Recycle This!

For two days, Cryptic Moth filmed a good part of the recycling system in Denmark. The first day was at the non-profit collection company, Dansk ReturSystem, who collect all the refillable and one-way (disposable plastic) bottles throughout the country. All glass, metal, and plastic bottles in Denmark carry a deposit and it has been a tradition here in Denmark since 1904.





It was an impressive operation with one down side...they are struggling to develop new technologies that can cope with different types of plastic bottles - from colour to shape to types of plastic.





The refillable bottles (including plastic which, yes, are scratched and worn) are returned to breweries and bottlers. Next week we go to the Carlsberg brewery.



Denmark's clean and beautiful counrtyside may be a thing of the past. It seems bottlers think consumers prefer pristine plastic bottles and the next day would show just that...



After a night wandering around Copenhagen, we had an early morning drive 100 km south of Copenhagen to a small village that is home to Expladan, one of three plastic recyclers in all of Scandanavia. The weather remained exceptional. A few wrong turns later, we found what we were looking for.



Steen, the company's president, showed us around. He admitted that one-way disposable bottles were on the rise and due to oil prices, that's good news for him...at least for now. Most of Denmark's plastic - other than the PET water bottles - is generating energy by incineration.



Oddly, Expladan is taking in all types of consumer plastic from all over Scandanavia and Germany. They sort, wash, grind and dry the different plastics into small pellets that some call nurdles. These are then shipped back to the plastic molding companies to be used as filler for new bottles or into flower pots and tubing.



Once again, our guests let us film freely, often leaving us to dodge forklifts, semis and criss-crossing conveyer belts. Two tough, smelly, noisy days of shooting will be rewarded with a day off before departing to the Lego headquarters.



Visiting the sea only reminded us of our mission and how a country with over 70% recovery, no place is immune.



Until next time......join us on our drive back to Copenhagen.

copenhagen%20drive.wmv

Out

I+G

Springtime in Denmark

We landed in Copenhagen late last night and awoke to the first true spring day. It must have been 20 degrees C and not a cloud to be seen. Before we could enjoy it, the first task was fixing the audio problem. A quick internet search revealed the Nordic headquarters of Sennheiser (the mic maker) was in Copenhagen...well, not quite IN Copenhagen…many Kroners later we arrived at the corporate headquarters where Canadian filmmakers usually don’t appear out of the blue.



We actually turned out to be their first customer who walked in off the street! More Kroners late we made it back to the city by late afternoon. Smiling people had come out in droves, packing patios that probably haven’t been used in months.





The city definitely has a reserved, historic vibe near the center but that quickly turns revolutionary when we you find Christiania…



From what I gather, it was a bit of an anarchist no-man’s land that police overlook so vendors of all kinds can sell their “wares” in peace. The 85 acre industrial turned graffiti commune became a haven for the homeless, a progressive hang-out, and the biggest tourist attraction in Denmark. It also has over 1,000 inhabitants and a self-government to manage everything form garbage to building safety. We will surely visit again.

Tomorrow we film the bottle return system. Sounds exciting, eh?

Out.

G+I

Bye Bye Dam

We spent Monday recuperating at the Hotel Flipper, which one should probably avoid due to odors and rodents but remained a fine abode for peace and quiet.



The next morning we rented a car and drove to Rotterdam, the world’s largest port (by actual size apparently) to interview the head of world food packaging for Unilever. If you don’t know who Unilever are, you definitely have a few of their products under your bathroom sink. We were there to discuss their move to sustainability – from agriculture to fisheries to packaging – they’ve been doing it for some time.



And while admittedly in the infancy of this new direction for packaging, Unilever remains a big player with great influence. We intend to follow their advancements.



Then it was off to the airport yet again…this time to Denmark. Not only do the Danes boast the best bottle recovery but also have strict enforcement against disposability. Clean streets ahead!



Goodbye Holland. We will miss your spunky charm.

Out.

G+I

Koninginnedag!

Today marked the birth of Holland's Queen (well, actually their last two Queens, kind of but the current Queen, Queen Beatrix, is a good sport and kept April 30th but since it's a Sunday, they held it on the 29th. Confused?).

To celebrate the whole country goes nuts and as most know, the epicenter for nuts is Amsterdam. Below is a small movie to get a glimpse of the experience.

Amsterdam%20Video.wmv

Let's just say the party continued into the wee hours. Those Dutch really know how to have fun. Just a shame about all the trash...




Must sleep now.



Out.

G+I
Amsterdam%20Video.wmv

Catch of the Day

This pile of junk is a sampling of what lies at the bottom of the North Sea. Fishermen constantly catch it in their nets, often throwing it and other junk overboard, only to catch it again a few days or weeks later. We awoke before daybreak and filmed the ships appear through the fog with their catch.




To stem the flow of garbage, a volunteer program from KIMO – a collective of local authorities who want to clean up the North Sea – are giving incentives to fishermen to bring the junk back and have it disposed of properly. A committed man named Bert was our tour guide and introduced us to the right people.



H.J. was the man in charge of handling the trash and he had a kick out of us Canadians wanting to film his garbage – at any cost.




It was a long, tough day of filming but well worth the effort. We left with more than 4 hours in the can and 2 days off waiting in Amsterdam…not to mention Queen’s Day, where the streets become clogged with teeming masses of orange-clad party-seekers. We can’t wait.



Out.

I+G