The idea undoubtedly seemed strange at first: take the plastic water bottles that litter Nigeria's roads, canals and gutters and allow people to live inside them. Not literally, but almost.
這個構想乍聽似乎很不可思議：收集遍布奈及利亞道路、運河和排水溝的寶特瓶，再讓人們住在裡面。雖然不盡是字面上的意思，但也相去不遠了。
What a group of activists did was come up with a plan to build a house using those bottles, providing what they say is an environmentally smart strategy of chipping away at a housing shortage in Africa's most populous nation.
積極推動這項活動的團體提出一項用空寶特瓶建屋的計畫，這在他們看來是個可以解決非洲這個人口最多國家房荒問題的明智環保策略。
“This is the first house in Africa built from bottles, which could go a long way in solving Nigeria's huge housing need and cleaning the badly polluted environment,” project initiator Christopher Vassiliu said during a tour of the building.
計畫發起人瓦希里歐在視察房子時說：「這是非洲第一間用瓶子蓋的房子，長遠看來，這對解決奈及利亞迫切的住屋需求和清除嚴重的環境汙染大有助益。」
It is in many ways a marvel to look at. The project was initiated by the Kaduna-based NGO Development Association for Renewable Energies (DARE), with help from foreign experts from Africa Community Trust, a London-based NGO.
從很多層面看來，這實在是個奇觀。這項計畫是由總部設在卡杜納的非政府組織「再生能源發展協會」發起，並得到倫敦非政府組織「非洲社會信託機構」外國專家的協助。
Sitting on 58-square meters, the two-bedroom bungalow looks like an ordinary home, but it differs in many ways.  It is made from capped, sand-filled plastic bottles, each weighing three kilograms.
這棟兩臥室平房占地58平方公尺，看來與普通住宅無異，實則在很多方面不盡相同。整棟住宅是由填滿沙的加蓋寶特瓶興建而成，每個瓶子重3公斤。
The bottles are stacked into layers and bonded together by mud and cement, with an intricate network of strings holding each bottle by its neck, providing extra support to the structure.Bottle caps of various colors protrude from the cement-plastered walls, giving them a unique look.
瓶子一層層往上堆砌，再用泥漿和水泥粘固，再用複雜的網絡一一套牢瓶頸，可提供整個架構額外支撐力。各種顏色的瓶蓋從塗上水泥的牆壁探出頭來，形成獨特的外觀。
Those behind the project claim the sand-filled bottles are stronger than ordinary cinder blocks. “The structure has the added advantage of being fire proof, bullet proof and earthquake resistant, with the interior maintaining a constant temperature of 18℃ which is good for tropical climate,” Yahaya Ahmad, the project coordinator said.
在幕後推動這項計畫者聲稱，填滿沙的寶特瓶比普通煤渣磚強韌堅實。計畫協調員阿邁德說：「這種住宅結構另有一大優點，可防火、防彈、抗震，並可保持室內恆溫攝氏18度，這在熱帶氣候的地方是一大優勢。」
With the right adjustments to the supporting pillars the building can be as high as three stories, but can go no higher due to the weight of the sand-filled bottles, Ahmad said.
阿邁德並說，梁柱經過正確調整後，可蓋三層樓高的房子，但因填滿沙的寶特瓶本身的重量，已經不可能再高了。
Situated amidst an expansive irrigation farm, the building consists of a rotunda-shaped living room which connects to the interior via a short corridor. Two rooms stand opposite with a bathroom and a toilet between them. A side door leads to an open courtyard and the kitchen.
房子坐落在廣闊的灌溉農場中間，前面有個圓形起居室，再以短短的通道連接到室內。兩個房間對立，當中有一間浴室和一間廁所。側門則可通往開放的庭院和廚房。
The house is also designed to produce zero carbon emissions as it will be wholly powered by solar panels and methane gas from recycled human and animal waste.
房子設計時也著眼於零碳排放，因為房子將完全由太陽能板及回收利用人類和動物廢棄物所產生的甲烷供電。
Construction, which has reached 70 percent completion, is estimated to require 14,000 bottles. Huge piles of empty plastic bottles litter the site from donations from embassies, hotels and restaurants.  Environmental experts say Nigeria, a country of some 160 million, throws out about three million plastic bottles daily.
房子目前已完成七成，總共估計需要1.4萬個瓶子。使館、飯店和餐館所捐贈的空寶特瓶散見建築工地，堆積如山。環保專家說，奈及利亞人口約 1.6億，每天丟掉約300萬個寶特瓶。
The country is also grappling with a deficit of 16 million housing units that requires a staggering 45 trillion naira （$300 billion） to meet, according to Nigeria's Federal Mortgage Bank.
據奈及利亞聯邦抵押銀行表示，奈國正力圖解決短缺1600萬棟住屋的問題，這要耗費驚人的45萬億奈拉（約9140億台幣）才能解決。
Plastic houses are cheap to construct as it costs a quarter of the money required to build a conventional house, said Vassiliu, a Greek national who has been working in Nigeria as a water drilling engineer for 30 years.  The project is to cost two million naira ($12,700), he said.
瓦希里歐說，蓋寶特瓶屋較便宜，只要傳統住宅的四分之一費用。瓦希里歐是希臘人，他已經在奈及利亞從事鑽井工作30年。他估計，這棟寶特瓶屋大概只要花200萬奈拉（約38.7萬台幣）就可蓋成。
A second plastic bottle project is due to commence in January at a primary school in need of more classrooms in the town of Suleja near Nigeria's capital Abuja. “The project would take 200,000 bottles out of landfills into education”, said Macmillan.
第二間寶特瓶屋1月將在奈及利亞首都阿布賈附近的蘇萊賈鎮開工，當地一所小學需要更多教室。麥克米倫說：「這項計畫將從垃圾掩埋場回收20萬個寶特瓶用於教育上。」
Across the world complex sustainable technologies are being researched to provide futuristic solutions to the common problem of excess waste. What DARE and the Africa Community Trust are realizing in Nigeria is an effective and relatively inexpensive answer to this ongoing issue, recycling basic materials into a valuable and longstanding community resource.
世界各地都在未雨綢繆研究複雜的永續發展科技，以解決常見的廢棄物過剩問題。「再生能源發展協會」和「非洲社會信託機構」在奈及利亞所作所為，正是對這個日益嚴重的問題，提出有效又相對便宜的解決之道，把基本物資回收再利用成寶貴又長遠的社會資源。
In this photo, a man is seen building on November 2, 2011 a wall with plastic bottles in the village of Sabon Yelwa, near the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna.
圖中一名工匠今年11月2日在奈及利亞北部城市卡杜納附近的沙邦葉瓦村，用寶特瓶砌牆。
（法新社）