Is your home currently operating in a way that allows you to be self-sufficient?   In this episode of The Darin Olien Show, I chat with Joost Bakker about his vision of what a zero-waste world would look like. While we produce a lot of waste in our homes, we don’t have a solution as to what to do with the waste at this moment. However, we have the technology to use our waste and our homes to transform them into a powerhouse and source of energy and food for ourselves, all while being as green as possible.   Joost also shares how our food system is broken. The systems we have in place to feed our people aren’t sustainable and it is only a question of time until it breaks. He proposes alternatives to some of the problems he notices in our food system, such as the milk system.   Joost Bakker has been called a visionary, disruptor, environmental activist, and ahead of his time. Over the last 25 years, Joost has highlighted the world’s wasteful ways using multiple platforms from art installations, floristry, design, and architecture to bars and restaurants.    What we discuss:   01:05: What progress are the greenhouses experiencing? 08:00: What other places in the world is soil mined? 12:17: How did the fuel we have today was born? 18:22: Is our current food system hurting us?  21:37: How is the system failing us? 23:24: Why do we keep creating synthetic materials? 28:55: Why was Joost threatened to go to jail? 40:18: Can we make naturally-made houses? 49:33: How many opportunities are there in Los Angeles? 52:55: What did Joost do after each filming? 01:02:55: What is the #1 problem on earth? 01:06:00: Where to learn more from Joost?   Key takeaways:  

• We create a lot of waste and we don’t know what to do with it. Most of it is simply fermented and will further contribute to our environmental crisis as it emits gas into our atmosphere. We need to pay attention to this problem and look for ways to minimize the impact we all individually have on the environment. Our homes should be the first place we look at. 

 

• Our homes are currently being built in a way where they become waste at some point in time. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a way to build a self-sustaining, zero-waste, productive house. We can and must build homes that provide shelter, produce food and generate energy. We must build our homes in the future to be self-sufficient.

 

• Our food system is broken. When we look at all the waste that is produced throughout the supply chain to post-consumption, there is so much that can be done to be more efficient with our resources. We need to challenge the way we cultivate our food in first-world countries so that we can sustainably feed ourselves. 

    Find more from Joost:   Website: https://www.futurefoodsystem.com/  Instagram: @joostbakker   Find more from Darin:   Website: https://darinolien.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Darinolien/ Book: https://darinolien.com/fatal-conveniences-book/ Down to Earth: https://darinolien.com/down-to-earth/   More links:   Shop Bite and use code DARIN20 to save 20% on your Bite subscription: https://trybite.com/darin   Shop Therasage and use code DARIN to save 15% on your purchase: https://therasage.com/pages/shop