Dave Hakkens Wins the ECO Coin 2016

Every year at Next Nature Network we search the globe for people and projects that have outstandingly contributed to making this planet a more sustainable place to live and honor them with our ECO Coin Award. Last year the award was given to Yoyo Yogasmana for his work in Indonesia for transferring his knowledge on growing more than 130 rice varieties without the use of insecticides to the digital domain.

There are many activities and people worthy of the award this year (too many to list here) but one person's work in particular has aligned to the ECO Coin philosophy and goals more than any other. His projects are community led, open source and often employ circular business models. They also confront consumers and manufacturers to look at materials in a different way, challenging how we see the life of a material and how it affects the biosphere throughout its existence.

This year we are pleased to the give the ECO Coin Award to Dave Hakkens. Hakkens' work focuses on sustainability in the widest sense of the word, not just environmental but also social and economic. This is seen very clearly in his open source Precious Plastic recycling machines. These machines can be built and used by anyone in the world so that they can become, as Dave says, a “craftsman in plastic” and set up new plastic recycling businesses anywhere. Thanks to Hakkens' commitment to growing a strong community around this idea, you can now find his recycling machines from Bali to Aruba and everywhere in between.

The project is an entirely new system of production that promotes a future, which is economically and ecologically balanced. This is of course also at the core of the ECO Coin. We can’t wait to see what Dave Hakkens and the Precious Plastic movement does next. Perhaps one day in a not so distant future we will be able to purchase his incredible plastic products using some well-earned ECO Coins!