2.4 Present sustainable initiatives

Some of sustainable initiatives related to the current sub-system have already being implemented on the island.

Food sector

One of the examples is that some restaurants on the island make use of ingredients grown on the island as much and often as possible. Those ingredients come from some interesting ecological local initiatives like dairy products and vegetables from Farm the Novalishoeve. All products from this farm are ecologic. Many restaurants get at least some of their ingredients from the Novalishoeve and serve them for tourists, visitors and guests of the island.

Texel Brouwerijis very popular by the tourists. The Texelse Brouwerij is a brewery that produces local beer and is a famouse brand of Texel Island. Brewery uses local ingredients such as water that comes out of the dunes and the malt grows in the polders on Texel. The used barley, hops and yeast are imported to the island, because it is not possible to produce them locally. Texel beers is served in many restaurants and bars along the island.

The Zelfpluktuin is another example of sustainable facilities for tourists and guests of the island. The philosophy of the Zelfpluktuin is that people can pick their own fruit, vegetables and flowers directly from the garden. The garden is ecological, this means for instance that no chemicals are used to keep mould away. A robot is designed to kill mould using UV. This promotes tourism, but mostly between June and October. It is also a great way to educate people on ecological farming. This form of eco-tourism does not mean that islanders should make compromises of any kind, so this is a great way of promoting sustainable tourism.

Accomodation sector

Moreover, accommodation sector is trying to apply energy saving solutions and increase use of renewable resources. Hotel de Lindeboom was redesigned in 2002 is the first hotel on Texel with energy saving applications like a heat pump and presence detection connected with heating and lighting. In 2008 this representative was followed by Hotel Greenside. Besides a heat pump and presence detection, water saving showers, taps and energy saving central heating were added.