How to live a more sustainable life?
怎麼樣才能更環保? 哪個會造成更多污染? 住在大都市還是鄉下? 讓城市設計師Jeff Speck來一一解答,點出盲點,並看看我們還能做什麼才能對地球更好!
先簡單介紹講者,Jeff Speck是一名建築設計師、城市規劃師,透過他的作品、演講、文章等等,致力於推廣 smart growth (明智開發/智慧成長) 和 sustainable design (永續設計)。著作包含:Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, The Smart Growth Manual, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time(2012)
影片一開始,Speck從美國開始講起,提到:”The worst idea we’ve ever had is suburban sprawl” (美國人最糟糕的點子就是郊區蔓延了) 究竟什麼是”suburban sprawl”呢? 在影片中Speck說:”By suburban sprawl, I refer to the reorganization of the landscape and the creation of the landscape around the requirement of automobile use.” “Suburban sprawl” (郊區蔓延) 一般跟 “urban sprawl” (都市蔓延/都市擴張)有差不多的涵義,以美國為首,隨著汽車的使用率上升,人們逐漸往郊區移動,形成低密度的居住方式,並強烈仰賴汽車,花許多時間在通勤上。
因為住在郊區,人們生活型態改變,每天都以靠汽車進出城市,上班、上學、採買物品,也因而造成許多能源、金錢、時間上的浪費。面對這個問題,Speck舉了幾個很棒的例子來說明怎麼改進都市的規劃會對環境更友善。提到”Sustainable City”各位讀者會想到什麼呢? 除了歐洲著名的Stockholm、Vienna外,美國其實也有做得很好的green city!有去過 Portland, Oregon 嗎?
在影片中,Speck 提到兩個Portland很酷的計畫:
Urban growth boundary (都市發展界線),當其他城市不斷向外擴張,Portland政府限制了城市擴張的邊界
Skinny streets program (小街道計畫),他的概念是,讓街道變窄,這可降低車速、簡短路人衡跨街道的距離,也可減少城市中不透水地面的面積,讓雨水容易排出。
“Skinny streets reduce: speeding, vehicle crashes, street construction costs, pedestrian crossing distances, impervious surfaces (and therefore stormwater drain capacity), street maintenance and resurfacing costs, and heat re-radiation which contributes to the urban heat island effect.”
接著就來看看影片中一些值得注意的句子和單字吧:
0:48 “but I think I need to talk about America because there is a history, in some places, not all, of American ideas being appropriated, being emulated, for better or for worse, around the world”
- emulate 模仿、效法
- “for better or for worse” 不論是好是壞,這句片語最常用在結婚誓言中,如: “I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. “
1:12 “and that the automobile that was once an instrument of freedom has become a gas-belching, time-wasting and life-threatening prosthetic device ”
- gas-belching 耗油的,belch的意思是噴出、排出,如: “Smoke belched from the car’s exhaust pipe. 汽車的排氣管中冒出一股煙霧”
- prosthetic 義肢的,這裡則用來形容汽車本該是讓我們的生活更有效率、更便捷,現在反而成為迫使我們浪費時間、金錢、還會釀成傷亡的工具
2:24 “because of this phenomenon called ‘drive till you qualify’ ” (有個現象叫做「開到你買得起為止」) 伴隨城市擴張,越往郊區移動,房價越便宜,因此有了這句諺語
2:55 “Imagine putting everything you have into your mortgage, it goes underwater, and… ” (想想看,錢都拿去付了房貸,房價卻低於房貸欠款…)
- mortgage,抵押(借款)。還清貸款 “ pay off the mortgage“
- Underwater Mortgage: 意思是房貸的欠款金額比市價上該房子的價格還高,這會使屋主無法販售該房地產。在2008次級房貸危機後,這個情況越來越常見。
9:14 “And I learned a new word last week. They call these neighborhoods “obesageneric.” “(我上週學到了一個新詞,這種鄰里叫做「肥胖區」)
他指的字應該是: “obesogenic”: “Tending to cause obesity”,”obesogenic environments” 就是容易使人發胖的環境
12:17 “So a fundamental shift, and now you have environmentalists and economists like Ed Glaeser saying we are a destructive species. If you love nature, the best thing you can do is stay the heck away from it, move to a city, and the denser the better, and the denser cities like Manhattan are the cities that perform the best. ”
用這段quote總結整個影片,過去,我們以為住到鄉下、貼近大自然才會更環保,但越來越多研究和數據顯示,密集的城市型居住環境才是環保之道,最重要的是改變我們的生活型態,才能真正減碳。
快點進Voicetube看影片學英文,關心環保吧!
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小小補充:在這段演講中提到了”economists, the epidemiologists, and the environmentalists” (經濟學家、流行病學家、環保人士),那就順便讓我們來看看其他也是 “-ist” 結尾的職業名稱增廣見聞吧!有許多都是跟醫療、科學有關
- biologist 生物學家
- psychologist 心理學家
- hair stylist 髮型設計師
- manicurist 美甲師
- speech pathologist 語言治療師
- occupational therapist 職業治療師/職能治療師
- neurologist 神經學家
- optometrist 驗光師
- entomologist 昆蟲學家
- vocalist 歌手/聲樂家
- cosmetologist 美容師
- physical therapist 物理治療師
- receptionist 招待員
- pharmacist 藥劑師
- orthodontist 牙齒矯正專科醫生
- oncologist 腫瘤學家
- nutritionist 營養師
- dermatologist 皮膚科醫師
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