废旧塑料瓶摇身变空调

By+Mila+Luleva

Summer is finally here for most of us in the Northern hemisphere1）. Jackets go safely in storage， and we all start dreaming of that beach holiday and cocktails. Unfortunately， summer is not so pleasant when we are stuck inside behind a desk， with a non-working air-conditioning system. In this moment， suddenly， all these daydreams disappear， and the anticipated2） season becomes something that no one wants.

Now， if this is a problem for us sitting in our comfortable offices， imagine how people in a bit less fortunate places must feel—like in Bangladesh for example. The temperatures and humidity during the summer months over there can be hard to bear， while air conditioning is not really an option for the majority.

But as one smart person has said once， where there is a will， there is a way. A creative inventor from Bangladesh designed a new type of air conditioning system called the Eco Cooler. One that does not require electricity， and it is made of the world&apos；s most common waste item—plastic bottles.

The Eco Cooler is super simple to build—no prior3） engineering or construction skills are required. The size of the system depends on the size of the windows in a room； as to mount4） it， a window should be removed and replaced by it.

So， a regular board should be cut in the size of the window. A grid5） of bottle-neck sized holes should then be cut onto the board. Then， the funnel6）-shaped bottlenecks， cut from the plastic bottles， should be fit into the holes. The next step is to fit the design onto the window frame with the wider side facing outwards. And this is it.

The Eco Cooler then works by capturing the winds and sending them inside the building. It can reduce the temperature of a room by as much as 5 C—a difference that can be quite significant when looking at comfortable 25 C versus7） sweaty 30 C.

The idea of the inventor， Ashis Paul， was to show his great product to as many people as possible， and help them build one themselves. For this purpose， he received help from the Grey Group， a multinational advertising firm， who volunteered to advertise the Eco Cooler for free. Another group of volunteers from the Grameen Intel Social Business （a Dhaka-based IT company） also provided free assistance to local people， helped them build and install the units8）， as well as taught them how to make them themselves.

Yes， the Eco Cooler is not a super high-tech air conditioning system， but it is one that can make a big difference.

夏天又到了，对于家里装有空调的人而言，炎炎夏日可能并没有那么难熬。然而，在孟加拉国等南亚国家，其夏天最高气温可达45°C，许多生活在乡村的穷苦人民都居住在没有电的铁皮棚屋里，买不起电扇、空调，只能在酷暑中苦苦挣扎。幸运的是，该国的一位发明家用旧塑料瓶设计出了一款生态空调，给大家送去了福音，一起来看看他是怎么做的吧！

我们生活在北半球的大多数人终于迎来了夏天。夹克被妥妥地收了起来，我们都开始梦想着那海滩边的度假和鸡尾酒。不过，要是我们只能窝在屋子里伏案工作而空调系统又出了故障的话，夏天可就没那么惬意了，我们可就倒霉了。这个时候，所有那些幻想突然都消失不见，翘首期盼的夏天变得谁都不稀罕了。

不过，如果上面的情况对我们这些坐在舒适办公室里的人来说都是一个问题的话，那想一想那些生活在条件没有这么好的地方的人们会是什么感受吧，譬如住在孟加拉国的人。夏天的几个月里，那里的气温和湿度可能会令人难以忍受，而使用空调对于大多数人来说又真的是想都不敢想。

不过，正如某位智者曾经说过的那样，有志者事竟成。孟加拉国一位很有创造力的发明家设计了一种名为生态空调的新型空调系统。这种空调不需要电，并且材料用的是世界上最常见的废品——塑料瓶。

生态空调的制作方法极为简单，无需前期工程或施工技术。空调的大小取决于房间窗户的大小；安装的时候需要拆掉一个窗户，然后再换上空调。

因而制作时，需要先将一个普通板子裁成窗户的大小，然后在上面打出塑料瓶瓶颈大小的一个个小孔，使其成网格状。接着从塑料瓶上切下漏斗状的瓶颈，将其塞入小孔中。下一步是将这个板子嵌进窗框里，瓶口较大的一面朝外。然后，生态空调就做好了。

制作完成后，生态空调就可以工作了，其工作原理是把风吸过来，再输送到屋子里。它最高可以将房间的温度降低5 C——如果是拿舒适宜人的25 C和让人汗流浃背的30 C相比的话，那么这5 C的改變可以说是意义重大了。

生态空调的发明者是阿希斯·保罗，他的打算是向尽可能多的人展示自己这个很棒的产品，并帮助他们自己动手制作一个生态空调。为此，他接受了跨国广告公司葛瑞集团的帮助，这家公司自愿免费帮他宣传生态空调。来自格莱珉英特尔社会商业公司（一家位于达卡的信息技术公司）的另一群志愿者也伸出了援手，免费帮当地人制作并安装生态空调，还教他们如何自己动手制作。

没错，生态空调并不是什么超牛的高科技空调系统，但它却能让这个世界大为不同。

1. hemisphere [?hem?sf??（r）] n. （地球的）半球

2. anticipate [?n?t?s?pe?t] vt. 期盼；期望

3. prior [?pra??（r）] adj. 先前的；事先安排的

4. mount [ma?nt] vt. 安装

5. grid [ɡr?d] n. 网格

6. funnel [?f?nl] n. 漏斗

7. versus [?v??s?s] prep. （比较两种不同想法、选择时）与……相对；与……相比

8. unit [?ju?n?t] n. 装置

Eco Cooler宣传视频中的降温原理说明图