and now we are in the middle of the Plastic Age.

現在，我們活在塑膠時代

Because every year we produce about 300,000,000 tons of plastic

因為每年我們生產的塑膠就有三億噸

and fraction of that enters rivers, water ways and eventually the oceans.

塑膠碎片被丟棄在河川、水道中， 最後會進入到海裡

If you want to eat a biscuit nowadays

如果今天你想要吃餅乾

we have to buy a biscuit within a plastic wrapper,

我們買到的餅乾外頭有塑膠包裝

within a plastic tray, within a cardboard box,

放在塑膠盤裡 再包一層硬紙盒

within a plastic foil, within a plastic bag.

再包一層塑膠薄膜 再包一層塑膠袋

It's not hazardous nuclear waste -- it's a biscuit.

這可不是在講危險的核能廢料 這只是一片餅乾

And this is me. I love diving

這是我，我愛潛水

just taking you through my holiday slides here.

帶你看看我假日的投影片

This is at the pristine Azores Islands and this is how their beaches look.

這是在純淨的亞速群島（Azores Islands） 這是他們的海灘的模樣

Covered with plastic fragments.

布滿了塑膠碎片

Due to sun and waves over the years

由於這幾年來陽光和海浪的關係

the garbage breaks down into ever smaller pieces, but remains plastic.

垃圾變成小碎片，但它還是塑膠

And, well interestingly, you don't see a lot of red particles in here

有趣的是，你不會看到 很多紅色粒子在這裡頭

because those look like food

因為紅色和其它顏色比起來

to birds more than any other color.

對鳥類來說看起來更像食物

So this is the result.

這就是牠們的下場

And well, the debris primarily collects at these 5 rotating currents

嗯，從五大循環的洋流，也就是環流中 所收集而來的碎片

called the gyres, where it doesn't only directly kills sea life,

它不只會直接讓海底生物致命

but due to the absorption of PCBs and DDTs, also poisons the food chain.

但是由於吸收了 PCB 和 DDT 也毒害了食物鏈

A food chain that includes us -- humans.

我們人類也在食物鏈中

And while diving in Greece

當我在希臘潛水時

I came across more plastic bags than fish

我得穿越比魚還多的塑膠袋

and astounded by the depressing sights

我的一位蘇格蘭籍潛水好友

my Scottish dive buddy turned to me and said,

看到這令人沮喪的景象，對我說：

"A lot of jellyfish is here, dear. Seen about a thousand."

「親愛的，這裡好多水母， 大概有一千隻吧。」

There were no jellyfish.

那裡根本沒有水母

I won't talk about environmental issues in general.

我不會跟你們談環保問題

I think the common response is, well that's a long way off.

我想大部分的回應是 那是一條很長遠的路

That's for our children to worry about.

讓我們的下一代去煩惱

So hello, here I am.

嘿！我在這！

Why don't we just clean it up?

為什麼我們不直接去清乾淨？

There are a multiple reasons why

有幾個理由

current plastic pollution researchers believe we should focus on prevention,

現今的塑膠污染研究學者相信

for example through education, rather than attempting a cleanup operation.

我們應該致力於預防，比如說 透過教育宣導，而非直接清理

Because we would need to deal with 5 colossal areas -- each moving around.

因為我們需要處理五大區，每一區都會移動

Plastic sizes ranging from these massive ghost nets to molecules -- bycatches and emissions.

超大量的塑膠，範圍從這些巨型的 鬼魚網到小分子──小魚餌和射出物

Furthermore we would need to get all the plastic back to land.

還有我們得要把所有的塑膠拖上岸

It would need to be financially realistic and

這會面臨到經濟問題

in fact the total amount of plastic within the gyres [is] unknown.

而且他們認為 在環流裡的塑膠量是未知數

But about a year ago, when I was on my way to the hairdresser's

但是一年前，在我去理髮廳的路上

and I must admit I don't go there often but I had this little epiphany.

我得承認我沒有常去 我有點感觸

I saw even old people throwing rubbish in the water

我看到老人把垃圾丟到水裡

and I thought, well some people will just never learn, will they?

我想，嗯，有些人就是不學，對吧？

We'll need the combination of both roads

我們必須從問題的兩端著手

and we'll need them soon.

我們很快就需要 兼顧預防和清理了

So then I simply used this list of concerns

因此，我就花了點心思去關心和挑戰

as challenges, and in fact a week later as a school assignment,

事實上，一個星期後，學校有項作業

I had a chance to spend a lot of time

我有機會花很多時間

on a subject of choice together with a friend of mine.

和我的朋友一起研究一個自選主題

And this gave me the perfect opportunity

這給我一個很棒的機會

to do new and fundamental research regarding plastic pollution.

在塑膠污染方面 嘗試新鮮又基礎的研究

I then went on a holiday to Greece taking this manta trawl with me,

然後我帶著這個綿拖網 到希臘去渡假

which is the common device for sampling plastic,

這是常見用來做樣品的塑膠

and so I had to leave home all my clothes

因為廉價航空的重量限制

due to low cost airlines weight limit policies.

所以我一件衣服也不能帶上路

Well, the trawl we built, however, is 15 times finer

嗯，不過我做的漁網比一般的好上十五倍

than the regular one. And what we discovered was

我們發現

that the count of those minute particles is in fact 40 times higher

那些細微分子的總量 事實上比大體積的塑膠還多出四十倍

than the larger particles. So we have to take these small plastics out,

所以我們得把這些小塑膠片帶走

but then we wouldn't want to take the important plankton out as well.

但是我們並不想帶走重要的浮游生物

Luckily these could simply be separated using centrifugal forces.

幸運的是，這些可以簡單的用離心力來分離

However, nobody knew how much G forces common zoo-plankton could survive.

可是，沒有人知道通常浮游動物 能夠在多大的 G 力下生存

So we took the trawl out again, and we didn't have a boat,

因此我們再次帶著漁網出海 因為我們沒有船，所以…

so and we tested it, and in fact they can survive over 50 Gs, which is more than enough

然後我們試了一下 發現牠們在 50G 以上還可以生存

for successful separation.

這個數字遠超過可以分離的大小

And then in order to know up to which depth the ocean surface should be cleaned,

然後為了知道要清理的範圍 離海面有多深

we designed and built something that I call the multilevel trawl.

我們設計、建造了一種叫做多層次的漁網

We basically stuck ten trawls on top of each other.

基本上我們在 魚網的上方十個釘在一起

Here you can see us testing that on the North Sea,

你可以看見我們在北海的測試

I thought it was a great day -- I was the only one who didn't get sick

我想那是很棒的一天 我是唯一沒有暈船的人

but then the so perfectly working trawl broke and

但是後來很完美的漁網破了

of course we didn't quit there, because I believe you can't clean up something

當然，我們沒有就此罷手 因為我認為你不知道要清的東西有多少

you don't know the size of.

就沒有辦法清乾淨

I've heard the estimations ranging from several hundred thousand tons

我聽過估計的數字 從幾十萬噸

all the way to a hundred million tons.

一直到幾億噸

I knew we really need a better estimate -- some scientific data.

我知道我們真的需要好好測量一下 一些科學的數據

So then I simply contacted some professors from the universities

因此我只是聯絡一些 在台夫特、烏得勒支

Delft, Utrecht and Hawaii -- who then actually helped us in determining

和夏威夷大學裡的教授 他們後來真的幫我測量了

how much plastic there is in the top layers of the gyres.

在環流表層有多少的塑膠

The result -- a whopping 7.25 million tons of extractable plastic in 2020.

結果是──在 2020 年可以拉出 725 萬噸的塑膠

That's the weight of 1,000 Eiffel towers floating in the gyres.

那個重量等於一千座 漂浮在環流上的艾菲爾鐵塔

Now, researcher and effect discoverer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Charles Moore

現在，研究學者和太平洋垃圾帶 影響發現專家查爾斯．莫耳 (Charles Moore)

estimates it would take 79,000 years to remediate that.

估計要七萬九千年才能修復

However, I believe the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

但是，我相信太平洋垃圾帶

can completely clean itself in just 5 years.

只要五年，就可以自己修復完成

And that is a difference of 78,995 years.

這和 78,995 年可是大不相同

Well, of course, this is the conventional idea of extracting litter,

嗯，當然，這是清垃圾的傳統想法

so you have a vessel and a net fishing for plastic.

你會有一艘船，還有一個捕垃圾的網子

Of course multiple vessels could be used to cover a larger area,

當然，不同種類的船能夠涵蓋的範圍不同

but by spanning booms between those vessels,

但是在這些船上的帆杠間架起網子

suddenly a much larger area would be covered,

就能夠涵蓋更大的範圍

because the essence is not to catch the debris, but divert it.

因為基本上不是要捕碎片 而是要分離它

Because there is no mesh size, we can even get out the smallest particles,

因為沒有篩孔 我們甚至可以分離最小的粒子

and since all organisms can simply move under the booms,

既然所有的生物都能在帆杠下移動

we'll be able to eliminate bycatches by 99.98%.

我們就能排除 99.98% 的魚餌

But, if we want to do something different

但是，如果我們想來點不一樣的

shouldn't we also have to think differently.

我們不就該想得不一樣？

For example then: the absorption of PCBs by plastic is not such a bad thing,

例如：用塑膠吸收 PCB 不見得是件壞事

it's a good thing.

那是好事

Get all the plastic out and simultaneously remove tons and tons

把所有的塑膠拿掉，然後同時從海洋中

of persistent organic pollutants from the marine environment.

移除一噸又一噸的 永久有機污染物

But how would we minimize environmental, financial and transportation cost then?

但是我們要怎麼 降底環境、經濟和交通的支出？

Let's use our enemy to our advantage, OK?

讓我們化敵為友吧！

The oceanic currents moving around is not an obstacle -- it's a solution.

洋流到處移動並不是妨礙 而是一個解決方法

Why move through the oceans if the oceans can move through you?

如果海洋可以朝你而來 何必自己去追逐海洋？

By fixing the "ships" to the seabed and letting the rotating currents

藉著把「船」固定在還船上，並讓循環的洋流做他們的工作

do their work -- vast amounts of funds, manpower and emissions will be saved.

──大筆的資金、人力和污染就會省下來了

The platforms will, of course, be completely self-supportive

這個平臺完全會自行

receiving their energy from sun, currents and waves.

接收來自太陽、洋流和海浪的能源

And inspired by my diving at the Azores, It now actually seems

我在亞速群島潛水時的靈光一閃 現在似乎變成了

that the best shape for these platforms is that of a Manta Ray,

最好的平臺形狀，也就是蝠魟

by letting its wings sway like a real manta,

讓它們展開雙翅就像真正的魟一樣

we can assure contact of the inlet with the surface

我們可以保證即使在最差的天氣

even in the roughest weather.

也能接觸到小灣裡的海平面

Well, imagine a zigzag array of just 24 of these platforms cleaning an entire ocean.

好吧，想像這廿四個平臺排成一個 「之」字形，把海洋清得一乾二淨

Let's make a comparison, OK?

我們來比較一下吧？

These are the beaches of Hong Kong, earlier this year.

這是今年初在香港海灘的照片

The largest plastic spill in history. And this is their source,

史上最大的塑膠製品溢出事件 這就是事故的源頭

just 6 containers.

就這六個貨櫃

How much could we get out?

我們可以拿掉多少？

Over 55 of these containers per day.

一天超過五十五個貨櫃

Not only is plastic directly responsible for over a billion USD in vessel damages a year,

不單只是每年船體損壞造成 塑膠直接污染就花了十億美元

no, the awesome surprise for me was that

不，讓我最吃驚的是

if we sell the plastics retrieved from the 5 gyres we'd make over $500,000,000

如果我們賣掉這些從五大環流 清出來的塑膠，我們就會賺超過五億元

and this is in fact more than the plan would cost to execute.

事實上，這還比這整個計畫花得錢還多

In other words -- it's profitable.

換句話說，這是可以獲利的

But I believe that the key thing is that

但是我相信最重要的是

only if we realize change is more important than money, money will come.

唯有我們了解改變的重要性遠大於金錢 金錢最終還是會來

And yes, it will be one of the largest environmental rescue operations yet, but we created this mess.

當然，這將會是最大的環境拯救計畫 但是，這也是我們惹出的大麻煩

Heck, we even invented this new material first before we made this mess,

見鬼的是，我們還是先發明了這個物質 才惹了這個麻煩

so please don't tell me we can't clean this up together.

因此，請不要跟我說 我們沒辦法一起清理

Thank you very much.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

（鼓掌）