国家地理 没有垃圾的世界可能存在吗(10)

At one point Boer eyeballed my gray sport coat, which I felt quite confident of; he couldn't see the ink stains on the inside pocket. "We cannot sell your jacket anywhere," he volunteered cheerfully. "No one in the world wants to buy it." Boer said he would actually have to pay someone to take my unfashionable garment away.

博尔对我的灰色运动外套盯了一眼。我对这身行头信心十足--反正他看不到内层口袋里的墨水污渍。“我们到哪都卖不掉你这夹克。”他乐呵呵地大放厥词，“全世界都没人会要。”为了找人拿走我这件不入流的衣裳他还得倒贴钱。

But they buy used underwear? I was miffed.

但却会有人买二手内衣？我忿忿不平。

"That's clean, used underwear," Boer said. People normally don't donate dirty clothes.

“那是干净的二手内衣。”博尔说。人们通常不会捐赠肮脏的衣物。

He gets more clothing these days than he can handle, mostly from Germany, which collects 75 percent of its discards: Town governments have gotten into the act. He can't find enough skilled workers. At the T-shirt grading station, I noticed an older man. "That's my dad," Boer explained. Marinus, the retired¹ CEO, still pitches in. He loves the work.

这些日子，他收到的衣服超过了自家处理能力。它们大部分来自德国，由于地方政府参与行动，75%的废弃物得到回收。博尔找不到足够的熟练工。在T恤分类区，我注意到一位男性长者。“那是我爸。”博尔说。退休总裁马里纳斯仍要来出份力。他热爱这项工作。

The Boers' biggest worry is how clothing is changing. Right now the company is able to resell 60 percent of what it collects. Clothes that are kept in service and worn again are better for the planet -- the material and energy that went into making them don't have to be replaced -- and also for Boer. "It's what's financing this whole business," he said.

博尔集团的最大担忧是现在服装界的趋势。目前，公司能够转卖掉 60% 的收购品。那些能够留下穿更多次的衣服更有益于保护地球--因为制造它们消耗的材料和能量不需要被替代--也让博尔有利可图。“这是产业挣钱的根本。”他说。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。