The third day of this study abroad in the Netherlands began at the early time of around 6:00 AM. We had to get going this early in order to see the beginning of the day at the largest international marketplace for flowers in the world, Royal FloraHolland. Royal FloraHolland is an organized marketplace where flowers have been bought and sold from for over 100 years. We were able to enter the warehouse where they store and transport all of the flowers while the auction for the flowers was happening. The warehouse was absolutely massive. There were hundreds of moveable racks of flowers that were pulled and pushed by workers on electric trolleys. There were also tracks in the ground that allowed some racks of flowers to move by themselves into the correct spots. The system was a well-oiled machine, and it was fascinating to witness. It was also clear to see that the warehouse was sustainable. The vehicles used were all electric, there were recharging stations for them, there was very little waste on the ground in the warehouse, and there is little waste created by the whole process at all. Below is a picture of part of the warehouse.
Next we went to Schoonschip, a village of houses that all float on the water. We got a tour by one of the residents of the village. He told us about how the houses were created, how the community interacts with one another, and how each house has similarities and differences. It was easy to tell that the community was very close, and that everyone knew each other. It was also cool to see how sustainable they made the village. First off, putting houses on the water is sustainable because it takes up less land space, which is an increasingly rare thing in the world. Most of the houses also had solar panels and green roofs, both of which add to the sustainability of the houses. The village also has a cool system for when they make a surplus of energy. When one house has a surplus of energy, the surplus gets shared to another house that may have more energy needs because it has more inhabitants. This is very sustainable, as it wastes a minimum amount of energy. Another thing the guide mentioned was how they have an interesting system of disposing of their waste. They have pipes under the floating houses that separate all types of waste water. Some of the water goes to the sewer, but some goes into an eco-refinery. This sounds great, but there is a problem that many times the system breaks down. I am glad that our guide told us about this because it shows that even if a solution adds to the sustainability of something, it isn’t always a good solution.
After the floating houses, we went to the Rijksmuseum, which was amazing. The Rijksmuseum is a famous museum that houses all types of beautiful Dutch art. It had paintings by Van Gogh, Vermeer, and Rembrandt to name a few. There was so much art that I had never seen before, and artists’ names that I had never heard of. I took many pictures and learned a lot. It was a great experience.