JOOST BAKKER CHAMPION OF ZERO-WASTE LIVING
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY | Mark Fergus
Trying to pin a label on Joost Bakker is not a simple task. He has been described as a visionary, a trail-blazer, a restaurateur, a food-lover, an artist, a florist and a farmer. He is a designer of buildings and complex recycling systems. He is a champion of zero-waste living, practices what he preaches and opened Silo, the country’s first no-waste restaurant, in 2012.
Joost is also one of those rare people that radiates an aura of energy and optimism that is both refreshing and inspiring. Talk with this instantly likeable man and it is soon evident his mind is full of ideas that constantly and enthusiastically explore the boundaries of the possible.
His latest project is the Future Food System, an elegantly beautiful, totally self- sustaining and zero-waste home on the river bank at Birrarung Marr, next to Federation Square in central Melbourne. The building is a blueprint for what can be achieved with existing materials and technology, and functions as a combined urban farm and off-grid home. It sits on a tiny 87 square metre site and looks and feels like an art installation draped with plants. The concept has gained enormous national and international exposure and is featured in the documentary ‘Greenhouse by Joost’, that was the Audience Award Winner at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival.
To read the full article, read in issue #52 Summer 2022 here.
