The Future Our Choice

By Tessa Slagter

May 14, 2011

Fellow Dutchmen,

By means of this photo essay I would like to inform you on the importance and impact of our actions on the environment. We are fortunate to live in such a great country, surrounded by all facilities we could possibly wish for. However, if we continue to live our lives this way, our children will not experience the Netherlands the same way we do. Therefore, dear compatriots, I believe we should take action to decrease our negative impact. In this book I provide you with advice on how to decrease your energy consumption at home. Soon also the editions on reducing the negative impact your clothing, and the negative impact your food has on the environment, will be published.

Best wishes,

Tessa Slagter

We have already TRANSGRESSED three of the nine BOUNDARIES of our planet and we are on our way to overstep several others

This is resulting in a CATASTROPHIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE And we are already noticing it:

EXTREME DROUGHT

EXTREME FLOODS

HURRICANES AND TORNADOS

OUR BEHAVIOR is one of the drivers of the climate change

We use a lot of energy in our homes

and produce much waste

We must take ACTION to reduce the impact of our homes

We should take a MULTI-FACETTED APPROACH Because there is

NOT

ONE SOLUTION

that can decrease the energy consumption in households sufficiently

STEP 1: Change you BEHAVIOR

SHOWER 2 MIN. SHORTER

SMART METER: Know how much energy you use

WASHING AT 30°C

LOWER THERMOSTAT 1°C

DE-ICE FREEZER 2 millimeter less ice

 

2. SAVE ENERGY

RADIATOR FOIL

 

WATER SAVING SHOWER HEAD                            

WEATHERSTRIP      

 

CLOTHESLINE  

LED LAMP

3. SUSTAINABLY RENOVATE

4. Use RENEWABLE ENERGY

Solar energy

Biomass

Wind energy  

Geothermal energy

Hydro energy  

K

5. REUSE and RECYCLE

Reduce your impact on the environment

And help our beautiful country

continue to exist

Photos per page 1. My cousins Fay and Iris Boon, 2009 6. Planetary Boundaries, retrieved from www.newscientist.com 8. Houseboat in “de Waal”, the Netherlands on Sept 29, 2009 8. English wetlands, June 2009 9. North Sea Flood of 1953, retrieved from anp.nl 9. Brisbane, USA, Januari 13, 2011 retrieved from volkskrant.nl 10. Hurricane Katrina USA August 24, 2005, retrieved from volkskrant.nl 10. Hengelo, the Netherlands, July 2010, retrieved from nufoto.nl 11. Driehuis, the Netherlands, May 2011 11. Corus, Velsen-Noord, the Netherlands, May 2011 12. Interior of the Aland, Aland-Broek, Slagter families, May 2011 13. Middelburg, the Netherlands 2010, foto by Lex van Lieshout 16. Martin Broek, the Netherlands May 2010 18. & 19. Images from milieucentraal.nl, meermetminder.nl,

stichtingmilieunet.nl, tikkieterug.com 20. Images from groenedaken.nl, energiebeursvenlo.nl and duurzaamthuis.nl 21. Images from wereldnatuurbestrijdingsfonds.nl, wikipedia.nl 22. Waste containers at airport Madrid-Barajas, Spain, November 26, 2010

Vuvuzela-lamps retrieved from www.puttles.com Oil-can coach and wooden box-stereo retrieved from www.todoazul.nl

24. Hand, earth and fire, retrieved from www.greenhouseneutralfoundation.org 25. Delfshaven Rotterdam, the Netherlands May 3, 2011.

         

In this photo book all calculations are obtained by the following calculation: (capacity * amount of hours the device is in use)/ 1000. We have used the average price of energy in the Netherlands; €0,22 in 2010 for electricity and €0,65 for natural gas (CBS 2011)