There is a beautiful story happening in Holland where mainstream ideals (profit and individualism) are put aside to make way for collaboration and a new way to work. This new movement is being powered by the people and  businesses surrounding Precious Plastic.

For the past 4 years Precious Plastic has been creating solutions to the plastic waste problem and sharing them to the public- for free. It is our little gift to the world. Upon our call to action in August, we now have 39 super skilled people (and 500+ more awaiting) donating their time, energies and skills to the project- volunteering for free. The city of Eindhoven donated a huge warehouse in the center of town for Precious Plastic to use for 1 ½  year- free of charge. Eight beautiful houses were made available to host our crew- for close to no money. Local farmers and bakeries are filling our (reusable) crates and bags with food and goodies every week-  once more for free.

Is it true that “you get what you give?” Or maybe we are just lucky? Regardless, we are thankful. Here are some details of all the cool stuff Precious Plastic has received in the past few months:

FREE MONEY

‍That’s right, Precious Plastic won 300,000€ through the FAMAE Award. Rather than buy ourselves a Ferrari, we decided to reinvest the money in Precious Plastic and work on Version 4! Way better investment in our opinion 🙂

FREE SPACE

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The City of Eindhoven in The Netherlands gifted us an AWESOME warehouse. It is right in the middle of town. And it’s HUGE. It is close to the train station, walking distance to the main shopping center, and next door to some yummy restaurants. This warehouse has more space than we know what to do with. We filled it with 40 people and their bicycles, a Coliseum, a ping-pong table, and a robot – with plenty more space for future projects.

This workspace is our livelihood. We eat here, work here, and sometimes camp here 🤐

This place is now filled with the vibrant energy of passionate people and the plastic projects they are working on. It transformed from an empty warehouse into a functioning research and development workspace.

FREE LABOR

‍Currently, 39 people are working with us here in Eindhoven. These people left behind families, salaries, homes, universities, jobs, security, and comfort to embark on a unique adventure to stop plastic waste. It is a true testament to this new generation that cares about the well-being of the planet beyond personal gain.

FREE FOOD

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@Istvan from Romania and @Julie from Holland are our food managers. They go to local markets, farms, and cooperatives to buy the awesome vegan food on our table. Naturally, they develop relationships with these food suppliers and sometimes tell the Precious Plastic story. In return, farmers often give them HUGE quantities of free food to support the project and volunteers. Same goes for the great local baker… we love bread 🙂

As the saying goes “The best things in life are FREE.”

Friendship, laughter, working together and sharing a vision on how the world ought to be is what makes everyday a new adventure. Thinking about money and ego is a distant nightmare, we are now living a dream!