Plastifishing, a new way of fishing

Plastic Whale is the first professional plastic fishing company in the world. A social enterprise with a mission: make the world’s waters plastic-free and create value from plastic waste. It started five years ago with a single challenge to build a boat made of plastic waste.





Today, the company has a fleet of six design boats made from Amsterdam canal plastic. The main goal of the company is to go ‘out of business’: overfishing is a positive phenomenon in this case. With your team, department or company you can help Plastic Whale achieve the goal: come plasticfishing on the canals of Amsterdam!



Plastic waste is a growing, worldwide problem. Part of the problem is that people perceive plastic as a valueless disposable product. Use it once and then chuck it away! Plastic Whale wants to tackle this problem by showing people that plastic is not waste, but a valuable raw material. That’s why they build beautiful design boats from plastic that was fished from the water.



The company is organising trips, where participants get to see Amsterdam’s historical center from the water and collect plastic from the canals using provided nets. This plastic is used to make more fishing boats.



Besides the recycled Amsterdam canal plastic, Plastic Whale also make optimal use of other ‘waste streams’ at Vepa’s factory, including recycled steel for chairs and residual fabrics for the chair’s cushioning. Nothing goes to waste. At the end of its life cycle, they take your product back from you and pay you for it, because they will be using it as raw material in new products.



A collection of circular office furniture in collaboration with Vepa includes a table, chair, lamp and an acoustic panel. All made from Amsterdam canal plastic.

Read more: www.plasticwhale.com

Esther Mahlangu

“Even the smallest and seemingly boring things in our daily routine can enrich our lives and excite us when given a bit more attention”.

For almost 50 years now, the BMW group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperation’s worldwide. The company places the main focus of its longterm commitment on contemporary and modern art, classical music and jazz as well as architecture and design.

Esther Mahlangu started painting at the age of 10, she never thought she would end up being one of her country’s cultural ambassadors, taking her unique, tradition-driven art and entrepreneurship around the globe. Now she was commissioned by BMW to create the first ‘African art car’ and featured the typical motifs of the Ndebele tribe.

Smart Bandages

Researchers have designed a new 'smart' bandage with an in-built processor capable of tracking the progress of wounds as they heal. It does this using embedded pH and temperature sensors, which can check for infection and inflammation. The next-generation bandage also administers the correct dose of medicine over the course of the day. 

Bacteria-powered solar cell

Researchers from University of British Columbia have found a cheap, sustainable way to build a solar cell using bacteria that convert light to energy. Their cell generated a current stronger than any previously recorded from such a device, and worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light. This innovation could be a step toward wider adoption of solar power in places like northern Europe where overcast skies are common.

More information at science daily

Hoverglide Floating Backpack

The world’s first ‘floating’ backpack is equipped with suspended load technology that significantly minimises the stress of weight on the wearer’s back, neck, knees, and ankles as they walk or run.

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Dubbed SEER

This simulative emotional expression robot with humanoid head was created by the Japanese artist Takayuki Todo. It can make eye contact with you or imitate your expressions. With its face, this robot can generate empathy with the public instead of pushing them away. It can move its eyelids, eyebrows and head.

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Floating Farm Rotterdam

The world's first offshore dairy farm opens in the Port of Rotterdam this year, with the aim of helping the city produce more of its own food sustainably. At least 80% of what our cows eat will be waste products from Rotterdam's food industry.

That might include grains discarded by local breweries, leftovers from restaurants and cafes, by-products from local wheat mills, and even grass clippings, all collected and delivered in electric trucks provided by local "green waste" firm GroenCollect. The farm will start with 40 cows. Once up and running, the farm will produce and pasteurise milk and yoghurt on-site and sell it in Rotterdam.

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The sound of the earths

This hand-made from organic materials such as clay, wood, leather and wool, the ‘mapuguaquén’ clay speakers combine ancestral pottery tradition with state of the art wireless audio-technology. The speakers are produced in limited, numbered series in the south of chile, using traditional craft techniques, natural materials and regional aesthetics.

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The Dawn Chorus

A deceptively simple way to celebrate the joyous moment of the birds. The Dawn Chorus is a mix of high-end style alongside cheeky puppetry inspired by Alexander Calder, Fingerbobs and simple automata.

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Roots

The project, developed by Amalia Shem Tov, is focused on the emotional relationship and interaction between man and machine. 

“Examining cooking utensils history from an ancient period until today, in order to find the main utensils and products that symbolise the basic, essential and primary moment of preparing food, lead to three basic utensils which are characteristic in their relation to basic movement, material and process”.

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