrastructure, for example, like pit latrines,

問題是那些坑滿了怎麼辦？

in peri-urban and rural areas.

就會變這樣，

For example, in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa,

大家在廁所旁邊排泄。

they've built tens of thousands of these pit latrines.

孩童在學校的地板上排泄，

But there's a problem when you scale up

接著在建築外留下一連串，

to tens of thousands, and the problem is,

然後開始繞著建築排泄，

what happens when the pits are full?

這些茅坑必須清理

This is what happens.

和用人力清空。

People defecate around the toilet.

但誰去清空？

In schools, children defecate on the floors

有一些工人會

and then leave a trail outside the building

不時進到茅坑裡

and start defecating around the building,

動手清除內容物。

and these pits have to be cleaned

這是件又髒又危險的工作。

and manually emptied.

如你所見，他們沒有防護設備，

And who does the emptying?

也沒有防護服裝。

You've got these workers

有個工人在那下面。

who have to sometimes go down into the pits

希望你看得見他。

and manually remove the contents.

他戴著面具，但沒穿衣服。

It's a dirty and dangerous business.

在某些國家，像是印度，

As you can see, there's no protective equipment,

種姓階級較低的人被迫要清茅坑，

no protective clothing.

他們在社會上也被迫害。

There's one worker down there.

你可以自問， 我們能怎麼解決這個問題，

I hope you can see him.

以及我們為什麼不能 就蓋個西式的沖水馬桶

He's got a face mask on, but no shirt.

給這 25 億人用？

And in some countries, like India,

答案是，不可能。

the lower castes are condemned

某些地區沒有足夠的水，

to empty the pits,

沒有足夠的能源，

and they're further condemned by society.

預計要花上兆美元

So you ask yourself, how can we solve this

來設計管線、

and why don't we just build Western-style flush toilets

建造廁所、

for these two and a half billion?

管理和維護那些系統，

And the answer is, it's just not possible.

而且如果你沒蓋好，

In some of these areas, there's not enough water,

沖水馬桶就會直接連上河流，

there's no energy,

就像許多發展中國家的城市一樣。

it's going to cost tens of trillions of dollars

但這真的是解決方式嗎？

to lay out the sewer lines

因為基本上，你就是用乾淨的水，

and to build the facilities

你用清水來沖馬桶，

and to operate and maintain these systems,

沖到廢水處理廠，

and if you don't build it right,

接著就會排到河裡，

you're going to have flush toilets

而河流同樣是飲用水來源。

that basically go straight into the river,

因此，我們得重新思考公共衛生，

just like what's happening in many cities

並重新發明那些公共衛生設施，

in the developing world.

而我會證明要這麼做，

And is this really the solution?

就得運用系統思維。

Because essentially, what you're doing is

我們必須檢視整個公共衛生鏈。

you're using clean water

我們從人體使用者介面開始，

and you're using it to flush your toilet,

接著要思考排泄物要如何

convey it to a wastewater treatment plant

收集、儲存、

which then discharges to a river,

運送、處理和再利用，

and that river, again, is a drinking water source.

不只是丟棄，而是要再利用。

So we've got to rethink sanitation,

因此我們先從人體使用者介面開始。

and we've got to reinvent the sanitation infrastructure,

我認為，不論你是用洗的還是用擦的，

and I'm going to argue that to do this,

用坐的還是用蹲的，

you have to employ systems thinking.

人體使用者介面都必須乾淨，

We have to look at the whole sanitation chain.

而且要容易操作，因為畢竟

We start with a human interface,

上大號應該要是讓人身心愉快的事。

and then we have to think about how feces

（笑聲）

are collected and stored,

當我們開始

transported, treated and reused —

了解這個公共衛生鏈，

and not just disposal but reuse.

接下來就是後端技術，

So let's start with the human user interface.

收集來再利用，應該沒那麼麻煩，

I say, it doesn't matter if you're a washer or a wiper,

然後我們可以運用

a sitter or a squatter,

當地可操作與合情合理的解決方式。

the human user interface should be clean

因此，我們就更有可能做，

and easy to use, because after all,

例如，這個尿糞分離廁所，

taking a dump should be pleasurable.

裡頭有兩個洞。

(Laughter)

一前一後，

And when we open the possibilities

前面的收集尿液，

to understanding this sanitation chain,

後面的收集糞便。

then the back-end technology,

這個作法就是分離出尿液，

the collection to the reuse, should not really matter,

尿液有 80% 的氮

and then we can apply

和 50% 的磷，

locally adoptable and context-sensitive solutions.

經過處理和沉澱

So we can open ourselves to possibilities like,

就能形成鳥糞石之類的東西，

for example, this urine-diverting toilet,

那是營養價值很高的肥料；

and there's two holes in this toilet.

然後糞便經過消毒，

There's the front and the back,

同樣會轉變成高價值的終產物。

and the front collects the urine,

例如，我們的某些研究中，

and the back collects the fecal material.

水經過處理後就能重覆利用，

And so what you're doing is you're separating the urine,

只要運用在地的公衛系統，

which has 80 percent of the nitrogen

像是花盆或人工濕地。

and 50 percent of the phosphorus,

因此我們可以讓一切都成真，

and then that can then be treated

只要我們拋棄舊式的沖水馬桶

and precipitated to form things like struvite,

和污水處理廠。

which is a high-value fertilizer,

你也許會問，誰來買單？

and then the fecal material can then be disinfected

我認為政府

and again converted to high-value end products.

應該要提供公共衛生設施的資金。

Or, for example, in some of our research,

非營利團體和贊助單位

you can reuse the water by treating it

可以盡一己之力，但永遠都不夠。

in on-site sanitation systems

政府花在公共衛生上的資金應該要

like planter boxes or constructed wetlands.

等同於道路、

So we can open up all these possibilities

學校、醫院，

if we take away the old paradigm of flush toilets

和其他設施，像是橋樑，

and treatment plants.

因為我們知道， 世界衛生組織的研究指出，

So you might be asking, who's going to pay?

我們每投資一美元

Well, I'm going to argue that governments

在公共衛生設施上，

should fund sanitation infrastructure.

就能得到 3 到 34 美元的回饋。

NGOs and donor organizations,

我們回來談清空茅坑的問題。

they can do their best, but it's not going to be enough.

我們在北卡羅來納州立大學

Governments should fund sanitation

鼓勵學生想出簡單的方法，

the same way they fund roads

他們想出了

and schools and hospitals

簡易的改造螺旋鑽，

and other infrastructure like bridges,

能夠將排泄物

because we know, and the WHO has done this study,

從茅坑移入回收桶，

that for every dollar that we invest

這樣清潔工就不需要再進入茅坑了。

in sanitation infrastructure,

我們在南非的測試成功了。

we get something like three to 34 dollars back.

我們需要讓它更堅固耐用，

Let's go back to the problem of pit emptying.

而且我們會做更多測試，

So at North Carolina State University,

預計明年在馬拉威和南非做。

we challenged our students to come up with a simple solution,

我們的想法是讓它變成

and this is what they came up with:

專業的茅坑清理服務，

a simple, modified screw auger

如此一來，就能以此建立小型企業，

that can move the waste up

創造營收和工作機會。

from the pit and into a collecting drum,

我們期待，

and now the pit worker

在重新思考公共衛生的同時，

doesn't have to go down into the pit.

也能延長這些茅坑的壽命，

We tested it in South Africa, and it works.

這樣我們就不需要依靠

We need to make it more robust,

能應急卻沒什意義的解決方式。

and we're going to do more testing

我相信能使用適當的公共衛生設施

in Malawi and South Africa this coming year.

是基本人權。

And our idea is to make this

我們應該阻止勞役

a professionalized pit-emptying service

種姓階級和社經地位較低的人，

so that we can create a small business out of it,

讓他們免於被迫進入茅坑清理。

create profits and jobs,

這是我們在道德上、我們在社會上，

and the hope is that,

以及我們在環境上應盡的義務。

as we are rethinking sanitation,

謝謝！

we are extending the life of these pits

（掌聲）

so that we don't have to resort

to quick solutions

that don't really make sense.

I believe that access to adequate sanitation

is a basic human right.

We need to stop the practice

of lower castes and lower-status people

going down and being condemned to empty pits.

It is our moral, it is our social

and our environmental obligation.

Thank you.

(Applause)