Today was our twelfth and final full day in the Netherlands, and it began at 9. I enjoyed some strawberry yogurt, sliced meat and cheese, a boiled egg, and hot chocolate for breakfast. After breakfast, we took a tram to visit a floating farm. The farm we visited was the first and only floating farm in the world, and it was three stories tall with one of its stories below water. The farm is home to 26 dairy cows, a vegetable garden, dairy production facilities, and cheese storage.  

At first glance, it may be hard to understand what makes this dairy farm sustainable. However, we quickly learned that this farm’s location and procedures make it much greener than other operations. The cows are fed with a mixture of grass and unsold food from grocery stores, which cuts down on waste. Additionally, the farm has cleaning robots to clean up urine and manure before they mix, which reduces ammonia pollution. The farm then sells manure pellets to some of the gardens in the city, and they sell their dairy products in several small, local shops. They make deliveries with electric cars, and they power about 65% of their operation with a floating array of solar panels next to the farm.  

Since the floating farm makes its products so close to where they are sold, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are greatly reduced. Additionally, the farm incorporates circular economy principles into its operation by using the food waste of supermarkets and selling its manure to other farmers. I thought the floating farm was neat, and I was excited to hear that they have plans to build a dedicated floating vegetable farm. They also want to expand to Singapore, Chicago, and the Caribbean. 

After visiting the floating farm, we took an electric water taxi to RDM. I found the electric water taxi neat since it had time to charge while picking up and dropping off passengers. I am sure the electric boat is much more sustainable than a gas option, and I think it would be great if the technology could be scaled up to larger ferries. 

In the 1950s, RDM Rotterdam was home to the largest shipyard in holland, with over 7000 employees. Unfortunately, the business started to go downhill in the 60s. The shipyard was then abandoned, before it was brought back to life in the early 2000s. It is now used as a technical college and an incubator for small businesses to share knowledge and ideas. In one section of the warehouse, students from multiple colleges can work on projects in various workshops. In the rest of the warehouse, startups can rent out affordable space to try and get their businesses off the ground. I thought it was neat how the startups were also invited to use the college’s workshops, since that allows them to use equipment while saving money. All the startups in the incubator focus on sustainability, and we saw many examples of this throughout our tour of the warehouse. For example, Coastruction is working to 3d print the bases for coral reefs. I enjoyed touring RDM Rotterdam, and I liked how their overall goal was to invest in the future through sustainability instead of just focusing on making money. Additionally, RDM hopes the startups will succeed because that will help keep the port of Rotterdam relevant. 

I have really enjoyed Pitt Plus3, and it is amazing to think about all of the places I have seen, things I have learned, and connections I have made along the way. I have loved learning about sustainability in person throughout the past 12 days, and I look forward to bringing all my newfound knowledge back to the United States to work towards a greener future!