氣質姐與可愛可

　　Every day, we see ads or signs about living greener lives. We are encouraged to keep the world clean and improve the environment. Currently, most people know what they should do, but is it really enough? A new concept1 is taking a deeper look at our trash and challenging us. This concept is called zero waste, and programs supporting it are spreading. Zero waste pushes us to rethink how and what we recycle. The main goal is to create communities that produce little to no waste. This may seem impossible, but zero waste programs are seeing a lot of success.

　　A great example of a zero waste program in action is on Nantucket Island in the US. Since the island is small, the residents2 realized they were making more trash than they could deal with. Therefore, instead of spending lots of money on shipping the trash away, they decided to create less of it. Residents are now in charge of sorting their own trash and sending it to the right stations. Some stations are for food waste that is then composted3. Another collects objects like books and clothes that can be reused. There are also stations for typical recycling materials, such as glass and metal4. Since the program started, Nantucket Island has only been sending eight percent of its trash to landfills5. Compared to Massachusetts, which sends 66 percent of its trash, the difference is amazing.

　　我們每一天都會看到一些要我們過得更環保的廣告或標語。我們被鼓勵要保持地球的乾淨並改善我們的環境。近來，大部份的人們都知道該做些什麼，可是這樣真的就夠了嗎？一種全新的概念讓我們更深入地檢視我們的垃圾並挑戰我們的想法。這個概念就叫作零廢棄，而支持這個理念的計畫正受到推廣。零廢棄促使我們重新思考我們該如何資源回收，以及該回收些什麼。其主要目標就在於建立產生少量廢棄物甚至不產生任何廢棄物的社區。這看起來似乎不大可能，但是零廢棄計畫卻見證了很多成功範例。

　　美國南塔克特島上有一個正在進行零廢棄計畫的絕佳案例。正因為這是一個小島，所以島民意識到他們製造的垃圾量遠超過他們所能處理的範圍。因此，他們決定要減少垃圾的產生，而不是花大錢把垃圾運走。現在島民們都負責將自己的垃圾做好分類，並送到正確的處理場。有些處理場是用來放置之後可作為堆肥的廚餘。另外一些則收集像是書和衣服等等可以再利用的物品。也有一些處理場處理典型的回收物，像是玻璃和金屬。從這個計畫開始實行以來，南塔克特島僅把百分之八的垃圾運送至掩埋場。相較於麻塞諸塞州百分之六十六的垃圾運送量，其差異相當驚人。