I was about 10 years old on a camping trip with my dad in the Adirondack Mountains, a wilderness area in the northern part of New York State. It was a beautiful day. The forest was sparkling. The sun made the leaves glow like stained glass, and if it weren't for the path we were following, we could almost pretend we were the first human beings to ever walk that land.
Nilikuwa na miaka 10 katika tukiwa safari ya kambi na baba yangu Katika milima ya Adirondack, eneo la nyika Kaskazini mwa jimbo la New York. Ilikuwa ni siku nzuri sana. Msitu ulikuwa unang'aa. Jua lilifanya majani yawake kama kioo, na kama si kwa njia tuliyofuata, tungejifanya kama wanadamu wa kwanza kupita eneo lile.
We got to our campsite. It was a lean-to on a bluff looking over a crystal, beautiful lake, when I discovered a horror. Behind the lean-to was a dump, maybe 40 feet square with rotting apple cores and balled-up aluminum foil, and a dead sneaker. And I was astonished, I was very angry, and I was deeply confused. The campers who were too lazy to take out what they had brought in, who did they think would clean up after them?
tukafika katka eneo letu la kufanyia kambi. ilikuwa ni eneo linalotazama ziwa zuri sana, nilipogundua kitu kibaya. nyuma ya eneo hilo kulikuwa na dampo kama futi za mraba 40 likiwa na matufaa yaliyooza na makaratasi ya madini ya aluminium na vitu vilivyokufa, nilishangazwa sana, niliingiwa na hasira, na kuchanganyikiwa pia. Wapiga kambi wazembe walioshindwa kuchukua vile walivyokuja navyo, walifikiri ni nani atakayesafisha kama si wao?
That question stayed with me, and it simplified a little. Who cleans up after us? However you configure or wherever you place the us, who cleans up after us in Istanbul? Who cleans up after us in Rio or in Paris or in London? Here in New York, the Department of Sanitation cleans up after us, to the tune of 11,000 tons of garbage and 2,000 tons of recyclables every day. I wanted to get to know them as individuals. I wanted to understand who takes the job. What's it like to wear the uniform and bear that burden?
Swali hili lilikaa ndani yangu, lilirahisishwa kidogo. nani atakayesafisha baada yetu? vyovyote utakavyofanya au popote utakapotuweka, nani takayesafisha baada yetu Instanbul? nani takayesafisha baada yetu Rio? au Paris na London? Hapa New York, Idara ya Usafi wa mazingira inasafisha baada yetu, kiasi cha tani 11,000 za uchafu na tani 2000 za uchafu wa kuchakatwa kila siku. nilitaka niwajue kama watu binafsi. nilitaka kujua nani anyefanya kazi hii. inakuwaje kuvaa sare na kuchukua mzigo huo?
So I started a research project with them. I rode in the trucks and walked the routes and interviewed people in offices and facilities all over the city, and I learned a lot, but I was still an outsider. I needed to go deeper.
kwa hiyo nikaazisha utafiti nao. nilipanda magari yao na nikaanza kuzunguka nao nikawahoji watu katika ofisi na maeneo mengine kila sehemu ya mji, nilijifunza mengi, lakini bado nilikuwa mtu wa nje tu. nilitaka kujua zaidi.
So I took the job as a sanitation worker. I didn't just ride in the trucks now. I drove the trucks. And I operated the mechanical brooms and I plowed the snow. It was a remarkable privilege and an amazing education.
kwa hiyo niomba kazi ya usafi wa mazingira. sikupanda tu magari tena. bali niliyaendesha. nikatumia mafagio ya kwenye magari na nikawa nakusanya barafu. ilikuwa ni neema ya ajabu na elimu moja ya ajabu sana.
Everyone asks about the smell. It's there, but it's not as prevalent as you think, and on days when it is really bad, you get used to it rather quickly. The weight takes a long time to get used to. I knew people who were several years on the job whose bodies were still adjusting to the burden of bearing on your body tons of trash every week.
kila mtu anauliza juu ya harufu. ipo,lakini si kama kali unavyofikiri, na katika siku ambazo inakuwa kali sana, unaizoe mara moja. uzito unachukua muda kuuzoea. Niliwafahamu watu waliokuwa katika kazi miaka kadhaa ambao miili yao ilikuwa inaendelea kuzoea mzigo huo katika miili yao tani za uchafu kila wiki.
Then there's the danger. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sanitation work is one of the 10 most dangerous occupations in the country, and I learned why. You're in and out of traffic all day, and it's zooming around you. It just wants to get past you, so it's often the motorist is not paying attention. That's really bad for the worker. And then the garbage itself is full of hazards that often fly back out of the truck and do terrible harm.
halafu pia kuna hatari. Kulingana na idara ya takwimu za kazi, Kazi ya usafi wa mazingira ni moja kati ya kazi 10 za hatari sana Katika nchi, na nilijifunza kwa nini. Uko katika foleni kila siku, inakuzunguka wanataka kukupita, kwa hiyo madereva hawajali. hii ni mbaya sana kwa mfanyakazi. na uchafu wenyewe umejaa sumu nyingi ambao unaruka nje ya gari na kusababisha madhara.
I also learned about the relentlessness of trash. When you step off the curb and you see a city from behind a truck, you come to understand that trash is like a force of nature unto itself. It never stops coming. It's also like a form of respiration or circulation. It must always be in motion.
nikajifunza pia uking'ang'ani wa taka unapushuka na kuuangalia mji kutokea kwenye gari la taka, unaelewa kuwa taka ni kama nguvu ya asili. haiachi kuja. na pia ni kama aina ya upumuaji au mzunguko. lazima iwe katika mwendo wakati wote.
And then there's the stigma. You put on the uniform, and you become invisible until someone is upset with you for whatever reason like you've blocked traffic with your truck, or you're taking a break too close to their home, or you're drinking coffee in their diner, and they will come and scorn you, and tell you that they don't want you anywhere near them. I find the stigma especially ironic, because I strongly believe that sanitation workers are the most important labor force on the streets of the city, for three reasons. They are the first guardians of public health. If they're not taking away trash efficiently and effectively every day, it starts to spill out of its containments, and the dangers inherent to it threaten us in very real ways. Diseases we've had in check for decades and centuries burst forth again and start to harm us. The economy needs them. If we can't throw out the old stuff, we have no room for the new stuff, so then the engines of the economy start to sputter when consumption is compromised. I'm not advocating capitalism, I'm just pointing out their relationship. And then there's what I call our average, necessary quotidian velocity. By that I simply mean how fast we're used to moving in the contemporary day and age. We usually don't care for, repair, clean, carry around our coffee cup, our shopping bag, our bottle of water. We use them, we throw them out, we forget about them, because we know there's a workforce on the other side that's going to take it all away.
halafu tena kuna unyanyapaa. unavaa sare , unakuwa kama hauonekani mpaka mtu anapokasirishwa na kwa sababu kama umezuia magari kwa kutumia gari lako, au umepumzika karibu sana na nyumba yake, au unakunywa kahawa katika sehemu yao ya kulia chakula, watakuja na kukushutumu, na kukwambia hawatak kukuona karibu yao. unyanyapaa huu naona unashangaza sana, kwa sababu naamini kuwa wafanyakazi wa usafi wa mazingira ni wafanyakazi muhimu sana katika mitaa ya mji, kwa sababu tatu. wao ndio walinzi wa kwanza wa afya ya jamii. kama hawakusanyi taka kwa ufanisi na usahihi kila siku, zinaanza kutoka katika sehemu zilizotunzwa na madhara yake yanatutishia wote katika ya halisi kabisa. magonjwa tuliyoyadhibiti kwa miaka mingi yanaibuka tena na kutudhuru. Uchumi unahitaji wanyakazi hawa. Kama hatuwezi kutupa vitu vya zamani, hakuwezi kukawa na nafasi ya vitu vipya, kwa hiyo injini za uchumi zinashindwa kuendelea kwa kuwa hakuna matumizi Sipigii debe ubepari,lakini najaribu kuonyesha uhusiano uliopo. Lakini pia kuna kile nachoita na mwendo wa wastani wetu Na hii namaanisha ni haraka kiasi gani tumezoea kwenda katika siku hizi za sasa. Hatujali ,marekebisho,safi tulichochukua katika kikombe cha kahawa, chupa yetu ya maji. Tunatumia,tunatupa,tunazisahau, Kwa sababu tunajua kuna wafanyakazi upande wa pili wataochukua wote.
So I want to suggest today a couple of ways to think about sanitation that will perhaps help ameliorate the stigma and bring them into this conversation of how to craft a city that is sustainable and humane. Their work, I think, is kind of liturgical. They're on the streets every day, rhythmically. They wear a uniform in many cities. You know when to expect them. And their work lets us do our work. They are almost a form of reassurance. The flow that they maintain keeps us safe from ourselves, from our own dross, our cast-offs, and that flow must be maintained always no matter what.
Sasa nataka nitoe mapendekezo ya kufikiria kuhusu usafi ambayo yatapunguza unyanyapaa na kuwaingiza katika mazungumzo haya ya jinsi ya kuwa na mji unaokua kistaarabu. Kazi yao ni ile inayojirudia rudia. wako mitaani kila siku, Wakiwa na sare zao katika miji mingi Unajua wakati gani wa kuwategemea. Kazi yao inasabisha sisi pia tufanye kazi. Ni kama uhakikisho Ambao unaendelea kutufanya tuwe salama, mbali na uchafu wetu wenyewe na hali lazima iendelezwe kila wakati bila kujali chochote.
On the day after September 11 in 2001, I heard the growl of a sanitation truck on the street, and I grabbed my infant son and I ran downstairs and there was a man doing his paper recycling route like he did every Wednesday. And I tried to thank him for doing his work on that day of all days, but I started to cry. And he looked at me, and he just nodded, and he said, "We're going to be okay. We're going to be okay." It was a little while later that I started my research with sanitation, and I met that man again. His name is Paulie, and we worked together many times, and we became good friends.
Siku ya Septemba 11, 2001, Na nilisikia muungurumo wa gari la usafi mtaani, nikamchukua mwanangu mchanga na kukimbilia chini kulikuwa na mtu ambaye alikuwa anachakata karatasi kama afanyavyo kila Jumatano. Na nikawa najaribu kumshukuru kwa kazi yake katika siku hii, lakini nikaanza kulia. akaniangalia, akatingisha kichwa,akisema, "Tutakuwa salama. "Tutakuwa salama." Ilikuwa ni baadae nilipoanza utafiti wangu wa usafi wa mazingira, nikakutana na mtu yule tena. Jina lake ni Paulie,tulifanya kazi pamoja mara nyingi, tulikuwa marafiki wazuri.
I want to believe that Paulie was right. We are going to be okay. But in our effort to reconfigure how we as a species exist on this planet, we must include and take account of all the costs, including the very real human cost of the labor. And we also would be well informed to reach out to the people who do that work and get their expertise on how do we think about, how do we create systems around sustainability that perhaps take us from curbside recycling, which is a remarkable success across 40 years, across the United States and countries around the world, and lift us up to a broader horizon where we're looking at other forms of waste that could be lessened from manufacturing and industrial sources. Municipal waste, what we think of when we talk about garbage, accounts for three percent of the nation's waste stream. It's a remarkable statistic.
Nataka kuamini Paulie alikuwa sahihi. Kwamba tutakuwa salama. lakini katika jitahidi zetu za kutengeneza jinsi kama viumbe tutakavyoendelea kuishi katika dunia hii, lazima tuunganishe na kuangalia gharama zote, ikiwemo gharama za kazi. pia tutakuwa na taarifa za kuwafikia watu wanaofanya kazi hizo na kupata utaalam wao jinsi tunavyofikiri kuhusu, kutengeneza mifumo endelevu ambayo inatuchukua kutoka katika uchakataji, ambao ni mafanikio makubwa katika miaka 40, Katika nchi yote ya Marekani, na nchi mbalimbali duniani kote, na kutupeleka juu zaidi ambako tutaangalia aina nyingine za uchafu ambazo zinaweza zikapunguzwa kutoka viwandani. uchafu katika miji, jinsi tunavyofikiri tunapoongelea uchafu, unakaribia asilimia tatu ya uchafu wote katika taifa ni takwimu za kushangaza.
So in the flow of your days, in the flow of your lives, next time you see someone whose job is to clean up after you, take a moment to acknowledge them. Take a moment to say thank you.
katika siku zako, katika maisha yako, utakapomwona mtu ambaye kazi yake ni kufanya usafi, chukua muda kuwatambua. chukua muda wako kuwashukuru.
(Applause)
(Makofi)