2022年11月07日 VOA慢速英语：一台新的环保机器正在清理巴拿马河

 

Latin America's first renewable fuel-powered, trash-trapping wheel is cleaning one of Panama's dirtiest rivers.
拉丁美洲第一个可再生燃料驱动的垃圾收集轮正在清理巴拿马最脏的河流之一。
 
A local environmental group led the anti-pollution effort.
一个当地环保组织领导了反污染工作。
 
The wheel is powered by water and solar energy. It pulls waste out of the Juan Diaz River. Most of the waste comes from the capital area of Panama City where about 2 million people live. Thousands of kilograms of trash flow down the river into the ocean each year.
轮子由水和太阳能驱动。它将废物从胡安迪亚兹河中排出。大部分垃圾来自巴拿马城的首都地区，那里约有 200 万人居住。每年有数千公斤的垃圾顺着河流流入海洋。
 
Robert Getman is the leader of the project.
Robert Getman 是该项目的负责人。
 
"Cleaning beaches is good," he said, "but it is more effective and cheaper to trap garbage in rivers because when it reaches the ocean, the environmental and economic cost becomes too high."
“清洁海滩很好，”他说，“但将垃圾困在河流中更有效、更便宜，因为当垃圾进入海洋时，环境和经济成本变得太高了。”
 
The environmental group Marea Verde launched the wheel, which is named Wanda Diaz, in late September. By the middle of October, Wanda had gathered 28.6 cubic meters of plastic bottles from the water.
环保组织 Marea Verde 于 9 月下旬推出了名为 Wanda Diaz 的轮子。到10月中旬，万达已经从水中收集了28.6立方米的塑料瓶。
 
The Juan Diaz River is one of the most polluted in Panama. Waste systems in the area are poor, and land development is not well supervised. The river also passes through Panama City, one of Central America's largest cities.
胡安迪亚兹河是巴拿马污染最严重的河之一。该地区的垃圾处理系统很差，土地开发没有得到很好的监督。这条河还穿过中美洲最大的城市之一巴拿马城。
 
Still, the waterway and its mangrove trees are home to lizards, turtles and birds.
尽管如此，水道及其红树林仍然是蜥蜴、海龟和鸟类的家园。
 
Over five years, Marea Verde projects have slowed the spread of trash along Panama's rivers and coastline.
五年多来，Marea Verde 项目减缓了垃圾在巴拿马河流和海岸线上的传播。
 
Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the group launched its "Barrier or Trash" technology, a floating device. It captured more than 100 metric tons of waste in the Matias Hernandez River between 2019 and 2020.
在冠状病毒大流行来袭之前，该组织推出了一种浮动装置“屏障或垃圾”技术。2019 年至 2020 年间，它在马蒂亚斯埃尔南德斯河捕获了 100 多吨废物。
 
The Baltimore Bay "Trashwheel" in the United States was the model for Marea Verde's Wanda machine. Wanda even has cameras with artificial intelligence that can recognize and sort different plastics.
美国巴尔的摩湾“垃圾轮”是 Marea Verde 的 Wanda 机器的模型。万达甚至拥有可以识别和分类不同塑料的人工智能相机。
 
"We want to raise awareness that we can prevent the death of this very important river," said Marea Verde leader Sandy Watemberg. She expressed her hope that the wheel will help.
“我们希望提高人们对我们可以防止这条非常重要的河流死亡的认识，”Marea Verde 领导人桑迪瓦滕贝格说。她表示希望轮子能有所帮助。
 
But she also pointed to the need for those who use single-use plastics to rethink their behavior.
但她也指出，那些使用一次性塑料的人需要重新思考他们的行为。
 
"The most important thing is to achieve a change in habits," she said.
“最重要的是实现习惯的改变，”她说。