国家地理没有垃圾的世界可能存在吗(5)（打印版）

I didn't remember much about that German philosopher.

我对那位德国哲学家印象模糊。

"Leibniz said, 'If it is possible, therefore it exists.'

“莱布尼茨说，'有可能的必将存在。'

And I'm saying, 'If we can make it exist, it's therefore possible.'"

而我要说：'只要我们能实现，就说明它是可能的。'”

Was that tautological? Was it wise? Did Leibniz really say that?

这不是同义反复吗？这理智吗？莱布尼茨真那么说过？

It was intriguing, in any case.

无论如何，它总归是个神奇构想。

Not long after that, I took my busted old roller bag to be repaired (very circular, compared with buying a new one),

在那之后不久，我把破旧的行李箱拿去修好（这跟买个新包相比十分讲循环经济），

packed the certified cradle-to-cradle jeans that McDonough had given me,

装入麦克多诺送我的那条经“从摇篮到摇篮”品质认证的牛仔裤，

and headed out to see what evidence of possible existence I could find for the circular economy.

出发寻找循环经济的现世真身。

Metals

金属

The first small breaks in our natural circularity actually predate the 18th-century industrial revolution.

人类经济天然循环状态的首批小裂痕其实发生于18世纪的工业革命之前。

The Romans, besides tossing broken amphorae around in an uninhibited way, pioneered a fraught invention: sewers.

古罗马人除了将陶罐随手乱丢之外，还首创了一种危险的发明：下水道。

That is, they channeled human waste into rivers, instead of returning it to fields where,

也就是说，他们将人类排泄物通过管道输入河流，而不是回施田地，

as any circularity maven will tell you, those nutrients belong.

循环专家认为本该回收养分的地方。

As a young boy in Tokyo in the 1950s (his parents were in the occupying American Army),

麦克多诺回忆起20世纪50年代的孩童时期（他的父母在驻日美军中任职），

McDonough recalls waking at night to the sound of farmers collecting the family's night soil.

夜半醒来时听到各家农户收集夜肥的声音。

His mother would soothe him with lullabies about poop, sometimes in Japanese with an Alabama accent.

他的母亲会唱起有关粪便的童谣催他入梦，时而用带着阿拉巴马口音的日语。

It made a permanent impression.

这为他留下了永久的印象。