While we started the day a bit later than yesterday, we had many more program activities.  After waking up, we boarded the bus traveling to a tulip farm.  Even though most of the tulips were not present, those we did see were absolutely stunning.  The owner discussed his business of harvesting and selling tulip bulbs.  He also touched on innovations in the tulip industry, such as using robots to identify sick tulips in a field.

Afterwards, we made a quick pit stop at the beach before our upcoming sustainability tour.  While slightly colder than the beaches in the United States, it felt oddly familiar, with the local seafood stalls and shops that make up most American shorelines; however, one difference stuck out to me.  I had noticed a wind farm in the distance with turbines constantly generating electricity.  This made me think back to the United Nations sustainability goals, with one goal reflecting clean energy.  It made me ponder if the United States implemented wind farms off the coast of many of its famous beaches, how many houses’ worth of clean energy they could produce, something I should consider researching later.  A little bit later, we grabbed lunch at a local stall, and as I reached for my can of soda, I realized something.  In the Netherlands, unlike the United States, from my observations, soft-drink machines are less common, and many drinks are served in single-use bottles/cans.  This again made me think back to LCA (Life-Cycle Analysis), as I contemplated whether the creation and utilization of a soft-drink fountain and cups is more or less sustainable than giving customers individual cans/bottles of drinks.

After our short beach break, we headed to our next two stops that focused on sustainability in buildings, Schoonschip and EDGE.  While visiting Schoonship, a floating house neighborhood, not only did we learn about how they created their floating water homes, but also some information touching on the use of sustainable building materials when making them, such as special types of wood that, when used, can last up to 50 years before needing to be replaced.  On the other hand, EDGE offered a look at their past and upcoming projects, creating sustainable people-first spaces.  Once those tours were complete and we traveled back to the hotel, I had dinner and began preparing for tomorrow.  Overall, today was an amazing day, which involved learning about sustainability in infrastructure, something great for a Civil Engineering major like myself.