Filip grew up in Veerle, a village in Belgium. Through Veerle runs a river, Grote Laak and when Filip was a child, the river was so polluted that the kids of the town were forbidden to play anywhere near it. This always struck Filip as strange. Rivers are supposed to be clean, a place for fun. The river had a great impact on him, even though he never touched it as a child.
Filip is a Bright green entrepreneur. He started young with his creative spirit making cartoons and coming up with projects. He realised that creating a business is also about creativity. In college he made a project about using food and waste from festivals to power their stages and won a Belgian Energy and Environment prize. From creating several start-ups, Filip is currently the creative director of Green Gastronomy, a sustainable branch of One of Belgium’s biggest catering companies.
Filip is a big fan of the dark green philosophy. Inspired by the idea of interconnectedness and inherent value of all creatures, the deep green movement is also about consuming less and going back to basics. However, in his opinion, this is not a realistic movement to reach a critical mass, and he fears this way of going about will alienate people. Now, the colour Filip is more leaning towards is bright green. The bright greens believe the most powerful way to make a change is creativity, innovation, design and entrepreneurship. It’s about creating a sustainable supply, leading the market changes able to transform the systems that support our lives