From Belgium I went back to Netherlands where I visited Floris Schoonderbeek from Studio Weltevree in Arnhem. He designed the Groundfridge, an underground storage room using only the nature to cool the products. Also he is responsible for the design of the first public charging stations in Holland.
In Arnhem I went to a new kind of charging park from Allego and designed by Weltevree.
In the evening I stayed in Macharen, a tiny place near Oss where I was invited by a very friendly family.
I moved from Heverlee to Brussels where Michael from Beeodiversity explained me how bees can be used for research in the environment. Later I drove to the border with France where Kristina explained me how I can cook using only the power of the sun.
Monday I payed a visit to Partago, a innovative car-sharing network in Gent. Joachim the owner invited me to stay at his house which is one of the most sustainable houses I’ve ever been.
Tuesday I wanted to visit Spilvarken but due to a miscommunication it didn’t go through but I interviewed myself about the project. I did interview Bubblepost, a company who want to make transport greener.
Later that day I stayed in Heverlee, where I used to life for 6 years as a kid.
I payed a visit to Finch Buildings, a modular house from wood which can be uses as student room, hotel and even off-grid housing. My last night in The Netherlands was at Linda’s place in Valkenburg, close to the border with Belgium.
Saturday I finally set foot across the border, in Belgium. Sabrina was my host in Brussels. We ate Belgian fries, fries are good!
Yes! Delft is a hub where sustainable companies are founded. I visited Elemental Water Makers, Bluerise and e-trailer.
My plugger this night was Elske who is the owner of Zero-e, a company that helps businesses make their carparks sustainable.
Bluerise develops solutions to harness the Ocean’s power. Bluerise is a technology provider and project developer of Ocean Thermal Energy solutions. The thermal energy stored in the tropical ocean can be used to generate sustainable electricity, cooling, and fresh water. They specialize in OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion), SWAC (Seawater Air Conditioning) technologies and related Deep Sea Water applications.
Vincent Everts is a trendwatcher, TV-host, gadgetfreak and most of all EV-enthusiast. In his Tesla Model S he invited people from the industry to talk about their business.
When I launched the website of Plug Me In back in June Vincent picked it up immideately and invited me in his Tesla. Back then the project was still a concept. When he heard that I was on my way he send me a text and invited me to come over for bed, bread and battery.
During this evening I asked Vincent about the future of electric cars and e-mobility, the new Tesla Model X and 3 and his vision on sustainability.
GEEF Cafe (literally translation: GIVE Cafe) is a restaurant/ lunchroom where you can pay-as-you-can. People with more money to spend can give a meal, coffee or tea to someone who has less.
The restaurant was founded by Judith Manshanden who’s been working on this concept for several years. It was hard to find the right people to believe in the concept and after having several tries she finally managed to get het own location right in the Jordaan, the cosiest neighborhood in Amsterdam.
Watch the interview to hear how she managed to start the restaurant, what she thinks about the term ‘sustainability’ and she gave me an interesting tast to take on with me during the journey.
