All good things must come to an end, and this stood true on Day 12–our last day in the Netherlands before departing back to Pittsburgh. Today was a day filled with lessons on sustainability, but also a bittersweet goodbye to this experience that I have cherished.
In the morning, we visited the Rotterdam Floating Farm, which valued sustainable agriculture over all else. As the name suggests, these farms are built on the water and float while anchored down to the seabed. On board this farm sit 26 cows and an entire dairy production system that sells fresh dairy products to local Rotterdam markets. These cows are given space to eat, get milked, and lie down–which is much better treatment than most cows get on commercial farms. The Floating Farm also feeds its cows with leftover produce from supermarkets, such as expired vegetables and fruits that can no longer be sold to humans. This is a very beneficial practice as it reduces the total amount of food waste that Dutch supermarkets produce per year. The owners of the Floating Farm are also currently trying to expand their business into floating vertical farms, which could sustainably grow and transport vegetables to these same Dutch supermarkets.
After this, we took a water taxi to RDM Rotterdam–a warehouse run by a collaboration of the Rotterdam Port Authority, the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, and the Rotterdam Technical Institute. Inside this warehouse, juvenile businesses and engineering students can utilize a vast amount of technology to innovate sustainable projects that could benefit society in the future–as our tour guide said, RDM’s goal is to invest in the future. One such business stationed inside RDM was working on an experimental hyperloop, which is a magnetically driven train inside of vacuum tube. This method of transport would be extremely carbon efficient due to only needing magnets to run, and also extremely fast due to the lack of air resistance inside a vacuum. Other businesses include a 3D printing company specializing in coral reef bases as well as a drone company that can efficiently create 3D renderings of its surroundings. I was especially jealous of this entire concept as I would most definitely utilize a version of RDM if it were in America.
Our tour of Rotterdam was the end of our lessons in sustainability in the Netherlands. Overall, I was very impressed with the steps this nation has taken in sustainability and believe that the United States could take some notes, specifically from RDM, their usage of wind and solar power, as well as their usage of sustainable construction practices.
In the evening, the whole group enjoyed a dinner at the Bazar in Rotterdam before going to a karaoke room. Everyone sang their hearts out, and we fittingly ended our time together in the Netherlands singing along to Sweet Caroline. I would like to give a big thanks to the Plus3 program for giving me this experience of a lifetime to explore the unique culture of the Netherlands, explore new and inspiring innovations in sustainability, and make 20 new friends along the way!