by Tom Bosschaert
Director

July 20, 2016

Tom Bosschaert

On February 11th, we invited you to a night of unusual fun. Held in the intimacy of Rotterdam Collectief, our networking night called onto creativity: our guests made costumes out of trash.

Trashform yourself. Not an expression you hear every day. But that is what you get when you put together five Exceptionals, carnival season and a insatiable thirst to create awareness on the challenges we face.

“I shop therefore I am”

Today’s society is a consumerist society. This society creates an immense quantity of waste. We are all familiar with the term recycling, but often forget about it.

With this in mind we wanted to use this Grid Night as an opportunity to share our experiences and creativity. During the event, everybody used their imagination and craftsmanship to create a costume out of our own office waste. We furnished our office at Rotterdam Collectief with reused and transformed materials we found and collected right there and then. We provided delicious homemade food, plenty of drinks and snacks, and hired a great DJ. All ingredients for a fantastic evening.


Pietro Galgani, from Upstyle Industries, started off with a presentation of their work. They create new furniture from old pieces, making your own home, and eventually the world, a better place. Working towards the most positive social and environmental impact, they’ve made a viable economic business plan, literally creating value out of trash.

Trying to copy that success, we all drew together around a table to create our own costumes from office waste. Indians, explorers, magicians, and superheroes emerged. We made and customized accessories: wigs, noses, ears, bowties, dresses, hats… We’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.


‘Trashform yourself’ was a success. More than 40 people attended and created trash costumes. They all walked up and down the runway to show their creations, and had a lot of fun in the process. Each of us went home with a memory of a fun and meaningful evening, that we created ourselves. We can think of no better way to meet dynamic professionals, and look for ways to change the world together.

And you, will you join our next event?





July 20, 2016