26 September 2023

Greenhouse by Joost

7 November 2022

Reviewed by Rama Gaind.

Directors: Rhian Skirving and Bruce Permezel, Madman Entertainment.

Your taste buds will awaken once you realise there’s a house that grows all the food you’ll ever need! That’s the vision of Dutch-born environmental campaigner Joost Bakker, who was once dubbed the ‘Poster Boy of Zero Waste Living’ by The New York Times.

This feature documentary follows Bakker as he builds a self-sustaining home, an ecosystem that provides its occupants with water, energy, shelter and nourishment.

Filmed over the course of a year in beautiful central Melbourne, Greenhouse is an uplifting look at the teamwork and ingenuity behind a paradigm-shifting project that bursts with life.

Joined in his work by internationally acclaimed chefs Matt Stone and Jo Barrett, Bakker faces his fair share of challenges to finish the home. Bureaucratic delays, COVID shutdowns and blackouts all threaten the build.

Each phase of construction offers an opportunity to investigate a different element of the house, from the timber, to the soil, to the compostable plastic wrap that protects the parts being delivered. Every detail of the build must live up to Bakker’s exacting standards. It must be recyclable, non-toxic and it must not generate any waste.

As the build progresses, we meet the community Bakker is working with to make the project happen, from gardeners, to fish experts, architects to mushroom growers.

However, after many months of setbacks and hard work, the house is laden with homegrown fruit, vegetables and herbs. Steam from the shower provides humidity for a flourishing mushroom wall and a thriving aquaponics system provides dinner guests with yabbies and trout. Food scraps and human waste are delivered to a biodigester, which in turn provides gas to the rooftop barbecue.

Ultimately, Greenhouse is an uplifting look at the teamwork and ingenuity behind a paradigm-shifting project that bursts with life. Changing the way we build, live and eat. The zero-waste crusader’s work is inspiring!