VOA常速英语:Project Recycles Human Urine as Fertilizer

On this hot summer afternoon outside Brattleboro Vermont, farmer Dean Hamilton has fired up his tractor and is fertilizing his hay filled with urine.It takes a bit of time to get used to the idea says environmental engineer Nancy Love,“I’ve been surprised at how many people actually get beyond the gauge factor pretty quickly and are willing to listen.”The noNPRofit Rich Earth Institute is working with Love and her team with support from the National Science Foundation.They are fine-tuning new methods to recycle urine into fertilizer.
在这个炎热的夏日午后，在佛蒙特州的伯瑞特波罗外，农民Dean Hamilton开动了他的拖拉机，用尿液制成的肥料给他的干草施肥。环境工程师Nancy Love说需要一点时间来适应这个想法。“我一直很惊讶有多少人实际上能够很快理解并愿意倾听这个项目。” 受到美国国家科学基金会的支持，一家名叫丰富的地球研究所的非盈利组织正与Love和她的团队合作。他们使用稍微调整了的新办法，回收尿液用作肥料。

“There’s a great quote by Buckminster Fuller about how pollution is nothing but the resources that we’re not harvesting and that we allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant to their value.”Harvesting the resource of urine which is after all full of the same nutrients as chemical fertilizer will fix two problems at once,eliminate waste and create a natural fertilizer.The Rich Earth Institute has been using urine as fertilizer since 2012.They collect about 26,000 liters a year thanks to a loyal group of dedicated donors.“We now have people who have some source separating toilets in their homes.We also have people who have 55-gallon barrels or they collect and then we transport to our farms and we’ve also got a larger urine depot.”They pasteurize the urine to kill any microbes and then it’s applied directly onto hay fields.Now that they’ve partnered with the university of Michigan.Love says they’re looking to go to the next level.
“Buckminster Fuller有一句名言，污染只是我们没有收获的资源。我们允许污染四处分散，因为我们忽视了他们的价值。”毕竟尿液有化学肥料同样的养分，获取尿液资源能够一次性解决两个问题，消除浪费以及创造自然肥料。丰富的地球研究所的组织从2012年起一直使用尿液作为肥料。多亏了一群忠心耿耿的捐赠者，他们一年收集了大约两万六千升的尿液。“这些人在家中有可分离的厕所。他们有五十五加仑的桶，或者他们收集起来，然后运送到我们的农场，我们有更大的存储尿液的仓库。”他们对尿液进行杀菌，杀死微生物，然后可以直接在干草地里使用。现在他们与密歇根大学合作。Love说他们期待进入下一个阶段。

“There are three things we really are trying to do with the urine and this kind of next phase we’re trying to concentrate it,we’re trying to apply technologies to reduce odor and we’re trying to deal with the trace contaminants like the pharmaceuticals.”Dealing with pharmaceuticals is an important issue.Heating up urine kills germs but has no effect on chemicals like drugs that pass through our bodies.“We know pharmaceuticals are a problem for aquatic organisms and water systems.It’s debatable about the impact on human health at very very low levels,independent of that I think most people would prefer that they not be in there. They’re food.”
“现在我们有三件事需要处理尿液。下一阶段，我们尝试浓缩尿液，我们试着用技术来减少臭味，我们试着能处理微生物，比如说药物。”处理药物是一件很重要的事情。加热尿液能杀死细菌，但是对身体吸收的药物没有作用。“我们知道药物对于水生生物和供水系统是一个大问题。对于身体健康的影响很小是有争议性的。除此之外我认为大多数人更愿意里面没有药物。这是入口的食物。”

For Love this is all about redesigning our waste water infrastructure for the 21st century.Too many nutrients in the water leads to poor water quality by causing hazardous algal blooms.“Our water emissions are going into very sensitive water bodies that are vulnerable to these nutrient loads.We need to change that dynamic and if we can capture them and put them to a beneficial use that’s what they’re trying to do.”Their efforts could make agriculture greener and our waterways cleaner.
对于Love来说，这是二十一世纪重新设计废水基础设施。有害的藻类繁殖引发水里面太多的养分会导致水的质量很糟糕。“我们的水排放会进入到非常敏感的水体中，它不能承受这些营养负荷。我们需要改变那种动态。如果我们能捕捉住它们，将它们用于有用的地方，这是我们要做的事情。”他们努力使农业更环保，我们的水道更清洁。

Faith Lapidus VOA news
美国之音记者Faith Lapidus报道