The first two days of our journey have been filled with great cultural and learning experiences. So far, we have gone on a canal cruise and a walking tour, and had two visits to sustainable companies.
Day 1
While on the cruise, we observed the city’s architecture and other significant buildings, such as the Anne Frank Museum and the National Opera & Ballet. A distinctive feature of homes in Amsterdam is a large hook mounted on a post at the very top of the homes. This hook is used to lift furniture into the house through the windows. This is needed due to the narrow entries and stairways in the buildings, which were influenced by increased taxes based on the width of the home’s front.
After the canal, we were met by our tour guide Ian, who showed us around the city. He shared numerous fun facts about specific building materials, historical figures of the city, and fun places to check out later in our free time.
Following this, Ian took us to his wife’s chocolate shop, Cacao & Spice, where sustainability is at the forefront of the company’s goals. Each bar in the store is made by small farmers and chocolate makers. Cacao beans require shade in order to grow properly. Typically, large chocolate companies mass-produce cacao by growing it in a monoculture, which requires the beans to be sprayed with chemicals to act as shade. The cacao sourced by Cacao & Spice is grown in a polyculture, which instead uses a variety of plants to shade the cacao beans. This gives cacao a different taste having been grown in soil that holds other plant types.
Cacao & Spice also makes an effort to use all parts of the cacao bean to minimize the waste of such a highly desired product. In the shop, the entire floor is made from shells of cacao beans. The store also features models of boats built of shells.
Day 2
On our second day, we visited the House of Denim and learned about the manufacturing of jeans. To reduce water waste, the House of Denim recycles old cotton and plastics to create its fabrics instead of using new cotton. With this method, the water usage drops from 7,000 liters to 600 liters per pair of jeans. Additionally, to create light-wash jeans, instead of soaking the jeans in large vats of water, they use a machine that pumps ozone into the jeans. This creates the same effect and uses little to no water in the process.
The company also improves the methods of creating stylistic choices on its jeans. Rips were originally created by hand, rubbing sandpaper across the jeans until a rip appeared. However, this often caused weak holes that would impact the longevity of the jeans. Instead, they use a laser machine that only cuts through the top layer of the jeans to keep the pants more intact. It also eliminates the risk of impaired mobility for the workers who would have to do this task.
