Merijn Everaarts is the founder and owner of Dopper. For years, he worked in the catering and events industry. There, he saw the amount of waste consumption with his own eyes. So much was being thrown away that he began to resent it.

On the beach, he saw a lot of plastic waste floating into the sea, which made him realise that he could do something about the global problem. Later, when he saw a film about plastic soup, he got the idea to make a reusable water bottle. Merijn launched a design competition for a sustainable drinking bottle. The winning design came from the Dutch Rinke van Remortel. A unique design consisting of three parts, of which the cap can also be used as a cup. The Dopper was launched on the market in August 2010.

Two worlds

Merijn tells us that he had a wake-up call in 2009. Lying on the beach, he realised that all the plastic left behind on the beach was being taken away by the sea. "This was a moment that made me think, no matter how small I am, I have to do something about this".

The biggest waste left on the beach is the empty plastic bottles of mineral water. Frustrating, according to Merijn. "I wanted to do something about that and I thought that something should be done about it".

Merijn calls the dopper not just a bottle, but a bottle to tell a story. That bottle did not yet exist. "You need something to tell your story well. All the plastic waste is a worldwide problem. With the Dopper, you have an answer to the problem. And that's when two worlds come together.

Putting the lid on your nose

Everyone knows that there is a lot involved in running a business. Merijn noticed that frustration slowly built up when he was doing things he was not good at. The entrepreneur needed to hire skilled people in order to be relieved and be able to move on to the next step. But that was disappointing. "Many entrepreneurs think, 'I'll do it myself, I'll do it faster or better'. It was a long process, because I had to let go of my 'child'. I was not accessible to a fresh view from outside".

Nevertheless, Merijn had to go. He hired people from different sides. He had faith in the expertise within his team. "If someone says it works better this way, then you will see that in the end.

Curious about the whole story about the origin of the Dopper? And the instructive lessons and tips from Merijn? Listen to the latest episode.

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