Dumpster Diving 垃圾寻宝
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2009年8月27日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2012年3月20日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：302
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Picking through the trash gets a new reputation 捡垃圾开始嬴得前所未有的好名声
Professor seeks treasures in trash 在垃圾堆里寻宝的教授
The secret to economic survival this year may lie in the dumpster. Just ask Jeff Ferrell, a professor at Texas Christian University who spends part of his day buried in trash.
想要在今年安然度过经济危机的秘诀，可能就藏在垃圾收集箱里喔！问问「德州基督大学」教授杰夫．法瑞尔就晓得了，因为他白天有部份时间都埋首于垃圾堆中。
The 54-year-old scrounger extraordinaire has furnished his home with the waste of fellow Fort Worth, Texas, residents. As the economy continues to wilt, Ferrell’s daily glimpses into the refuse of others offer both financial perks and a cultural critique on American consumerism, consumption and collection.
这位五十四岁、极其特别的拾荒者（译注：extraordinaire虽然是形容词，但它是后置定语，用法是放在所修饰的名词之后）用德州华兹堡市其他乡亲丢掉的废弃物来布置自己的家。随着经济持续走下坡，法瑞尔每天在别人垃圾中探头探脑所获得的战利品，对他而言不但提供了经济上的额外补贴，同时也可作为对美国消费主义、消费和回收的一种文化批判。
The dumpster “is visible manifestation of how far it is from the have and the have-nots,” said Ferrell, who tries to “bridge that gap by dumpster diving.”
「一无所缺与一无所有之间，存在着巨大的鸿沟，」而垃圾收集箱「即是这鸿沟的有形证据」法瑞尔表示，他试图「藉由垃圾寻宝，来填补这鸿沟。」
In the world of garbage, Ferrell’s the arbiter between the consumer and the landfill. “This is late capitalism, not in its early stage when your shoes were worn out so you got new ones,” he said. “Now you get them because the style changes. It’s marketing, not need.”
在垃圾的领域中，法瑞尔俨然是介于消费者和垃圾掩埋场之间的仲裁者，执掌着垃圾是否命该扔进掩埋场的生杀大权。「这就是晚期资本主义，而非像资本主义早期时，当时只有鞋子已经穿得破旧不堪后，才会再买新的来穿，」他如此表示，「可是到现在，人们改买新的，原因只是因为流行风潮改变了，一切都是因为营销宣传所导致，而非出于实际的需求。」
Spending less 消费支出紧缩
But as necessity demands consumers tighten their budgets and rethink their spending, resourceful activities are taking on a new meaning. But dumpster diving?
不过，由于目前局势迫使消费者不得不紧缩开支预算（译注：necessity指必要性，意指经济衰退导致人们不得不采取紧缩荷包等做法的必要性），并重新省思花钱的方式，也连带使资源重新运用的相关活动添新意。不过，为什么要诉诸于垃圾寻宝呢？
“You’re not just finding things,” said Ferrell, “you’re finding things to keep from buying. It gets to be a self-sustaining system, the opposite of wasteful.”
「这并不只是寻找东西而已，」法瑞尔说，「因为你找东西的原因是为了能少买一些东西，这成了一种自给自足的体系，和挥霍浪费正好相反。」
Two days of scrounging sat on his coffee table one recent afternoon. It included a suit, an unopened bottle of champagne, a metal pot, binoculars, rhinestone earrings, a reading light and a bag full of Banana Republic boxers.
最近某天下午时分，他的咖啡桌上摆着两天来捡垃圾的战利品，其中包括了一套西装、一瓶原封不动的香槟、金属锅、双筒望远镜、莱茵石耳环、阅读灯和一整袋「香蕉共和国」品牌的男用短内裤。
Ferrell said he’s encountering more middle-class residents digging for wood to build a shed or searching for school clothes that fit their kids.
法瑞尔表示，今年他遇到更多中产阶级居民，在垃圾堆中翻找可以搭建遮风避雨处的木材，或是找寻校服好给孩子穿。
More people are choosing to make valuable what others have discarded, be it out of financial necessity, moral principle or environmental duty.
有愈来愈多的人选择你丢我捡，重新找回废弃物的价值，无论他们的动机是迫于经济因素、基于道德上的理由，抑或是认为自己有义务捍卫环保。
单词发音
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dumpster [ˋdʌmpstɚ] n. 装垃圾的大铁桶
extraordinaire [ɛkstrɔrdiˋnɛr] adj.【法】（用作后置定语）特别的，非凡的
wilt [wɪlt] v. 枯萎，凋谢
refuse [rɪˋfjuz] n. 废物；垃圾；渣滓 unwanted waste material, especially material that is regularly thrown away; rubbish
perk [pɝk] n.【口】津贴；额外补贴
have-not [ˋhæv͵nɑt] n.（常复数）穷人 a person or group of people in possession of relatively little material wealth
arbiter [ˋɑrbɪtɚ] n. 仲裁人; 做决定的人
wear out 用坏; 穿破
necessity [nəˋsɛsətɪ] n. 必要性 pressing or urgent need, especially that arising from poverty
take on 具有; 呈现 assume; play
self-sustaining [ˋsɛlfsəˋstenɪŋ] adj. 自立的；自谋生活的 able to provide for your own needs without help from others
binoculars [bɪˋnɑkjəlɚs] n. 双筒望远镜
rhinestone [ˋraɪn͵ston] n. 莱茵石（一种假钻石）
boxer [ˋbɑksɚ] n. 男式宽松短内裤 boxer shorts (复数名词)
dig [dɪg] v. 挖掘，发掘to obtain or find by an action similar to digging
shed [ʃɛd] n. 棚，小屋
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Buried treasure 埋藏的宝物
Ferrell, a leading cultural criminologist who attended Southern Methodist University and has taught in Great Britain and throughout the U.S., spent almost a year in the alley-surfing underworld as research.
法瑞尔本身是文化犯罪权威，毕业于「南卫理大学」，之后在英美各地教书。他已经花了将近一年的时间，游走大街小巷社会底层捡垃圾寻宝，以作为研究。
He and his wife realized they could live off her $270-a-week grocery clerk salary with his full-time scrounging.
他和妻子发现，靠着她当杂货店收银员每周两百七十美元的薪水，以及他全天拾荒所得，居然足以维生。
Ferrell’s findings – point at an object in his house and he probably hauled it back from a local dumpster on his bike – from his vintage turquoise bathtub to the brown worker boots on his feet, have saved the couple hundreds of dollars annually, said his wife, Karen Lang-Ferrell.
法瑞尔的战利品──随便指着他家里任何一件物品，很可能就是他从当地垃圾收集箱捡起来，然后用脚踏车载回家的──像是经典的蓝绿色浴缸，乃至于他脚上的棕色工作靴等等，每年替夫妻俩省下好几百美元之谱，他妻子凯伦．兰－法瑞尔如此表示。
Like other subcultures, dumpster diving follows its own rules and etiquette. One never intrudes on another’s space or takes from someone who needs the item more. Scroungers should always leave the area neater than they found it, said Ferrell. About 90 percent of what he finds he donates to charity.
垃圾寻宝就和其他次文化一样，也有自己特有的规则和礼节必须遵守。例如，不能侵入别人的地盘，如果别人比你更需要某样东西，就应该让给对方。法瑞尔表示，拾荒者寻宝过后，应当把原地清理得比之前更干净才对。他在垃圾中寻获之物，有九成左右都会捐给慈善机构。
What about the law? 游走法律边缘？
Dumpster divers also dwell in an ambiguous world of legitimacy where the lines between public access and ownership grow murky.
垃圾寻宝者其实也游走在法律边缘，存在于公共开放与私人所有权之间的模糊地带。
The Fort Worth Police Department said it’s not the act of dumpster diving that’s illegal, but where it’s done. “You can dive into any dumpster you want if you have the consent of the property owner,” said Lt. Paul Henderson, department spokesman.
「华兹堡警察局」指出，垃圾寻宝的行为本身并没有违法，问题出在挖宝的地方。「你可以纵身到任何垃圾收集箱里寻宝都没关系，但前提是必须先取得垃圾箱所在地地主的同意，」警局发言人副中队长保罗．韩德森表示。
The department generally leaves the onus on the property owner or company manager to contact them. The first offense results in a criminal trespassing warning. The next time the culprit risks arrest.
该警局通常把联系的责任留给该地地主或企业经理人来处理。未经同意就在某地拾荒的初犯者，会接获非法入侵的警告，下次再犯的话，触犯者就会冒着可能遭逮捕的风险。
Employees often are aware of dumpster diving, said Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven convenience stores, which must throw away expired goods that aren’t donated to local food banks. The chain, which operates more than 5,700 stores in the United States, allows individual stores to handle the issue. So far, Chabris said, it’s never been a problem.
「7-11」便利商店女发言人玛格列特．查布里斯表示，过期产品如果没有捐给当地食物银行的话，就必须丢弃，而便利店的员工往往都晓得有人在垃圾堆里捡东西。该便利连锁店在全美各地共有超过五千七百家分店，对于垃圾寻宝的态度是允许各家分店自行处理这个问题。查布里斯指出，到目前为止，还没有发生过任何相关问题。
“A professor in dumpsters shows people it’s not about status,” said Ferrell. “Jobs and income don’t have to determine how much we have.”
「连教授也会到垃圾堆里寻宝，可以让人们了解到，这件事其实和身分地位无关，任何人都可以去做，」法瑞尔表示，「我们做的是哪种工作，收入有多少，其实都不能决定我们所拥有的价值的多寡。」
－by Jessica Meyers
单词发音
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criminologist [͵krɪməˋnɑlədʒɪst] n. 犯罪学者
attend [əˋtɛnd] v. 上（大学等）
Methodist [ˋmɛθədɪst] n.（M-）【宗】卫理公会派教徒
alley [ˋælɪ] n. 小巷，胡同；后街
live off something 以…为食, 靠…为生 to obtain one's living or means of survival from something
turquoise [ˋtɝkwɔɪz] adj. 蓝绿色的
intrude [ɪnˋtrud] v. 侵入；闯入[(+on/upon/into)]
dumpster diver 垃圾淘宝者（指在垃圾箱中搜寻有价值或有用东西的人）
ambiguous [æmˋbɪgjʊəs] adj. 模棱两可的，模糊不清的
legitimacy [lɪˋdʒɪtəməsɪ] n. 合法（性）
consent [kənˋsɛnt] n. 同意，赞成，答应
Lt.（消防队，警察队的）中尉，少尉 lieutenant
onus [ˋonəs] n. 负担；义务；责任 the responsibility or duty to do something
trespass [ˋtrɛspəs] n. 擅自进入; 【律】非法侵入
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Artists find beauty in others’ castoffs 化腐朽为神奇的艺术家
Eydi Lampasona leans out of her SUV to paw through trash for frugal finds.
艾蒂．兰帕索纳把身子探出休旅车外，在垃圾堆里用手翻找可以节约资源的新发现。
It’s a recent “drive-by dumpster dive” for the artist who calls herself an “urban archaeologist.” She squeals upon making a golden find – satin cloths – perfect for projects in her Boca Raton Museum of Art classes. Other trash treasures that day: rusty screws, a torn tennis ball, even a car part near some railroad tracks in Florida.
这位自称是「都会考古学家」的艺术家，最近开始「驾车垃圾寻宝」（译注：drive-by指坐在行进的车子里做出某种行为，例如驾车开枪杀人，即为drive-by murder）。她突然大声尖叫，原来是有了重大发现──她找到一些缎子布料，正好可以作为她在「波卡瑞顿艺术博物馆」所教授课程的方案中派上用场。当天从垃圾堆里找到的其他宝物还包括了：生锈的螺丝钉、有裂缝的网球，甚至还在佛罗里达州铁轨附近找到了汽车零件。
Dumpster divers rummage for practical and ideological reasons; others, like Lampasona, dive for their art. The underground subculture of trash diggers is tough to quantify since it’s a job most like to do solo and incognito. But one thing is clear: Dumpster divers are now getting more than they bargained for – competition.
垃圾寻宝者之所以会如此大费周章地在垃圾堆中东挑西捡，往往是出于实际和意识形态上的动机，至于像兰帕索纳这类的人，则是为了艺术而潜身于垃圾堆中。垃圾挖宝者的地下次文化可能很不容易量化，因为这种活动大多是独自进行，而且往往会隐姓埋名。不过，有件事倒是再明显不过了：那就是垃圾寻宝者如今还得到一项超乎他们预期的东西──那就是同业竞争。
“I’ve got to be ahead of them,” said Lampasona, “Because it really is a race.”
「我非得抢先他们一步不可，」兰帕索纳说道，「因为这的确就是场比赛。」
Palm Beach County, Florida, residents generated 1.2 tons of garbage and trash in fiscal year 2007-08, a slight dip from the previous year. This comes at a time when more are likely to take the dive given the economic downturn.
在二００七至二００八年会计年度期间，佛罗里达州棕榈滩郡居民共制造了一点二吨的废物和垃圾（译注：garbage和trash意思和用法大致相同），垃圾的量比前一年度略微下滑，而在此同时，又适逢全球经济不景气，导致有更多人纷纷改到垃圾堆里捡东西。
Besides the recession, there are other factors pushing people to wade through waste: “green” fads and the rise of the freegan movement, a group that protests consumerism and includes dumpster diving as part of its moral commitment to minimizing waste.
除了经济衰退之外，还有其他因素迫使人们在垃圾堆里跋涉：包括了追求「绿色环保」的流行，以及「免费素食主义」运动的兴起（译注：此运动除了同样号召从垃圾中淘宝资源回收再利用之外，也推崇从超市或餐馆外的垃圾箱中找寻可以吃的素食），后者反对消费主义，并视垃圾寻宝为致力于减少废弃物的道德诉求之一。
Still, there are others who dumpster dive for more practical reasons. The eldest of 11, DeeDee Mckenzie grew up in a cash-strapped family. The 57-year-old still leads a modest life. Her most recent dumpster finds: a brand new coffee pot, a digital camera and new shoes, size 6.5.
不过，也有人之所以从事垃圾寻宝，是出于更实际的理由。迪迪．麦肯席出身贫困家庭，是家中十一名子女中的长女，现年五十七岁的她，生活只能算勉强过得去。她最近在垃圾堆里找到的东西，包括了一个全新的咖啡壶、数字相机，以及尺码六号半的一双新鞋。
“I’ve never had money to buy things …. and with this recession, I’ve got little or no money added on to that,” she said. “This is a way to make ends meet.”
「我向来都没有钱可以去买东西花用…现在又出现经济衰退，我的额外经济来源更少，或甚至断绝了」她说道，「垃圾寻宝是我量入为出的方式。」
－by Erika Pesantes
单词发音
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lean [lin] v. 倾斜
frugal [ˋfrug!] adj. 节约的，俭朴的
drive-by [ˋdraɪv͵baɪ] adj. 驾车进行的 performed from a moving vehicle
squeal [skwil] v. 发出长而尖的叫声
golden [ˋgoldn] adj. 绝好的，珍贵的，贵重的
satin [ˋsætɪn] adj. 缎的；缎做的, n. 缎; 缎子衣服
rummage [ˋrʌmɪdʒ] v. 翻找，仔细搜查
bargain for【口】(常用于否定句或与more than连用) 预料, 指望 to count on; expect
bargain [ˋbɑrgɪn] v.（常与否定词连用）预料，指望[（+for/on）]
at a time 在某个时刻; 同时 simultaneously
recession [rɪˋsɛʃən] n.（经济的）衰退；衰退期
wade through something 费力地进行 to struggle through something with difficulty
fad [fæd] n. 一时的流行；一时的风尚
freegan 吃垃圾的人（由free和vegan缩合而成，指不购物、不开车、不买房，甚至不上班，尽可能不消耗资源，靠着极为有限的资源生活的人）; 这一术语描述的是一种反消费者，他们远离主流的物质享受，只在万不得已的情况下才去购物。
commitment [kəˋmɪtmənt] n. 承诺，保证；承担的义务
modest [ˋmɑdɪst] adj. 不太大（或多）的；适度的，有节制的
单词发音
Vocabulary Focus
scrounger [ˋskraʊndʒɚ] n. 乞讨者，行乞者 one who obtains things, such as money, food or other items, by searching for and collecting them instead of buying them or working for them
manifestation [͵mænəfɛsˋteʃən] n. 表现；表现形式; 显示, 证明 a sign of something existing or happening
discard [ˋdɪskɑrd] v. 抛弃 to throw something away or get rid of it because you no longer want or need it
underworld [ˋʌndɚ͵wɝld] n. 下层社会；黑社会 the part of society consisting of illegal organizations and activities
vintage [ˋvɪntɪdʒ] adj. 古色古香的；古老的; 最佳的；最典型的 of lasting value, or showing the best and most typical characteristics of a particular type of thing, especially from the past
subculture [ˋsʌb͵kʌltʃɚ] n. 亚文化 the way of life, customs and ideas of a particular group of people within a society, which are different from the rest of that society
murky [ˋmɝkɪ] adj. 含糊的; 暧昧可疑的; 不可告人的 describing a situation that is complicated and unpleasant, and about which many facts are unclear
culprit [ˋkʌlprɪt] n. 被控犯罪的人；刑事被告 someone who has done something wrong
paw [pɔ] v.（用脚爪等）抓；扒 to touch something roughly with the hands
incognito [ɪnˋkɑgnɪ͵to] adj. 隐姓埋名的 avoiding being recognized by changing your name or appearance
dip [dɪp] n.（价格的）下跌 a drop to a lower level
cash-strapped [ˋkæʃstræpt] adj. 手头紧的; 资金短缺的 not having enough money
make ends meet 使收支相抵, 使收支平衡 to have just enough money to pay for the things that you need
dumpster diving
Freegan Movement Gains Popularity