This is Sian Ka'an. Just south of Tulum on Mexico's Caribbean coast, it's a federally protected reserve,
这里是锡安卡恩。它位于墨西哥加勒比海沿岸的图鲁姆以南，这是一个联邦环境保护区，
a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.
属于联合国教科文组织自然遗产，也是世界上生物多样性最丰富的地区之一。
But when I first visited in 2010, I was horrified and completely confused as to why the beach was covered in trash.
但当我在2010年第一次到访时，我吓坏了，也非常困惑：为什么垃圾遍布海滩？
I soon realized that it was floating in from all over the world.
我很快意识到这些垃圾来自世界各地。
I've since returned, after that first journey, several times a year to visit Sian Ka'an,
在第一次到访后，我每年都会多次来到锡安卡恩，
to the country of my birth, to work with this trash.
回到我出生的国家，处理那里的垃圾。
And so far, we've documented garbage from 58 different countries and territories on six continents,
到目前为止，我们记录了来自6大洲58个不同国家和领土的垃圾，
all washing ashore in this paradise in Mexico.
它们被冲到墨西哥这个犹如天堂般的海岸上。
Although I can never know where a product was dropped, I can, at times, based on the label, know where something was made.
虽然我永远不会知道垃圾是在哪里被丢弃的，但偶尔我能从标签上知道到它的产地。
In red, you see all of the countries represented by their trash in Sian Ka'an.
标红的都是锡安卡恩垃圾的来源国。
Such as these Haitian butter containers in all shapes and sizes, Jamaican water bottles.
比如来自海地的形状大小各异的黄油罐，来自牙买加的水瓶。
Not surprisingly, a lot of the stuff is from neighboring Caribbean countries, but the stuff is from everywhere.
意料之中的，许多垃圾来自邻近的加勒比国家，但全球各地的都有。
Here's a sampling of international water bottles.
这是各国水瓶的样本。
And one of the ironies is that a lot of what I'm finding are products for cleaning and beautification,
讽刺的是，我找到的许多垃圾是清洁和美容产品，
such as this item from the United States, which is actually made to protect your plastic,
比如来自美国的这个产品，事实上是用于保护塑料的，
shampoo from South Korea, bleach from Costa Rica and a Norwegian toilet cleaner.
来自韩国的洗发水，来自哥斯达黎加的漂白剂和来自挪威的厕所清洁剂。
And it's items that are all very familiar to us, or at least I hope you're familiar with these toothbrushes.
这些是我们每个人都很熟悉的产品，至少我想各位都熟悉这些牙刷。
Kitchen utensils. Toys. I'm also finding evidence of burning plastic trash, which releases cancer-causing fumes into the air.
厨房用具。玩具。我也找到了燃烧塑料垃圾的证据，这会向大气释放致癌的刺激性气体。
People ask what's the most interesting item that I've found, and that's by far this prosthetic leg.
人们问我找到的最有趣的东西是什么，目前为止是这个假肢。
And in the background, if you can see that blue little bottle cap, at the time that I found it,
背景中有个蓝色的小瓶盖，找到它的时候，
it was actually the home to this little hermit crab. This guy is so cute.
它已经是这只小小的寄居蟹的家了。太可爱了。
And it's these fascinating objects, but also horrifying objects,
这些有趣迷人、但同时也令人惊恐的物品，
each with their own history, that I use to make my ephemeral, environmental artworks.
每一个都有自己的过往，它们被我用来制作临时的环保艺术品。
And it all started with this image in February of 2010, when I first visited Sian Ka'an.
一切都始于2010年2月的这张图，那时我第一次前往锡安卡恩。
I noticed that blue was the most prevalent color among the plastic.
我注意到蓝色是塑料最常见的颜色。
Purple is actually the most rare color. It's kind of like gold to me.
紫色是最稀有的颜色。对我来说就像金子一样稀有。
But blue is the most prevalent, and so I gathered some of the blues
蓝色最为常见，因此我收集了一些蓝色物件，
and made this little arrangement in front of the blue sky and blue Caribbean waters.
把他们摆放在蓝色的天空和蓝色的加勒比海前面。
And when I took a photograph and looked at the test shot, it was like a lightning bolt hit me in that moment,
我拍了照，看了看照片，那一瞬间我仿佛被闪电击中，
and I knew I was going to have to come back to create a whole series of installations on location and photograph them.
我知道我一定会再回来，在这里创造一系列的装置艺术，并给它们拍照。
So this turned out to be a sketch for a work that I completed three years later.
这成了一个草稿，之后我花了3年完成了一整套作品。
I had no idea that almost 10 years later, almost a decade later, I'd still be working on it. But the problem persists.
我那时并不知道，近10年后，我还在继续做这个项目。但问题仍然存在。
So I'm going to show you some of the images from the series that I called "Washed Up: Transforming a Trashed Landscape."
我向大家展示一些图片，它们是我命名为《冲刷上岸：转变垃圾景观》系列中的一部分。
Please keep in mind that I do not paint the garbage.
请记住，垃圾不是我画上去的。
I'm collecting it and organizing it by color on the same beaches where I find it.
我收集了垃圾并按颜色组合，放置在它们被发现的海滩上。

This is my precious trash pile as seen in 2015
这是我2015年收集的一块珍贵的垃圾堆，
after putting on a first edition of the "Museo de la Basura," or "Museum of Garbage."
之前用它完成了我第一版的“Museo de la Basura”，也就是“垃圾博物馆”。
It's fully my intention to care for this garbage, to exalt it, put it on a pedestal and to curate it.
我的目的是整理这些垃圾，变废为宝，放在台上，展出它们。
We have all seen devastating images of animals dying with plastic in their bellies.
我们都看过骇人的图片，图片中动物因为胃里的塑料而奄奄一息。
And it's so important for us to really see those and to take those in.
真正看到那些图片，并有所感触，非常重要。
But it's by making aesthetic -- some might say beautiful -- arrangements out of the world's waste,
但通过艺术性的，一些人会认为是美丽的手法安置世界上的垃圾；
that I'm trying to hook the viewer to draw in those that might be numb to the horrors of the world
我试图吸引观看者，吸引那些可能已经对世界上各种骇人现象感到的人，
and give them a different way to understand what's happening.
为他们提供新的角度理解现状。
Some have described the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as an island twice the size of Texas,
一些人说太平洋垃圾带是一座面积相当于两个德克萨斯的岛屿，
but I've been told that it's hard to see because it's more like a smog.
但我听说很难看到它，因为它更像是一片迷雾。
So through my artwork, I attempt to depict the reality of what's happening with our environment and to make the invisible visible.
因此我通过自己的艺术品，试图描述环境中正在发生的事实，并让不可见变为可见。
My key question at first, after starting the project, was, "What do I do with the garbage when I'm done?"
在项目开始后，我的第一个问题是，“完成之后，我如何处理垃圾呢？”
I was told by some that it could be damaged goods after traveling across the ocean and being exposed to the elements,
一些人告诉我，它们可能是损坏的货物，漂流过了大洋，暴露在自然环境中，
that it could become degraded and potentially ruin a batch of recycling.
它可能会降解，损坏一批本来能回收利用的垃圾。
The landfill was not a happy resting place, either.
填埋场也不是个好去处。
And then finally, it dawned on me, after all of the effort by me and all of the people who have helped me
最后，我突然想到，在我和帮助我的人花费大量精力
collect and organize and clean this trash, that I should keep it.
收集、整理和清理这些垃圾后，我应该把它们留下。
And so that's the plan, to use it and to reuse it endlessly to make more artwork
这就是我的计划，不断地重复使用它们，做出更多艺术品，
and to engage communities in environmental art-making.
让更多的社区参与到制作环保艺术中来。
This is an example of a community-based artwork that we did last year with the local youth of Punta Allen in Sian Ka'an.
这是我们去年完成的社区参与的艺术品，参与者是锡安卡恩当地青年--蓬塔·艾伦。
A key part of the community work are the beach cleans and education programming.
社区工作的重要部分之一是清理海岸和设立教育项目。
And as this community around the project grows and as my trash collection grows,
随着项目相关的社区不断扩大，我收集的垃圾越来越多，
I really believe that the impact will as well.
这也让我相信，我们的影响力也会越来越大。
And so, over the years, I've become a little obsessed with my trash collection.
因此，多年来，我有点沉迷于我的垃圾收藏。
I pack it into suitcases and travel with it. I take it on vacation with me.
我把它打包进行李箱出门旅行，我带上它和我一起度假。
And in the latest work, I've begun to break the two-dimensional plane of the photograph.
在最新的作品中，我开始打破摄影的平面局限性。
I'm really excited about this new work.
我对新的作品感到非常激动。
I see these as living artworks that will morph and grow over time.
它们都是有生命的艺术品，随时间流逝不断变化增长。
Although my greatest wish is that I run out of the raw material for this work, we're not there yet.
虽然我最大的希望是把这些艺术品的原材料用完，但这尚未实现。
So in the next phase of the project,
因此在这个项目的下一阶段，
I plan on continuing the community work and making my own work at a much larger scale, because the problem is massive.
我将继续社区工作，扩大工作规模，因为问题巨大。
Eight million tons of plastic waste enter our oceans every year, destroying ecosystems.
每年有八百万吨塑料进入大洋，破坏生态系统。
Right now, as I speak, there's literally an oil spill of plastic happening.
在我讲话的当下，塑料正如石油一般泄露。
I see this project as a plea for help and a call to action.
这个项目是在请求帮助和呼吁行动。
Our health and future is inextricably linked to that of our oceans.
我们的健康和未来与海洋密不可分。
I call the project "Washed Up: Transforming a Trashed Landscape,"
我命名这个项目为《冲刷上岸：转变垃圾景观》，
but it's actually transformed me and made me rethink my own behaviors and consumption.
而事实上它改变了我，并让我重新思考自己的行为和消费。
And if it can help anybody else gain more awareness, then it will have been worthwhile. Thank you so much.
如果它也能帮助他人提高环保意识，那就值得了。非常感谢。