Sustainable Kerstpakketten (Christmas Boxes): Instock, RotterZwam & ZustainaBox
Photo by Kari Shea
In the Netherlands, there is a special tradition that we have with giving Christmas gifts. Particularly, ones given from employers to their employees. The gifts that are given are called “kerstpakket” in Dutch, which literally translates to “Christmas box”. Typically, this gift box consists of food and drink items and can come in the shape of another present like a small suitcase, a bicycle bag, a reusable groceries crate and more.
Recently, companies have tried to change up this tradition by alternatively offering their employees a gift code instead of a physical gift. With this code, employees can then pick a gift of their choice online of a predetermined value. That gift can also be a donation to a charity of the recipient’s choice or a store gift card. However, the traditional Christmas boxes filled with items that are not commonly purchased more often than not end up in the back of the storage closet even if the concept is still wildly popular.
This made me wonder if there were companies that fill these Christmas boxes with items that are in demand. Right now, the hottest items are sustainable alternatives.
With a little research, I found a plethora of amazing initiatives, which I will discuss in this blog.
Instock
First up isInstock, a Dutch company that originally started off as a restaurant, whose mission is to save food, which would otherwise become waste. The “rejected” produce is then used in their restaurants as a part of their concept of preventing food waste. They now have restaurants in Amsterdam, Den Haag en Utrecht and also create and sell their own products from “wasted food”. Instock now offers Christmas Boxes as explained by Instock’s own Angélika van Beurden:
“Did you know that if food waste was a country it would be the third biggest country in the world? While 10 million tons of this food waste, responsible for 22 million tons of CO2, could be rescued and consumed. Well now you know. And we want even more people to know about this! Instock came into existence 5 years ago when the founders saw the opportunity to create a better destination for unsold products. Since then we want to create awareness around food waste and inform people about the possibilities to prevent it from happening. Besides our three restaurants in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht we also have a variety of several products and catering service”.
‘‘10 million tons of food becomes waste each year, responsible for 22 million tons of CO2, could be rescued and consumed.;;
“Every Christmas we offer a variety of Christmas packages because multiple reasons: First of all, it is a perfect way to create awareness around food waste in a fun way! Thereby increasing the impact of Instock to tackle food waste. Moreover, this sustainable Christmas gift is something completely different than usual corporate Christmas gift. By using the Christmas packages of Instock a company can stand out. It is completely filled with only sustainable products and we start with a price of 10 euro for each package. However, the number of products inside are adaptable for each price category. It is also possible to expand your Christmas gift with several sustainable products outside the Instock products section”.
‘‘We want to let as many people as possible know about our mission to reduce food waste. And about the way we repurpose food surplus through our circular products:
Pieper Beer
340 million kilos of potatoes go to waste each year. The reasons are of various natures: overproduction, excessively high quality standards and aesthetic demands all cause the potato to end up in the garbage bin. That’s why we decided to make beer from rescued potatoes which brought us amazing Pieper beer!
Bammetjes Beer
Right behind dairy, bread is the product being wasted most in The Netherlands. We daily consume 60 kilos of bread a year, from which 20% is being wasted. That’s why we’re excited to turn bread into bear and thereby offer our unique Bammetjes beer!
Granola
Once we realized that we had a flow of spent grains from the production process of our beers, we wanted to do something about it. From the brewers’ grains we made granola! We have 2 tasty flavors: Almonds, Cinnamon, Honey and Coconut, Chocolate and Nuts.
Circular Chefs
We have an Instock cookbook called Circular Chefs. Here you can read about how to cook climatefriendly in 5 different steps, and experience how easy and tasty it can be!’’
Check out their website to see all possibilities for an amazing and responsible Christmas Box (in Dutch). There are limitless options for anyone with any budget!
Some of Instock’s crafted products.
Rotterzwam
Next is RotterZwam, a company from Rotterdam in the Netherlands that cultivates mushrooms on coffee grounds, collected from big companies who would otherwise throw them away. They also train entrepreneurs, organize guided tours, team events and workshops. They reduce a substantial amount of CO2 emissions by saving the coffee grounds, processing them into oyster mushroom substrate and then bring the end product to farmers to improve the quality of their soil. By telling their story to their customers (often large corporations) they create value for them and use that as an opportunity to raise awareness about RotterZwam’s insights into eco-friendly and CO2 saving measures. RotterZwam has also created a Christmas Box, with amazing eco-friendly, locally-sourced and socially sustainable products. Siemen Cox tells us more about it, and their new concept called “Coffee as a Service®”:
Christmas Present
“Because sustainability is a container concept, we have chosen to a) calculate the distance of the most important ingredient and b) the distance from the production location to BlueCity. That is not always easy, but we think it is a good first attempt to determine the impact of this Christmas Present. We have made abrochure with all the information about our sustainable Christmas Present.”
RotterZwam’s Christmas Gift with products that are mostly locally sourced, so they have a traceable and relatively low CO2 footprint.
Coffee as a Service
“In addition, it might be interesting to discuss another concept. This is called Coffee as a Service®.
With Coffee as a Service® we introduce a revolutionary new way of thinking about coffee. With this process, we deliver coffee to the customer, but we remain the owner of the bean. The customer is going to ‘rent out’ the coffee bean. The customer can grind it and pour hot water over it, but afterwards, we pick up the bean again. This way, the customer will never be bothered by the coffee grounds, because we remain the owner of the bean, in any form it gains.
‘‘With Coffee as a Service® we remain the owner of the bean, so the customer never has to worry about coffee grounds or waste disposal.’’
An Impact Report that RotterZwam gives out to their customers to create awareness.
We then ensure that the coffee grounds never end up in the residual waste and are never burned. The most low-cost option for processing for us is fermentation. We do not determine in advance how the coffee grounds will be distributed over further applications (that is: mushroom cultivation, soil improver, composting, soap, research into other applications and, finally, fermentation).
The way of processing depends on the quality of the coffee grounds (for example, if it has green mold on it, it is rejected for oyster mushroom production and it passes on to the next application) and the space available at the nursery. We do report that afterwards.
Last but not least, the customer receives a periodic impact report showing how many kilos of coffee grounds have been saved, what happened to them and how much CO2 has been saved with this”.
ZustainaBox
Last, but not least is ZustainaBox, which was established by entrepreneurs Manon van Leeuwen and Ruben Havertz.
A ChristmasBox from ZustainaBox.
Zustainabox is a bi-monthly package filled with ecologically responsible products and utilities. The idea behind it is to make the transition to a green life easier for anyone who wants to start doing it. They offer five to eight products in each box that are considered “responsible substitutes” and are all vegan, plastic-free and generate a low environmental impact. They come in three categories: personal care, such as a bamboo toothbrush, household, such as a reusable coffee cup, and social care: nice things like tea from Dutch soil. " They cooperate with other Dutch companies that make similar products with a good back story (like Instock). ZustainaBox now also offers aChristmasBox. Here’s more about it:
“It is a Christmas box with an innovative content, a unique gift with sustainable products that spreads a positive message. The ChristmasBox contains unique eco products that really benefit the recipient. No dry toasts wrapped in plastic, no items that the recipient will never use. On the contrary: in the box you will find green alternatives to the items that you use every day, with which you can reduce your impact on the world. The products are made by local entrepreneurs with a special story. A sustainable Christmas gift that makes the world a little better. That spreads the Christmas spirit!”
Why we think that the ChristmasBox from ZustainaBox is the perfect Christmas gift is because of the initiatives that you support via your purchase.
The Christmas products are vegan, plastic-free and low impact produced
Everything is made bylocal entrepreneurs
We donate 1 euro per ChristmasBox to thePlastic Soup Foundation
We protect 1 m2 offorest in the Netherlands per ChristmasBox
We strive for CO2-neutral delivery: where possible we deliver by bicycle
‘‘In the box you will find green alternatives to the items that you use every day, with which you can reduce your impact on the world.’’
ZustainaBox offers ChristmasBoxes with different price ranges and they also offer the opportunity to compile a unique box with products that you can choose on your own!
What we love about ZustainaBox is that they make it possible for anyone to get acquainted with an eco-friendly lifestyle by showing how fun, unique, clever and beautiful sustainable products can be. Furthermore, by purchasing a ZustainaBox you invest in our planet through the great initiatives that ZustainaBox supports. From their eco-business, they work towards the United Nations’ SDG’s as well, which makes giving or buying one for yourself an even more responsible and splendid idea. The boxes are now available in theirZustainaStore, which will fit perfectly under your Christmas tree this year.
ZustainaBoxes with green alternatives for everyday products, that support a journey towards an eco-friendlier lifestyle and are perfect for giving.
Have any questions about the retailers listed above or anything that I mentioned in this blog? Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@seagoinggreen.org.