Farmer, florist, artist, chef and environmental champion Joost Bakker has built a unique and mindful Christmas Tree for Stokehouse Q in South Bank. Made from recycled optical fibre from Digilin Australia which would have otherwise been discarded, the 2018 Stokehouse Q Christmas Tree is 100 per cent zero waste. Floating magically in the open-air space the tree has been designed to generate conversation and debate surrounding the volume of waste generated in society.

Joost Bakker has been described by the New York Times as “Australia’s poster boy for zero waste living” and one thing all his Christmas trees have in common is the use of materials that are the by-product of society – ‘waste’, combined with a botanical element. This is an ethos mirrored strongly in the culture of the Stokehouse Q kitchen where all dishes are created mindfully, making use of traditionally discarded elements such as skins, peels, and stems.

Joost has been creating unique and wonderous Christmas trees for Stokehouse St Kilda for 25 years, including an eight-metre tree made from concrete, steel and mesh, with 480 light globes and a tree made from thousands of apples.

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