We prefer to buy fruit and vegetables from local farmers. Can we do this in the big city of Rotterdam? Well, Rotterdam is bursting with green initiatives, so the answer is yes, we can!
Wendy takes out the groceries we ordered
“Rechtstreex” brings local demand and supply together, using internet and clever logistics.
Map showing the ‘Rechstreex’ pick-up points in Rotterdam and The Hague
Once a week you order and a few days later you can pick up your groceries.
Sign showing customers to the ‘Rechtstreex’ pick-up point; opened only once a weekThe ‘Rechtstreex’ shop does not look like a shop – and that is correct, it’s a pick-up point. Of course you get your groceries fossil free: by bike!Wendy is proud of the boxes filled with fruit and vegetables from nearby farmers, waiting for their customers to come pick them upThe fruit and vegetables are excellent
When you buy something, you can see exactly from which farm it comes. In their newsletter, ‘Rechtstreex’ tells the stories of the companies and the people behind the fruit and vegetables. This way, you get a better understanding of what it takes to grow your food.
Furthermore, the food comes from nearby, it is superfresh, from the season, and you buy it for a fair price. You know what the best part is? ‘Rechtstreex’ buys from farmers who contribute to a healthy and sustainable world.
It is getting colder. Here some tips and tricks to keep yourself warm.
We all know the extra coat, vest, and the sheep’s wool slippers on your feet. Now here are some tips that are not that well known. Like radiation, ventilation with cold air, and preventing heat loss through the chimney.. Check it out and save heat, CO2 and money, and take care for the Polar bear.
Radiation
Breeding farms use 50 or 75 Watt infra red lamps to breed chickens, because with radiation it is easy and effective to make something really warm. And it is nonsense to heat up the whole space with convection if only the eggs should be warmed.
So you have cold feet? Or where ever you feel chilly, you can do the same and put such a lamp at your feet (or whereever you feel chilly) and in a well insulated house you don’t have to use your central heating. The lamp costs about 10 Euro so pay back time is some days.
Large scale chicken breeding with infra red bulbs…..…and such a bulb fits in every regular fitting at home
Ventilation, fresh dry air!
Heating the air is easy. But heating waterdamp, costs much energy. People exhale lots of water damp, filling the air with it. So when you are a day at home, ventilate every day. Ventilate with the outside air, because cold air is not humid, it doesnot have much water in it. So especially on a cold winter day, it is extra economic to open your windows for 5 or 10 minutes a day, and exchange all the humid air for fresh dry air.
Open your windows once a day, unless there is a bear outside 😉
Start at the top
Heat is like large organizations. If you really need improvement, start at the top. At the top of your house you will find the warmest air. So close the doors down, but also close the doors to the rooms of the next floor. Especially be aware that the attic is well closed.
And if you start insulating, then start with your roof.
Close the chimney of your open fire place
Warm air goes up. If you have a fire place and you don’t use it, make sure you close it. There are ‘chimney balloons’ you can put in your chimney hole over your fire place. You blow it up until there is no air ‘leaking’ along the balloon.
The old fashioned chimney can draw a lot of heat (source: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24757144)
Decentralize your heating
Many houses have central heating. It means that your complete house will be heated if the living room (with the thermostat) gets colder.
Decentralize your heating system by closing all convectors in the various rooms. Your plumber or heating technician can sophisticate this system by installing thermostat valves on every convector in the house, and some added technology. If you use these convectors only when you need the heat there, it can save you very much money.
Turn this thermostat valve to 0 in every room except for the room where you are, and you save big money.
The story of Everett and Ariana last week reads like a fairy tale:
“We bought an electricity meter, with an app showing the kWh use on our phones display. Every day we plug in a piece of equipment in our household. Then we read out the kWh that this equipment consumes in a day.”
Ariana continued: “This is three birds with one stone:
We save a lot of money
With this CO2 reduction, we really contribute to the future of our children
And, we feel better, because the energy mostly comes from doubtful countries, like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and so on.”
Last Tuesday Everett plugged in his speaker/amplifier surround sound system he installed about 20 years ago. Seldom he uses it, but it is always on standby. Everett discovered that just the standby mode costs him about 500 kWh per year, so about 300 Euro.
Thursday Ariana figured out the drying machine. This is by far the biggest consumer and she knew that. So she uses the ECO button. She discovered that the thing still eats about 320 kWh per year. Now they are thinking of a little roof just outside the laundry room, to let the laundry dry on a line, on the air.. The drying is slower, but your cloths feel fresher, and it is better for your cloths.
Plus, the earlier mentioned three birds you hit with this single stone.
This measuring, we do it already on board since the Ya started sailing. We saw all guests getting aware of the consumption of the equipment, of themselves. They started becoming ecofriendly from the inside out. Why don’t you do the same?
On ‘Ya’ the electricity meter is positioned on a central place, like a clock.
Putins fear delivers -like all fears- enormous disadvantages. Like the disadvantage of a high energy bill. But, as the reknown Dutch football player, football coach and philosopher Mr. Johan Cruyff always said: “In every disadvantage there is an advantage.” It this case there are even three.
In South America, fruit, vegetables and snacks like empanadas are sold on the street; in The Netherlands, you hardly ever see this. Time for a change! Saskia’s “Loos” brings a variety of healthy organic nuts, coffee, beans and candy to the street. Saskia sells these products from a fossil free cart, without plastic wrappings or bags.
How does it work?
You can bring your own pot or bag, take the amount you want and you pay. Saskia keeps the cart and the dispensers clean; the customers are responsible for keeping their own pots clean. If you don’t have pots or bags that you can use, you can buy them with Saskia.
Is the businesscase feasible?
“Loos” started some months ago with nothing but a brilliant idea, the energy and investments of the founders and small loans of family and friends. Volonteers built the cart and until now, all work has been on a voluntary basis. Saskia is very excited about the price they just won: 60.000,- Euro, which allows them to pay themselves their first salaries.
Why is this article on a Dutch initiative, you are in Panama?
Inge found “Loos” because she is on shore-leave to meet with family and friends and also to see how she can contribute to a more sustainable world in The Netherlands.
Comments on this blog? Want to sail with the ‘Ya’? Then please mail to info@fossilfreearoundtheworld.org
In Suriname we visited an amazing museum: a butterfly-farm. A what? Well, it’s a museum with an overwhelming collection of butterflies, but its main source of income is selling butterfly dolls. We were allowed to walk trough the gardens, and this enabled us to see the butterflies from nearby. In our trips we saw many of these beautiful creatures again, but never as close as in Suriname. Enjoy!
Golden butterfly dollsThe blue butterflies never sit still…….but the brown ones even let themselves get caught to show their ‘eyes’.Amazing concentration when sipping nectar……and this one on board of Ya showed that the colour of her eyes matches our cushions.
Comments? Want to sail with us? Let us know at info@fossilfreearoundtheworld.org!
Shall I compare you to a summer’s day? You are more temperate in the early winds of May In July calms you are willing I dare say On all the seas and streams I stray Before our mast you’re here you stay
First you play the hard to get Yes, you make a sailor sweat With your four sheets and halyard fetched Without a twist or tangle yet I know once that’s done, you are all set
Your hoist is long, a pillar from a pile Of ultralight cloth every inch worthwhile The sock shuffles up, in a gentle style The wing widens out into its full profile Making the sail fill in a breathtaking while Then my wife at the helm shows a beam wide smile
Your sheets get tension when you fill the sky On your trim you are such an easy guy No luff neither leeway – all seas to defy The helmsman stands with a twinkle in the eye: “You make our yacht sail as light as a fly”
You bring her to speeds we never expect Even in light winds, you see what you get Spinaker, gennaker, code zero They broach and tangle and twist, oh hell no When breezes pick up from steady to fresh Your wing valve saves us from a broach and a crash
Mile after mile we are making right now Sailing the seas with you over our bows Enjoying you comp’ny day after day We stay fossil fuel free so easy this way The Autoprop generates hundreds of Watts We ‘ll arrive at the harbour with the batteries topped
O You Parasailor are so very alright We dare set and sail you even throughout the night Because your design is so smart and profound We sail you shorthanded the world around Making our course so easy at the helm Crossing the ocean, my ship is my realm
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LIketo react? Like to sail fossil free with us? Please mail to: info@fossilfreearoundtheworld.org
Geckos eat bugs. But do you want them on board? Well, even though they’re very cute and useful, we think they’re best off on land. We caught it and brought it to Red Frog.
It’s alive…so we tried to seduce it to a vegetarian lunch – he didn’t touch itWell then, off to Bastimentos Island with you…Nice little trip for the new kayak…through the mangrove….to Red Frog, where a helpful guy took the gecko inside….Would he meet Red Frog?
Like it? Comments? Sail with us? Let us know on info@fossilfreearoundtheworld.org
The fun of fun shopping starts on the way to it. On our last funshopping trip, we got our new kayak. So, this time, we took the kayak and enjoyed the ride to the swap meet. You can find the ‘treasures of the bilge’ there, and it is all about walking and talking; buy, sell, trade or give it away. Need we explain how sustainable this is? Enjoy!
Most sailors have a dinghy with a fossil fuel outboard. We found a more fun alternative!
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How do you stand in life? Do you have fun? Or do you get into your car twice a day and put yourself in a traffic jam “because you have to”? It took us 40 years to understand this:
‘Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved’ – Winnie the Pooh
We are anchored at Red Frog Anchorage, some miles from Bocas Town. Now, when our neighbors go shopping, they take their dinghy and go as fast as their outboard can. And so, with 45 minutes of too much noise, slamming on the waves, they are biting the bullet to solve the shopping problem.
We also go shopping, but we see this ‘problem’ as an opportunity. We like sailing, so we sail to Bocas Town, and back again.
We arrived back on the boat with our sailing dinghy full of groceries, it was fun shoppingWe even found some licorice. They were Australian, not Dutch, you can’t win them all.Back at the anchorage, we proudly showed our trophies to our neighbor
The underwaterworld of Bocas del Toro can be beautiful. We found it in the remote areas, far away from the sewers and the sunscreens of the resorts and the towns.
