We are building more sustainable communities with a small but dedicated team. In this rubric, we give each member of our team the chance to introduce themselves to you. This week, it is Maarten’s turn, our Developer.
Although you can find short introductions of our team members on the “About us” page, we thought it was about time for you to get to know us a bit better. Last time, Florent told you all about his life. This week, Maarten will take you along on his journey at Byewaste, sharing his vision on sustainability and our company.
Hi there! Who are you? Tell us something about yourself!
Hi! I’m Maarten, one of the developers at Byewaste. I’m 23 years old, I’m Dutch, and I live in a student home in Rotterdam. I’ve studied media- and game development for three years and I’m currently in my fourth year of my part-time Computer Science study.
My hobbies are programming, creating and playing video games, reading, playing table-top games, going camping, hiking, cooking, watching television series, going to museums, and of course socialising with my friends!
What do you do at Byewaste?
I am responsible for the technological layer of Byewaste. With the help of my developer colleagues, our graphic designers and continuous collaborations with members of the whole team, my aim is to build the best tool to let our users enjoy the Byewaste service.
How did you end up at Byewaste?
A couple of years ago I was working together with Tommaso and Riccardo (both co-founders of Byewaste) on another project as an app developer. Tommaso told me about Byewaste several times, and one day he asked me if I wanted to join the Byewaste team. So obviously I said yes!
Why did you want to work for the company?
A really big part of the answer is that I believe in Byewaste and that I think it is the right thing to do, but my colleagues have already said a lot about that.
Another part of the answer, though, is that I really love the Byewaste team! As I mentioned before, I was already working with Tommaso, Riccardo, Usman and some others on another project, and we really transferred as a team. It’s very nice to work together on a common goal, or occasionally to just have fun and drink!
What do you like most about your job?
Honestly, the technical challenges! While Byewaste might seem like a simple app at a first glance, there are very real technical challenges that I get to work on on a daily basis. As someone that really enjoys analysing and solving complex problems, I’m really glad that I get to work on those.
And what do you like least about it?
Though this might seem strange, that would be the technical challenges as well. Sometimes when I’ve been stuck on a problem for too long, I really feel like I’m going mad. But actually that makes it only more exciting when I do eventually solve it!
Why do you think that people should start recycling and reusing more?
The obvious answer is fighting climate change. If we keep consuming the way that we have been doing for the past decades, we will irreversibly change the climate. This will have huge consequences for us, not to mention that it disproportionately impacts the poorer parts of the world – where they already have enough problems to deal with!
Obviously recycling and reusing isn’t the only solution as the real problem lies with our energy production and consumerism in general, but that doesn’t mean that it will not make any impact.
What is the nicest item that you have ever thrifted?
I have a microwave that was found on the street. It was still working perfectly fine, so I saved quite some money!
When would you have especially benefited from a service like Byewaste yourself?
Living in a student home with 14 other people, there are often things breaking down. We currently have a broken coffee machine, a broken blender, an unused graphics card, and plenty of unused household items laying around that are taking up space, but bringing them to the recycling center isn’t a valid option as none of us have a car.
I genuinely cannot wait until Byewaste is available in my neighbourhood!
How are you contributing to a more sustainable future in your personal life?
I do several things to make my personal life as sustainable as possible. For one, I only ever travel by bike or by public transport, as I don’t have a driver’s licence and I’m not planning on getting one. And when going on vacation, I always try to avoid air travel as much as possible.
Apart from that I’m on a flexitarian diet, meaning that while I do eat meat or animal products occasionally, I try to limit it as much as possible.
Which sustainable habit would you like to apply in your daily life?
I do tend to buy new things rather quickly, especially when it comes to technology, and that is definitely a thing that I need to do less. And when I do have to buy new technology, I should focus more on buying used products rather than new ones.
