仁愛之心催生巧妙發(fā)明

Paul Ketz （Product Designer）： When I’m sitting there and just observing people throw their empty bottles away， and somebody else a few minutes later come and dig it out of the trash bin， I felt a bit sad about that.

This is Paul Ketz， a 25-year-old product designer in Cologne. He hates seeing the city’s less fortunate have to dig through trash cans to collect bottles for money. It’s not something most people would associate with Germany， where there’s a strong economy and welfare system， but bottle collectors are a common sight here. Paul saw them walking from trash can to trash can searching for plastic or glass bottles， which can be 1）redeemed for a small deposit of between 8 and 25 cents.

Paul： A lot of people don’t know about the fact that many people are reliant on the deposit of collecting it. Not just homeless， as a lot of people expect.

So， Paul decided to invent something that would make it easier for empty bottles to get to the people who need them.

Inside this large， dusty warehouse， he’s putting the finishing touches on his creation. Paul bends over a long wooden table and sparks fly as he works on the yellow metal ring.

His invention is called the “deposit ring.” It’s a metal circle designed to attach around public trash cans， and the ring has several spaces to hold empty cans and bottles， so beer and soda drinkers will have a place to put their empty containers， and bottle collectors can find them with a bit more dignity， instead of digging through the trash.

Paul： People who see the idea first time in real life， they， mostly it’s a “2）aha moment，” because it’s so simple and it makes sense.

And it doesn’t just make sense for collectors. It’s also a matter of public safety. Here in Cologne， like in most German cities， it’s legal to drink beer in public， so， on the weekends， partiers leave glass bottles on the streets， where they can break， or they’re just tossed in the trash. In fact， Paul says €250 million literally went to waste in Germany last year from deposit bottles being thrown away. And that money could make a big difference in the pockets of Germany’s poor.

Paul began working on the solution two years ago in design school. The deposit ring started as a class project， but he wasn’t sure if it would work in real life， so he set up a test in Cologne last year to find out.

Paul： So I attached it at a really crowded 3）crossroad， where a lot of people partying in bars around there. It worked so well I couldn’t believe my eyes. The people were using it [as] if it was there forever. Collectors， who were passing by， they didn’t look in the trash bins anymore.

It worked so well that the City of Cologne wanted 10 deposit rings installed in the city’s club district， even though there was no money to pay for them. Local politician Andreas Poetken found a way by working with local businesses.

Andreas： Then we said， “OK， if the money is the reason， we， all the clubs here and nearby gave the money.” And [they] said， “OK， give us one.” Paul and I worked a lot at this project. I’m very proud.

Paul hopes his invention will not only help improve the lives of bottle collectors， but also start a larger discussion about Germany’s invisible lower class.

Paul： These are no beggars. I think that every single person has to become sensitive.

Paul says dozens of cities in Germany have now requested their own deposit rings. So small changes in what we do with our empty beer bottles could end up making a big difference.

Paul： I can change people’s minds in a positive way， and I think this is a really natural beginning of a big change.

保羅·凱茨（產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)者）：我坐在那里，看著人們把空瓶子扔掉，然后幾分鐘之后就有人過來，把它從垃圾桶里挖出來。看到這些，我覺得有點(diǎn)難過。

這位是保羅·凱茨，今年25歲，是德國科隆的一名產(chǎn)品設(shè)計(jì)者。他不喜歡看到城市里那些窮人為了收集空瓶子賣錢而不得不在垃圾桶里翻找的情形。德國有強(qiáng)盛的經(jīng)濟(jì)和良好的福利體系，因此大多數(shù)人很難把這件事與德國扯上關(guān)系，但撿空瓶子的人確實(shí)又隨處可見。保羅看到他們從一個垃圾桶走到另一個垃圾桶，尋找空的塑料瓶子和玻璃瓶子，他們可以從每個回收的空瓶子拿到8到25歐分不等的押金。

保羅：許多人并不知道，很多人靠收集這些空瓶子換取押金生活，但是，與許多人所想的不同，這些人并不一定是無家可歸。

于是，保羅決定要發(fā)明一個什么東西，好讓那些撿空瓶子的人更容易收集到它們。

在這個到處是灰塵的大倉庫里，他正為自己的發(fā)明進(jìn)行最后的處理。保羅在一張長木桌前彎下腰，他在加工一個黃色的金屬圈，火花四射。

他的發(fā)明叫“瓶子存放圈”。這是一個掛在公共垃圾桶上的金屬圈，圈上有好幾個可以放置空罐和空瓶的格子，這樣人們喝完啤酒和喝完汽水后就有地方放空容器了，而瓶子收集者也可以更有尊嚴(yán)地找到它們，而不是去翻垃圾桶。

保羅：第一次在生活中看到這個，大部分人都會恍然大悟，因?yàn)檫@其實(shí)很簡單，很有用。

這個設(shè)置不僅對瓶子收集者有用，它也有益于公共安全。……