All language subtitles for M.P.S01E16.1080p.WEB.h264-BAWD_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Our journey begins in
Panama, on the island of Colon.

We're landing in the island capital
Bocas del Toro

The island is green,
covered in thick jungle,

actually a true holiday paradise.

But then...plastic bottles.
A whole mound of them.

Plastic is a problem on the island,
there is no recycling system.

Robert Bezeau is battling against
the plastic waste.

The locals either
burn it or just let it rot.

This takes 450 years.

- I am sad that this is going on
everywhere on the planet.

This makes you realise,
we are 7.3 billion humans

on the planet now. If each of us
would drink

only one bottle a day
that equals

to 2.66 trillion bottles a year.

NARRATOR: Robert’s mission - giving
old plastic bottles a new purpose.

And he will show us on his property
how he is intending to do so.

His plan is to build houses from
the old plastic bottles.

Preferably on
an industrial scale right away.

- Our dream is to build 120 houses
out of plastic bottles from garbage.

It will be a green
sustainable village.

NARRATOR: Houses made out of plastic
waste and a green village?

How does this fit together?
Robert shows us around his property,

a whole 33.5 hectares of jungle.

Here he wants to
build his village.

The first prototype of a
house is already finished.

The walls are made from plastic
bottles, mostly still unplastered.

But it won’t stay this way. We
will take a closer look in a minute.

- This is the first house I built.

It is a prototype.
From a dream to reality,

but this house contains
10.000 bottles.

NARRATOR: House walls made
from plastic bottles -

how do they have to be constructed
that they are sturdy?

In the workshop we meet Felix.

He has been working for Robert
for six months.

Inside it, the plastic bottles
are so tightly packed

that there are almost no spaces
left between them.

- This is one of the
major pieces of the system.

It’s all cages with bottles trapped
inside that we attach one together,

one to the other. It’s like the
blocks for kids.

NARRATOR: The bottles don’t only
vanish in the house walls,

they also have another
important property.

- When the sun shines on one side of
the panel and on the cement,

it cannot transfer to the other side
because it is difficult,

because each bottle contains air
and that air,

by the time the sun will heat the
temperature inside the bottle

it is impossible,
so that is why you get

17 degrees C difference.

NARRATOR: This also works
the other way around.

In the winter the warmth
stays in the house

and doesn’t leave the building.
This is due to the fact

that the air in the bottles
hardly moves

and is therefore
a bad heat conductor.

Felix welds the cages with
the plastic bottles shut.

Apparently it is
supposed to be very durable.

Robert wants to prove this to us.
A house wall throwing contest.

Slowly we realise Robert’s methods
are a little unconventional.

- So, do you think seriously that
this panel can resist a quake?

Imagine when you put
a series of them

and we weld them together.

There is no way.

NARRATOR: The plastic
bottles filled with air

make the walls flexible. This way
they can resist vibrations better.

A clever construction. Robert is
neither a trained architect

nor an engineer. He used to work
in a factory.

All his knowledge about building
houses is from the internet.

Three years ago he left Canada
because he didn’t like the weather.

Already on his first day, he fell in
love with this part of Panama.

But he soon realised what a huge
waste disposal problem

his little paradise has.

At the moment,
Robert and his employees

are working on the first house
that they want to sell.

In the next month,
the first inhabitants

of the plastic bottle village
are supposed to move in.

The house walls
made of plastic bottles

will not stay naked. They will get
a protective layer of cement.

Inside the walls there are pipes
with cables for the electricity,

between the plastic bottles.

Speaking of electricity, how safe is
the house in case of a fire?

- We use only
PET number one bottles.

Those bottles are special. They only
have like 18% oil inside

so they don’t catch fire.

NARRATOR: PET stands for
Polyethylene Terephthalate.

This kind of plastic is
not very flammable.

Robert demonstrates.

But should it ever
catch fire for whatever reason,

Robert has even installed
a sprinkler system

on the inside of the wall.

And what do the locals
think about Robert

and his plastic bottle houses?

We ask employee Felix.

- (speaking Spanish)

NARRATOR:
The weather has changed.

But still the, new inhabitants
want to visit

the building site of their new home.

Jeff and Justine are expecting
a child.

When it is born they will move into
the house with their baby.

And that is already next month.

- Here will be the
room for your baby.

From that corner here we're going
to build a wall...

coming up to here.

And then your kitchen.

NARRATOR: It only takes 50 days for
the house to be completely finished.

But how did the two come up
with the idea

of moving into a house
made of plastic bottles?

- We went on a walk recently

and met Robert
and he just inspired us.

He really inspired us to the future

and to new techniques of building
and now being able to recycle

20,000 plastic bottles
and turn them into a home...

it’s quite incredible.

NARRATOR: Of course, this
isn’t only possible in the tropics.

Houses like these could be built
all over the world. But

what is life like
in a house like this?

Is there any comfort? Are there
differences to a normal house?

Robert takes us to a hotel. Here he
has already built a bungalow

completely out of plastic bottles.

But it doesn’t look like plastic
at all

and doesn’t sound like it either.

- Nobody knows that there
is bottles inside there.

You cannot tell once it is finished.

NARRATOR: Our verdict -
the walls seem sturdy.

You can even simply hang pictures on
the wall with the help of a nail.

Electricity - also working.

And this is supposed to become
Robert's new home -

a castle made of
plastic bottles.

But he has a lot more planned.

- My plan for the future
is to train people

from all over the world to be
able to do the same thing.

I dream that they go back
to their respective countries

and start to do the same thing and
they could show other people

and we could increase the usage

of the plastic bottle into the
construction of houses.

NARRATOR: We think that Robert’s
idea of building structures

out of plastic
bottles is fantastic.

For him to be able to carry on,

we gladly leave our empty
water bottles behind.

Our next mysterious
place takes us to Greece.

We arrive in the land of the Gods -
to be more specific,

on the Greek island
of Kefalonia.

It is said that a curious phenomenon
can be found here -

levitating boats.
Apparently very close

to the idyllic coastal town of Sami.

But the boats that are harboured
here definitely aren’t levitating.

Therefore we are driving
to the Melissani cave.

Somewhere here we are supposed
to be able to find them.

A tunnel leads us
deep underground.

At the end of it is the
only entrance to the cave.

But levitating boats?
Not a single one.

There are simple rowing boats that
are moored here in the water.

The cave is 20,000 years old

but has only been accessible to
the public since the 1950s.

We have arranged
to meet boatsman Nikos.

He has been working in the
cave for ten years

and knows it inside out.

- (speaking Greek)

NARRATOR: Nikos rows into the
40m-wide dripstone cave with us.

The water is up to 35m deep.

NARRATOR:
And it is really cold.

The water only catches
about two hours

of direct sunlight per day.

Another factor is that it is
constantly in motion.

NARRATOR: This is the
first mystery about the cave -

the sea water vanishes in a hole

on the other side of the island
and travels across it underground.

Two weeks later it reaches the cave
that is about 30km away.

The crazy thing about this is that
the water seems to flow uphill.

But nobody knows why.

NARRATOR: Mystery number two -
levitating boats.

But we aren't doing so
with our boat yet.

This is what it should look like.
Are we doing something wrong?

NARRATOR: For this to happen the sun
has to be perpendicular.

And it mustn’t be cloudy.

The chance of seeing levitating
boats therefore only exists

for an hour and a half every day.

Nikos is used to waiting.

- (singing in Greek)

NARRATOR: While we are waiting for
the sun Nikos shows us

his unusual working environment.

Scientists have to regularly check
the statics of the cave

because about every two months,
a small earthquake occurs here.

It is almost noon.
Therefore we row back

into the magic part of the cave.

The sun is slowly beginning
to shine into the crater.

NARRATOR: So we wait and wait and...
wait.

Slowly we are beginning
to ask ourselves

if the phenomenon
doesn’t exist after all.

The cave is slowly beginning to fill
up with other impatient visitors.

And then...

NARRATOR: And really, as soon
as the sun is shining vertically

into the cave the boats
begin to levitate.

It is most important for the
perspective to be correct.

If you are in a boat you barely see
the phenomenon.

As the boat is reflected in the
surface of the water

only now do we notice all the
boats are painted blue. Why?

NARRATOR: We want to have a look at
this from below and go for a dive.

Underwater we can clearly see a
shadow on the bottom of the cave.

But why do the right light
and the correct perspective

give the impression that
the boat is floating?

Every water surface is
transparent, as in clear.

We only recognise it as the surface

through the reflections
of the surroundings.

As the blue sky is usually
reflected in the water

it appears to
be blue to us.

The lake is surrounded
by black rocks.

They are barely reflected and the
clear water remains translucent.

When the light falls into the cave
through the hole at the top

at a vertical angle, nothing is
reflected in the water.

The surface seems to be translucent.

Another reason for no reflections
in the water -

the blue boats create
the perfect illusion.

They have the same colour
as the water and therefore,

we can barely see their reflection.

The boats really seem to float -

a truly fascinating
optical illusion.

Our search takes us to the
Australian mega city Sydney.

Known for its architectural
highlights such as Harbour Bridge

and the Opera House.

In this metropolis there are over
650 skyscrapers

but one building is
quite exceptional...

..the One Central Park Tower.

A high-rise that combines
nature and city.

The outside is completely
overgrown with green plants.

We also discover a gigantic
mirror construction on the roof.

We will find out later
what its use exactly is.

In order to find out what this
vertical garden is all about

we are meeting facility
manager Kieran McAllister.

- A couple of things that you notice
with green walls around the world

is that there is usually
a mark about 2m

where people go and touch
and feel

so we're often doing
replacements of plants

in these lower sections cos people
go up to see if it's real.

NARRATOR: They are definitely real.

250 different plants grow
on the facade.

They are attached
with stone wool.

This gives them the necessary grip
and also functions as its soil.

But a vertical garden, too,
requires attention.

- Right now we have our
maintenance team up there.

Our maintenance team on site
consists of six full-time people.

They're undertaking some pruning,
general pest maintenance

and just making sure that everything
is working correctly on site.

NARRATOR: Over
36,000 plants grow here.

The vertical garden is
not only an eye catcher,

it is also actively involved
in improving

the air quality in the city.

- If you have a look closely
at these leaves,

this is a fantastic example of
what plants can do in the city.

All of this black soot and mess that
you see on these leaves

is actually the particulate matter
from the cars

that we see next to us. Normally
this would be stirred up

into the air but plants
have the fantastic ability

of actually trapping
this particulate matter.

NARRATOR: Contaminants from
car fumes, for example,

stick to the oily leaves
of the plants.

Special enzymes then
turn the poisons

into harmless substances again.

This way, the vertical garden
acts as an air filter

for the city.

For this to work
the plants need sunlight.

For this reason the architects
have installed

this unusual mirror construction
on the green skyscraper.

A total of 320 reflectors make sure
that the sunlight

reaches all the levels that
would otherwise

be in the shade for most
of the time.

But what is life like in the
breathing skyscraper?

To find out about this, we are
meeting a resident.

Kenneth Lindstedt has been living on
the 12th floor with his family

since the building opened.

Living sustainably is expensive.
For his 65-square-metre flat

the stock broker pays
$3,400 per month.

- There is an automatic
watering system

so there is no maintenance
required with the exterior itself.

Someone comes once a year, they come
down and cut the plants

if they get too big.
And that’s it.

NARRATOR: So Kenneth doesn’t
have to water the plants himself.

Due to the many plants,
the walls of the building

are usually in the shade. During the
hot summer, a huge advantage.

Also, through the evaporating water
from when the plants are watered

a cooling effect takes place.
This helps save energy.

Kenneth only uses the
air-conditioning

on especially hot days.

But the vertical garden does
have one setback.

For spiders and bugs
it is the ideal environment.

- This is Sydney, so there are many
more spiders in other apartments.

I picked this apartment because is
new, it is fairly Insect-free.

I think we've seen two spiders.

NARRATOR: The house also has
its own water purification plant,

plant watering system and toilet -
both use recycled water.

This way the water consumption
of the house is even lower

than that of normal houses.

Kenneth can check his water
and energy usage

via an installed home panel.

- Here we can see information
that...

Electricity, how much we've used,
cold water, warm water.

NARRATOR: The green skyscraper
of Sydney -

a landmark for what our future
could look like.

8:00am in Kiev -
we're paying $300 directly

to tourist guide Elena
at the bus terminal.

Today we are visiting a mysterious
place, Chernobyl.

In the 1980s a catastrophe happened
in the nuclear power plant there.

For $10 extra it is possible