While technically our second day on Dutch soil, it was our first day after a long night’s rest. After breakfast, we headed to the metro to start off the day with a team-based scavenger hunt. It gave us the opportunity to take in the sights and sounds of Amsterdam while also learning fun facts about the city, such as when Amsterdam Central Station was completed. While walking around, I noticed that, unlike in the United States, the Dutch rely more on public transportation and biking compared to cars. It made me question how much our greenhouse gas emissions would reduce every year if more cities in the United States transitioned to mostly trains and bikes. Later on the trip, I had also seen De Bijenkorf, a popular department chain found in the Netherlands, before later noticing that the location was the same as a photo I used when discussing the company during our first group presentation, which was not only interesting but made being in Amsterdam sink in that much more for me.
After grabbing a quick lunch at a local shop, we meet up with our whole group to travel to “House of Demin”. While there, we were taught about sustainable practices that can be incorporated into jean creation. While learning about these processes, they discussed utilizing man-made plastic stones instead of pumice when washing jeans. He mentioned that when washing jeans with these stones, they used proportionally less water while resulting in the same washed look. As he brought that up, it made me think about our topic of LCA (Life Cycle Analysis), as I wondered, while the stones do help the jeans utilize less water per-washing, how much water goes into the creation of each stone, and what are its environmental impacts compared to finding/making pumice. While I am sure utilizing those stones was more sustainable, it is definitely a question I should have asked when given the chance.
After “House of Demin,” our group traveled to a restaurant to try some Surinamese cooking. As someone who loves trying food from a wide variety of cultures, it was a wonderful experience. Afterwards, we took the tram back towards the metro heading to the hotel. Overall, today was a wonderful day as I not only learned more about the day-to-day life of the Dutch, but also got to see firsthand how the corporations incorporate sustainable practices into the clothing industry.