A Dutch supermarket chain has launched ‘the world’s first plastic free supermarket’ and the Plastic Whale offers boat tours to fish plastic out of the Amsterdam channels.
Ekoplaza, a Dutch organic supermarket chain, opened its ‘Ekoplaza Lab’ just off a major shopping street in the West of Amsterdam, in collaboration with a British campaign group.
Instead of plastic light fittings, there are lampshades reclaimed from other stores, metal-and-wood shelves and cardboard labels. But most importantly, all 700 products from fresh meat to lentils in this 60 square meter shop are wrapped in compostable biomaterials.
A trip with Plastic Whale isn’t about sightseeing. Inspired by the plastics crisis, it offers the chance to help clean Amsterdam’s waterways. On a two-hour boat tour groups make Amsterdam a cleaner place by fishing for plastic with fishing nets. From the plastic harvest new Plastic Whale boats and now even office furniture is produced.
YLE reporter Kirsti Karttunen and cameraman Sasha Silvala visit the plastic free supermarket and go along on a plastic fishing trip with the Plastic Whale organisation. Kirsti also interviews the Dutch transition professor Jan Rotmans about the transition that is so needed for the human species to survive. According to Rotmans we have another 25 years for the full transition before it all goes wrong. To him the increase of recycling is the most important priority.
For this production Featurez gave advice, did the research, set up and planning of the filming, booked a rental car, did the driving and accompanied the filming.