Greenhouse by Joost (ATOM Study Guide)

Imagine a house that grows its own food. That's the vision of environmental campaigner Joost Bakker, who was once dubbed the 'Poster Boy of Zero Waste Living' by The New York Times.

This inspiring feature documentary follows Bakker as he builds a self-sustaining home, an ecosystem that provides its occupants with water, energy, shelter and nourishment.

Each phase of construction offers an opportunity to investigate a different element of the house, from the timber, to the soil, to the compostable plastic wrap that protects the parts being delivered. Every detail of the build must live up to Bakker's exacting standards. It must be recyclable, non-toxic and it must not generate any waste.

As the build progresses we meet the community Bakker is working with to make the project happen, from gardeners, to fish experts, architects to mushroom growers. Each phase of the house invites  a unique set of characters and perspectives. Joined in his work by internationally acclaimed chefs Matt Stone and Jo Barrett, Bakker faces his fair share of challenges to finishing the home. Bureaucratic delays, COVID shutdowns and blackouts all threaten the build.

But after many months of setbacks and hard work, the house is laden with homegrown fruit, vegetables and herbs. Steam from the shower provides humidity for a flourishing mushroom wall and a thriving aquaponics system provides dinner guests with yabbies and trout. Food scraps and human waste are delivered to a biodigester, which in turn provides gas to the rooftop barbeque. Greenhouse is an uplifting look at the teamwork and ingenuity behind a paradigm-shifting project that bursts with life.

Greenhouse was created by Australian production company GoodThing Productions, the team behind Walkley and AACTA award-winning documentary The Australian Dream and Cannes Film Festival official selection film Nitram.

Filmed over the course of a year in beautiful central Melbourne, Greenhouse combines observational camera work with high end shots and cleverly weaves in social media content to demonstrate the reach and influence of Bakker's project.

Bakker is an engaging central character and recent appearances on international hit television series MasterChef have boosted the profiles of Matt Stone and Jo Barrett. As concern about climate change and environmental destruction increases, Greenhouse will appeal to audiences hungry for a glimpse at a greener and more beautiful future.

Curriculum Links:

Greenhouse is suitable for secondary school students undertaking, Science and Geography with further links to the Cross-curricular priority of Sustainability.

As a curriculum resource in Science, Greenhouse is relevant to all strands of Science Understanding:

• Biological Sciences
• Chemical Sciences
• Earth and Space Sciences
• Physical Sciences

Activities and investigations suggested by the program allow students to develop their communication and evaluation skills under the Science Inquiry heading, while connections to questions of sustainability and conservation ensures that this resource is also applicable to the Science as a Human Endeavour criterion.

As a curriculum resource in Geography, Greenhouse is primarily relevant to Geographical Knowledge and Understanding, with specific links to:

• Unit 2: Place and liveability in Year 7
• Unit 2: Changing nations in Year 8
• Unit 2: Geographies of interconnections and
• Unit 1: Environmental change and management in Year 10

The questions of conservation and human intervention also present students with the opportunity for students to demonstrate the qualities described in the Inquiry and Skills descriptor of this subject.