雙語朗讀：開創新生活

中文：

（意譯damali ayo – Crow 再生服裝公司創建人 的文章，發表在 NPR《This, I belive..》。她的名字以小寫為佳。） 

去年夏天，當我看到自家已有百年曆史的房門，新開種的花園，和收養的狗，十分感慨：世間萬物無一為廢，我相信它們都潛藏著延續受用的價值。 

我所指的廢物回收不是那些被車拖走的瓶罐廢紙等，而是帶進了自己的創意，責任，甚至是一種熱愛。在金秋的季節裏，市裏的垃圾車忙於清掃著落葉。今天，我敞開了後院，邀請鄰居們將他們園中彩色的落葉都堆放在我新設計的花園裏，布置出一番別有情趣的秋色景觀，讓雨水和洗澡水交替為它濕潤。。。 

我相信回收是因為我深知，我所丟棄的每一星垃圾都將會堆積在那些有色人種居住最多的周邊，而他們則是我最關愛的人們。我相信，隻要我們共同努力，被拋棄的垃圾都能變成重新受用的寶物。 

當看到我的寵物，享受著Stevie 狗狗帶給我的歡樂，不禁想到有人曾看見她瞎著眼，被拋棄在林中，我難過地流淚了。這也是我崇信回收的原因之一。。。將來有一天，我希望自己也能被回收，有人會發現我身上的寶藏 --- 一個不再沉迷於過去，勇於開創新生活的人。坐在回收箱旁遐思。。等待走過的人們對我說一聲：“你就是我們正在尋覓的人”。

英文：

The Potential For A New Life

by damali ayo

Last summer, I looked out the door of my 100-year-old house at my newly planted garden and my adopted dog. I paused. I was overcome with appreciation. I realized nothing is trash.

I started to look around me at all the things that we ordinarily think of as trash — discarded plastic bags, water from boiled pasta, pulled weeds, rubber bands and newspapers, busted-up concrete, clothes and furniture we outgrow — and I began to think and act and live according to a belief that all things have a continued purpose in the world, if we just find it. I realized I believe in recycling.

The kind of recycling I mean is not just the dividing up of glass and paper and cans and putting those in a bin to be hauled away, but the kind of recycling that requires creativity and commitment, even love.

In my neighborhood, everyone puts out their raked autumn leaves to be picked up by the city — out of sight, out of mind. This didn't fit with my newfound love of reintegrating "trash" into my life, so I mapped out a new garden with flattened moving boxes and put up a sign that said, "Dump your leaves here." I watched through the autumn as my neighbors piled their leaves on this new garden. I watered the leaves with collected rainwater, and even composted some of Stevie's doggie doo. Finally, I got topsoil from Craigslist. Now, I have a new ornamental garden.

My belief in recycling isn't trivial or novelty to me. The trash we make is often dumped in places populated by the people of color. Every piece of trash I throw away, I can feel being thrown in the backyards of the people I care most about in this world. Nothing has to be discarded, really; if you try hard enough, everything can be reintegrated. I even use my bath water to water my garden. Gross as it might seem to my friends, I see it as potential waiting to be filled, as future heads of lettuce, tomatoes and poppies and lilies. This might seem like a big step, but if we can get down to watering our gardens with our bath water, maybe we wouldn't be so afraid of admitting our flaws, mistakes, and failings — maybe our discarded layers would be things to learn from, and ultimately turn into something better.

When I look at my dog, Stevie, I see one of the greatest joys of my life. But someone once saw her as something to be thrown away. She was abandoned and blind and found on her own in the woods. She's a wonderful dog, and when I look at her and remember what she's been through, I'm moved to tears. Maybe this is because I hope to be recycled one day, too — that someone will have the heart to see treasure in me, not just a past full of discarded relationships, but the potential for a new life, just like I do with all the things I recycle in my world. Just like those things, I sit in my metaphoric recycling bin, waiting for someone to pass by and say, "Hey, you're just what I've been looking for."