Joost Bakker's Greenhouse: A Future Home Model

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Greenhouse, a zero-waste eatery, was launched by Joost Bakker in Melbourne’s CBD more than a decade ago, which led to more zero-waste restaurants following in its footsteps.

Greenhouse is a unique restaurant in many ways. This zero-waste eatery was launched by Joost Bakker in Melbourne’s CBD more than a decade ago.

Milk is delivered in reusable plastic buckets, chairs are built out of discarded road signs, while an on-site composter saves hundreds of tons of food going to waste.

More zero-waste restaurants followed, leading to an ultimate sustainable undertaking at Federation Square.

Broadsheet reports that the newest Greenhouse is different from all its predecessors. It combines a home and urban farm with a goal of growing all the food inhabitants prepare and eat.

“Where the problem sits is with the food system. We need to radically change the way we grow food. Food systems need to be where we live and where we generate the waste. My goal is to create the biggest little ecosystem in the world.”

Bakker believes that urban food production is the future.

The latest Greenhouse is built on three floors, has two bedrooms, and yet is brimming with food production potential.

Inhabitants can grow their own fruit, vegetables, and herbs in the rooftop garden, and breed mussels, yabbies, and barramundi in an aquaponic system.

The house itself runs on solar power, with some parts clad in recycled rubber and panels made of wheat and rice straw fibers.

Nikola Gemeš

Nikola, an electrical engineer, simplifies intricate sustainability subjects for his audience. A staunch environmental conservationist, he embodies his beliefs daily through recycling and cultivating his own food.