Today, our day began bright and early at 6:00am when we met for breakfast. After a quick packed breakfast provided by the hotel, we took a bus over to Royal FloraHolland for a self-guided tour where we explored the center of global flower and plant trade in the Netherlands! We walked along a skybridge looking down onto the warehouse floor, while learning about the company’s shipping process. Royal FloraHolland trades over 22 million flowers a day using an auction system that runs from a high to low price. In their facility, they implement many sustainable practices like reusing flower containers, minimizing waste, and using rechargeable batteries for the jacks. Because the trading process is so efficient, the flowers are in the warehouse for less than 24 hours, thus minimizing the amount of flower waste!
After our flower tour we headed over to NDSM. NDSM is an old shipyard turned into a free creative space used for art, culture, and innovation. We had the opportunity to explore the repurposed industrial buildings and see creative graffiti, sculptures, and unique art studios.
Our last stop of the day was the Schoonschip, Amsterdam’s floating neighborhood. This neighborhood is entirely on water! During our tour from one of the homeowners, we learned about some of the sustainable practices that this small community enforces. Many of the houses have solar panels and green roofs! Additionally, we learned that they encourage biodiversity. For example, they allow places for birds to build their nests on their houses, as well as they use a specific time of rope when tying things in the water to encourage growth of mussels and algae.
To finish our day, we went our separate ways from the main group and visited many shops and got to watch the Rembrandt & Van Gogh show. This show was a 360 video that was projected onto the walls of a church!
