國(guó)家地理:沒(méi)有垃圾的世界可能存在嗎(4)

For that same half century, environmentalists have been warning of limits to growth. The new "circular economy" movement is different. It's a collection of strategies -- some old, such as reducing, reusing, and recycling, and some new, such as renting rather than owning things -- that together are meant to reshape the global economy to eliminate waste. The circular economy doesn't aim to end growth; it aims to bend how we do things back into harmony with nature, so that growth can continue. "Prosperity in a world of finite resources," as European environment commissioner Janez Potocnik once put it, in the foreword to an Ellen MacArthur Foundation report. It said the circular economy could save European businesses up to $630 billion a year.

也是在那半個(gè)世紀(jì)里，環(huán)保主義者不斷警示經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)的極限。但新興的“循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)”運(yùn)動(dòng)與之不同。它是多種策略的集合--其中包括一些老辦法，例如“減少購(gòu)買、重復(fù)使用、回收再造”；還加入了新理念，包括“租用勝于持有”--共同效力于重塑全球經(jīng)濟(jì)、杜絕廢物。循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)的目的不在于停止發(fā)展，而是要扭轉(zhuǎn)我們的運(yùn)作方式，使之再與自然和諧一體，這樣才能持續(xù)發(fā)展。這就是歐洲環(huán)境事務(wù)專員亞內(nèi)茲·波多尼克在為艾倫·麥克阿瑟基金會(huì)的報(bào)告撰寫(xiě)序言時(shí)所稱的“在有限資源下維持繁榮”。報(bào)告指出，循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)可為歐洲企業(yè)每年節(jié)省高達(dá)6300億美元。

The idea is catching on, particularly in Europe, that small, crowded, rich but resource-poor continent. The European Union is investing billions in the strategy. The Netherlands has pledged to go fully circular by 2050. Amsterdam, Paris, and London all have plans. "It must happen," said Wayne Hubbard, head of the London Waste and Recycling Board, when I asked whether the circular economy could happen.

這一理念已經(jīng)開(kāi)始流行，尤其是在歐洲--那塊窄小、擁擠、富裕但資源匱乏的大陸。歐盟為這一策略投入數(shù)十億美元。荷蘭承諾在2050年徹底實(shí)現(xiàn)資源循環(huán)。阿姆斯特丹、巴黎和倫敦都心懷大計(jì)。“必須實(shí)現(xiàn)。”當(dāng)我問(wèn)及倫敦廢物回收委員會(huì)主席韋恩·哈伯德，循環(huán)經(jīng)濟(jì)是否能實(shí)現(xiàn)時(shí)，他回答說(shuō)。

One man who definitely thinks it could happen, and whose work has proved revelatory to many others, is American architect William McDonough. With German chemist Michael Braungart, he wrote the visionary 2002 book Cradle to Cradle, which argues that products and economic processes could be designed such that all waste becomes fodder for something else. Before setting off for Europe, I made a pilgrimage to McDonough's office in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our conversation ricocheted from his childhood in Tokyo, through Plato, Aristotle, and Buckminster Fuller, to some new compostable blue jeans he was excited about, before I finally managed to ask him the nagging question: Is all this talk of an end to waste just pie in the sky?

有一個(gè)人肯定相信這可以實(shí)現(xiàn)，而他的貢獻(xiàn)也啟發(fā)著眾多后繼者，那就是美國(guó)建筑師威廉·麥克多諾。麥克多諾與德國(guó)化學(xué)家邁克爾·布勞恩加特于2002年合著出版了富于遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)的《從搖籃到搖籃》，提出產(chǎn)品和經(jīng)濟(jì)模式可以通過(guò)合理設(shè)計(jì)，讓一切廢物都化為其他工業(yè)的養(yǎng)料。去往歐洲之前，我到位于維吉尼亞州夏洛茨維爾市的麥克多諾的辦公室“朝圣”。我們的交談天馬行空，從他在東京的童年聊到柏拉圖、亞里士多德、建筑師巴克敏斯特·富勒，以及令他興奮的新產(chǎn)品可堆肥藍(lán)色牛仔褲。到最后我才得空向他提出那個(gè)尖銳的問(wèn)題：所有這些關(guān)于終結(jié)垃圾的高談闊論是否都只是空中樓閣？

"It's absolutely pie in the sky, no question about it," McDonough said. "You need pies in the sky to help us go forward. Because remember what Leibniz said."

“毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，絕對(duì)是空中樓閣。”麥克多諾說(shuō)，“必得空中有樓閣，才能努力向上。要牢記萊布尼茨所說(shuō)。”