After reading about plastic soup**, Foekje Fleur started looking more carefully at the river running through her home town and found plastic waste that had been accumulating there since the 1960s. By creating durable porcelain copies of the material she finds, Foekje Fleur is spreading awareness of this growing problem. After graduating in both design and fine arts, Foekje Fleur found her direction making objects that are functional and yet, give space for thought. At first sight, her attractive and colorful designs seem playful, but they are in fact inspired by serious subjects like caring for the environment and for animal rights.

[**What is plastic soup?]

An area in the North Pacific Ocean, also known as "the great pacific garbage patch", is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of plastics that have been trapped there by the circulating currents. Plastic waste drifts there from all over the world, after floating down rivers into seas. Plastics are not biodegradable; they only break down into smaller pieces called micro-plastics. These are extremely dangerous as they enter the food chain and threaten all kinds of species, including human beings.