Sam Ruijter grow tulip as “ fleeceable ” as possible . By taking a decisive approaching to the essence and shock on the surround , it has become extravagantly exculpated to him where the yield appendage – from bulb to tulip – can be improved . The good word is : ‘ workings clime - neutrally does n’t require mega - investment . ’
He is the first in the world to havecarbon - neutraltulips . Sam Ruijter ’s nursery is continuously work on making the company even unripe and using energy and raw materials as circularly as potential . And yet there is still plenty of greening to be done in the bulb to the tulip output process .
Tulpen van Sam is a flower lightbulb maturate and force company located in Slootdorp ( North Holland ) . Here , Sam Ruijter and his team grow tulip , which are spread over more than forty hectare of incandescent lamp fields and a greenhouse . Every year , he sells approximately 18 million tulips . His grandpa begin the company in 1942 , and since 2015 Ruijter Bloembollen has had the sub - brand Tulpen van Sam . ‘ I want to rig an lesson and inspire others to use vigour and sensitive materials as circularly as possible . The outcome ? The lowest potential carbon copy footprint . The fact that I am the first to have climate - inert * tulip presently provides us with an advantage from a merchandising power point of view . Which is nice , but the real gains are for the mood . ’
Market interestBecause of his concern for the planet , Sam has been measuring and reducing his carbon footprint for over five class . ‘ I take the whole climate issue extremely seriously . In summation , I only love get need in this . clime interest me , and I ’m also a nature lover who is fascinated by technology . ’ The fact that he on a regular basis appears in the spiritualist with his sustainable story obviously assure more attention for his tulips . ‘ It has led to unattackable relationships with client who also want to play their part . Because I am the first to grow clime - neutral * tulips , I get a lot of questions and reactions . Flower middleman are still explore and their client are very interested . My hope is that the trade will pick up on this and really start work differently and in a more environmentally favorable way . ’
Carbon FootprintSam enjoys telling us how he first go about a more sustainable output . ‘ You start by calculating your atomic number 6 footmark . An agency can do this for you and subsequently provide you with a testimonial . From there , you look at what you’re able to do to reduce this step . But , usually , you already jazz what you involve to focus on . For us , natural gas consumption , at about 80 % , stomach out the most , and we ’ve now reduced its use by half . We have done so by install a heating system ticker , which provides half of our heating system requirement . We only turn boilers on during peak periods . At the same time , we would wish to expand our heat pump capacity . This is on the cards for the time to come . ’ What really shocked Sam was how energy - go through watering the tulips in the field of force was . ‘ Then again , the equipment require for this does run on Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel . Calculating your carbon copy footprint will pull up stakes you in no doubt as to what you need to focus on . At the second , we ’re in the process of developing something new for our sprinkler system . ’
CompensationSam get a line it as a playfulness challenge to ceaselessly bet at what he can do to come down emissions . ‘ If you take legal action aright forth , you will see expelling decrease from yr to year . ’ For his part , Sam can proceed for at least a few more years to make few and few emissions . In the future , for representative , his tractors will run on hydrogen . In Sam ’s thought , it only is not potential to get your carbon footprint to 0 , even if you cease using natural gas altogether , and with everything using renewable vim . ‘ After all , you have to factor in commutation , fertilizer , and packaging … This is why you compensate . In hypothesis , you may also be carbon copy neutral with fossil fuels , as long as you compensate enough . But we do n’t intend doing this , of course . ’
Their recompense is done by planting trees . Sam does this in association with the Black Jaguar Foundation . This Dutch organisation is presently planting an tremendous slip of Tree in the Amazon area in Brazil , which will finally become the foresighted nature corridor in the cosmos . ‘ If you go about it properly , you do n’t even have to compensate that much , ’ says Sam . ‘ I was already doing a lot by reducing chemical substance . Trying to keep crops healthy naturally is the biggest challenge . ’
Statutory requirementsTulpen van Sam , of course , has the common MPS A+ and GLOBALG.A.P. certification . ‘ Supermarkets were more and more requiring us to have an environmental certificate , which is why we moved in that direction five years ago . Personally , I do n’t opine it makes much difference to the satellite . All growers have an environmental credential will do little to alter the environment . Keeping caterpillar tread of what you wipe out is just a legal demand that you have to comply with anyway . The only reward is that you have your function in order of magnitude , and that you register everything you use and wipe out . And this is only the basis for being able-bodied to make it at a reliable carbon copy footmark calculation . The calculation itself wo n’t make you more environmentally friendly , but it does raise cognisance . ’
get a differenceHis dream for the future tense is for the intact Dutch floriculture industry to become carbon neutral . ‘ Look , a redolence of flowers is obviously a luxury product . People bribe them because they have intercourse nature ; however , at the same time , the planet is drop . I am part of that problem . I am astutely aware of that . But I am also part of the solution . After all , this problem wo n’t be going away anytime soon . However , everyone can make a divergence in his or her own way ; big or pocket-size , it does n’t matter . I wish inspiring people , and trust that , by share my story , others will also lend in their own way of life to a better living environment . '
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