In New York, making a life out of bottles and cans

In New York, making a life out of bottles and cans

在紐約市靠瓶瓶罐罐討生活

【摘要2020.9.24.自由】◎孫宇青

When the Brooklyn clothing factory where she worked closed its doors, Josefa Marin started picking up cans and bottles from trash cans to make ends meet.

當荷塞法．瑪林工作的布魯克林成衣廠關門後，她開始從垃圾桶撿拾瓶罐轉賣，好達到收支平衡。

A decade later, the 50-year-old Mexican immigrant is handed hundreds of recyclables by bars and clubs and by concierges of private buildings. They even give her the keys to their trash rooms so she can take what she needs.

10年後，酒吧、俱樂部或私人大樓的管理員，都會把上百件回收品交給這位50歲的墨西哥移民。他們甚至把回收室的鑰匙交給她，讓她自由拿取。

They are called "bottle professionals" by some redemption centers’ employees, and are described as people who know by heart each recycling and trash pick-up route and who take the job seriously thanks to a 1982 law in New York that allows consumers to return empty containers for five cents.（AP）

某些資源回收中心的員工稱他們為「瓶罐專家」，形容他們是把每一條資源回收路線銘記在心，以及認真對待這項工作的人。拜紐約市1982年一項法律所賜，消費者只要回收空瓶罐，就能退回5美分（約1.5台幣）。（美聯社）

新聞辭典

make ends meet：慣用片語，使收支平衡。例句：It is an achievement to make ends meet with a big family.（在大家庭中達成收支平衡，堪稱一項成就。）

concierge：名詞，門房；櫃檯人員。例句：Police officers disguise themselves as hotel concierges.（員警喬裝成飯店禮賓人員。）

redemption：名詞，贖回；買回。例句：I paid a lot of money for the redemption of the jewelry.（我花了一大筆錢贖回珠寶。）