Yannick de Jager, inside The New Shoppingbag

From time to time we ask a more or lesser-known user of the New Shoppingbag about his or her life.

This time: Dutch professional surfer Yannick de Jager.

Yannick, describe yourself as briefly as possible.
‘Well, I guess I am a 27 year old man who made his greatest passion in life his work. In my case: surfing.

Where are you right now?
‘I am in my house in Scheveningen, located roughly a hundred meters from the sea. Perfect for a surfer like me. ‘

How are the waves in Holland?
‘Well, not always present (laughs). But that’s ok; I spend most of my time abroad anyway. This is my home base, from here I control my world.’

How did you get to know Susan Bijl and the New Shoppingbag?
‘From time to time I work together with Jan Bijl, great photographer and brother of Susan. He shot several of the campaigns I was in, for example. We became friends and I started noticing these colourful bags he was always carrying around. That was my introduction to the New Shoppingbag. I’ve been an avid fan and user since.’

So you use them a lot?
‘All the time. For one, I refuse to use plastic bags from the super market, especially when their logo is printed on it. I don’t want to be a walking advertorial for using waste products. The New Shoppingbag is made of a sustainable fabric and you can use them all the time for all kinds of purposes. I really like that.’

You are the boss of the world. What is your first and most important ecological measure?
‘I would forbid the use of plastic and other artificial materials for daily use. People should be forced to look for better solutions for their day-to-day life.
I would also force heavy taxation on big energy companies in turn for ecological solutions and massive responsibility for any corporation that is somehow exploiting the resources on this planet.

Colour is kind of a really important thing for Susan Bijl. How do you brighten your world?
‘Well, my hair is almost white and I usually wear more darker and modest shades, so not much colour there! No, the colour in my presentation comes from the accessories I use in my profession. Amongst them – the New Shoppingbag.

What kind of music are you into?
‘Recently: Future Islands and Charles Bradley. Not the same kind of thing, but both very passionate.’

Paint us the picture of the future of Yannick de Jager, please.
‘In the foreseeable future I will try to start some new, exciting projects that combine both the surfing world and the world outside surfing. I cannot tell you too much about it yet, but you can rest assured that sustainability will be a part of it. And surfing, of course (laughs).’

All photos by Jan Bijl.

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