Sustainability

Join the fight against the plastic soup!

24 November 2016

About 299 million tonnes (yes, almost 3 billion kilograms!) of new plastic is produced every year. And did you know that a person throws away an average of 80 plastic bottles every year? A shame, right!

Moreover, it is bad for the environment, because a lot of plastic ends up in the sea. The plastic spreads in small particles, animals cannot distinguish between food and plastic. As a result, the plastic enters our food chain via marine life and birds. Not very appetising! By working together, we can fight the plastic soup. Will you join us in the fight?

Message on a bottle

In Stayokay Utrecht Centrum hangs the artwork 'Message on a bottle', designed by design agency DAY and our entry for the Hostelling International Sustainability Fund 2016. It's a wall hanging full of used plastic bottles with facts about plastic on them. For example, did you know that only 20% of all plastic bottles in the Netherlands are recycled? We think that could be better!

Dopper

In the Netherlands, we have delicious, fresh water from the tap, so why buy bottled water! By buying a Dopper, you help reduce the plastic soup. Moreover, you always have a bottle to hand, you save money and you contribute to reduced CO2 emissions. So one Dopper = infinite karma points, yesss! Good to know: you can simply buy and fill your Dopper at a Stayokay hostel!

Enthusiastic? Then you're not alone! We interviewed Merijn Everaarts, founder of Dopper, to find out why so many people love it.

Read the interview

Did you know...

🛢️ making one plastic water bottle requires 1 litre of water and 1 litre of oil?

🐢 animals hardly see the difference between food and plastic waste?

🗑️ an average person throws away as many as 80 plastic water bottles a year?

A huge burden on the environment, in other words. By selling the reusable bottles and free water taps in our hostels, together with our guests, we hope to reduce the plastic soup and ultimately CO2 emissions.

Read more