Worth: $17.00
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Cast:
Joost Bakker, Matt Stone, Jo Barrett
Intro:
Inspiring and thought-provoking …
Joost Bakker was described by the New York Times as the poster boy for zero waste living. At the centre of this documentary is his jaw-dropping project, Greenhouse – a self-sustaining home in Melbourne’s Federation Square that grows food from the roof, and even the walls. There’s no waste, everything gets used and feeds back into a closed loop of sustainability.
Joost (pronounced ‘Yoast’) is inspired by nature herself, which knows no waste. “A tree that falls down in this forest – it actually creates all these resources for so many other species,” he says. “It’s the perfect example of a closed loop system. I don’t see why a house should be any different to this.”
The film follows the Greenhouse project from its inception, as the team face lockdown delays and various challenges in getting the Greenhouse from plan to reality. It’s a top down philosophy – instead of foundations, soil on the roof keeps the house in place. His friends – a couple of chefs who are also a couple, Matt Stone and Jo Barrett – trial living in the house, making amazing-looking dishes plucked out of the walls and roof. It’s incredibly clever – for example, the humidity created by the shower will go to hydrate the mushrooms that cover a wall. Chooks, bees and fish are also all part of the house’s inbuilt ecosystem, but some may draw the line at the crickets, who end up in the frying pan.
Directed by Rhian Skirving (Matilda and Me) and Bruce Permezel (Hawke: The Larrikin and the Leader), with Skirving also penning the script, the project generated worldwide interest on social media. The film makes so many points about nature, sustainability and the way we live, you would need to watch it twice to take them all in.
If there are any critiques to Joost’s ideas, they’re not found in the film. But Joost isn’t saying to the world that this is how we all should live. Instead, he sees Greenhouse as a catalyst for change. One of the most interesting comments in the film was about how change can happen incredibly quickly, using the example of Covid forcing the working from home revolution overnight – proving that transformation can be sudden.
Inspiring and thought-provoking, you’ll be left wondering what the poster boy for zero waste living will come up with next.
