Jonas is a trained Chef and graduated Geography student. Born in the countryside of northern Germany, he had the privilege to enjoy crisp air, green meadows and an unspectacular lifestyle, before he moved to the city of Hamburg in his teenage years. His journey continued to several work and travel adventures in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as study expeditions to Chile in 2017 and South Tyrol in 2019. Now he lives in Malmö, Sweden, where he studies a MSc in Human Ecology at the University of Lund.

During his chef traineeship at a multinational hotel chain in Berlin in 2009, Jonas observed the good and bad of the trade. After certain catering events, he witnessed how massive amounts of food became labelled waste, although the food was not even served to guests. Disposable food ware, plastic foils and packaging material accumulated in profound amounts every single day. Jonas felt increasingly being part of a throw away culture that embraced the single-use concept. He was quite astonished by the sheer amounts of waste generated at only one hotel and became aware of the dimension of what was unfolding.

After he finished his chef traineeship in 2012, Jonas decided to work for smaller restaurants to get away from the corporate world. He enjoyed the mountains and oceans at his work and travel destinations. Jonas followed his curiosity and urge to learn more about the natural environment and started to study Geography with a minor in Latin American Studies at the University of Hamburg in 2014, while he kept working in gastronomy. After graduating with his BSc Jonas spent one year working full time at a restaurant in Hamburg, where he was engaged to reduce plastic materials, energy consumption and strived for the implementation of a reusable takeaway container system. He became aware that a systemic transition needs a holistic understanding of human-nature interactions. Hence, Jonas enrolled in a Master course that deals with human impacts on the environment and envisions a socially and ecologically sustainable world.

For Plastic Oceans Europe, Jonas is working for a smooth transition away from single-use plastics in gastronomy and looking for funding to generate positive change.