• CITY GUIDE AMSTERDAM – GREEN IN THE CITY

    The Kas Amsterdam – the wearness

    A green view and green food at The Kas in Amsterdam

    The perfect time for a short trip to Amsterdam? Any time, really... because the lively city is extremely popular all year round because of its winding canals, colourful flea markets, vintage boutiques and museums.

    And it also has a lot to offer in terms of sustainability: A great selection of organic restaurants, vegan cafés and second-hand shops.

    And the Conscious Hotels chain is also an absolute pioneer when it comes to environmentally friendly overnight stays. Great: In almost no other city can you get around so easily on foot or by bike. Here are our tips:

    Our favorite sustainable hotspots in Amsterdam

    Where to eat & drink

    Beter & Leuk
    Delicious vegan cuisine in a cosy atmosphere, most dishes are gluten-free. The menu includes delicious spinach pancakes with carrot puree, Korean rice bowls and a seaweed hamburger. For dessert, order brownies (1e Oosterparkstraat, beterenleuk.nl).

    Cafe de Ceuvel
    Great sustainability project with offices in houseboats, wild garden, creative community, café and restaurant on the Johan van Hasselt canal. The buildings are built from recycled materials, electricity comes from solar energy, and there are composting toilets and the world's first biogas boat that converts waste from the restaurant into fuel. The restaurant serves fresh local produced dishes. Beer is mainly served by Amsterdam breweries. Also a popular hotspot in the evening (Korte Papaverweg 4, deceuvel.nl)!

    A sustainable garden in the city: Café de Ceuvel is built from recycled materials and serves fresh, local food

    The Kas
    Unique and very trendy restaurant in an eight meter high greenhouse on the country estate Frankendael in the east of Amsterdam. The menu (there is only one every day) is determined by the harvest from the house's own organic herb and vegetable garden. Make a reservation (Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3, www.restaurantdekas.nl)!

    Lavinia Good Food
    By now, there are even two restaurants - both are absolutely worth it! The interior: brick walls and Shabby-style furniture. Particularly popular on the menu: Shakshuka, the banana pancakes, the carrot cake and for breakfast Quinoa-Porridge (Kerkstraat 176 and Amstelveenseweg 192, www.laviniagoodfood.nl).

    InStock
    Every day, tons of food are thrown away just because the cucumber is too crooked or the pasta has supposedly run out. At Instock, however, these products are processed into fine dishes.  A brown banana becomes banana ice cream, the slightly overgrown Brussels sprouts are served as kimchi with the burger. The menu changes daily. Praiseworthy: 80% of the dishes in the InStock consist of "saved" products (Czaar Peterstraat 21, www.instock.nl).

    At InStock, 80% of the dishes consist of saved ingredients, which would have been thrown away otherwise

     

    Where to Shop

    Studio Sukha
    Pretty boutique, furnished in light natural tones. It offers a great selection of sustainable products from fashion to home accessories to art. Highlight: the in-house fashion label Atelier Sukha, which has its products handmade under sustainable conditions in India and Nepal and even operates a foundation there (Haarlemmerstraat 110, www.sukha.nl).

    La Doyenne Vintage
    One of the city's hottest second-hand shops: anyone looking for a preloved Alma by Louis Vuitton, a well-preserved tweed jacket by Chanel, statement chains or a Gucci dress from the 80s will find it here (Keizersgracht 600, www.ladoyennevintage.com).

    Marie-Stella-Maris Store
    The hip Amsterdam cosmetics line is dedicated to one mission: global access to clean drinking water. For every product sold, a certain amount is donated to drinking water projects. The skin, body and hair products are sustainable, made exclusively from organic ingredients such as coconut or almond oil, and paraben-free (Keizersgracht 357, www.marie-stella-maris.com).

    Nukuhiva
    The lovingly decorated shop is run by the Dutch presenter and travel book author Floortje Dessing, who sells sustainable fashion from well-known and newcomer labels in her boutique named after a South Sea island (Haarlemmerstraat 36, nukuhiva.nl).

     

    Experience

    Fashion for Good Experience
    Last year, the innovation platform Fashion for Good opened a museum with the aim of changing visitors' attitudes towards fashion and shopping. At the entrance, everyone receives an RFID wristband, and changing exhibitions are dedicated to the topic of sustainability in the fashion industry. The main focus is on innovation opportunities and interaction. In the concept store "The Good Shop" curated collections on various topics are exhibited every three months. The first, under the motto "Splash: Rethinking the role of water in the fashion industry", presents products from adidas x Parley, Kings of Indigo, ECOALF, Insane in the Rain, Karün and Ms. Bay (Rokin 102, fashionforgood.com), among others. 

    A must-see for fashion lovers: The Fashion For Good Experience shows changing exhibitions about sustainability in the industry

    Plastic fishing
    If you feel like doing something positive during your city trip, you should register here: Plastic fishing on the canals of the city. You sail on recycled boats from Plastic Whale over the water and free the canals from garbage, which is later separated and recycled. The PET waste is used to build new boats (Le Mairekade 33A, plasticwhale.com).

     

    Where to Sleep

    Conscious Hotels
    An exemplary, sustainable design hotel chain with four houses in the city. In every corner of the buildings you can feel the effort of the owners Marco and Sam to combine contemporary style and love for nature. Furniture made of recycled materials or certified wood, for example tables made of old yoghurt pots, cushion covers made of recycled materials. Electricity is generated from wind energy. Anyone who orders a taxi at the reception will be called an electric car. And of course you can borrow bicycles free of charge (www.conscioushotels.com).

     

    Where to stay during your trip? The Concious Hotel might be the best choice.
    Photo Credits: De Kas: Hotze Eisma; De Kas Food: Mitchell van Voorbergen; Conscious Hotels: Arjen Veldt, Pam Kat; Fashion for Good: Presstigieux; De Ceuvel: Courtesy of De Ceuvel
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