About Us
The Dutch Courier was first published in Victoria on behalf of the Associated Netherlands Societies in 1970 by Max Leening. The idea of the publication was to connect all the different Dutch clubs in Victoria through a publication that functioned like an extended newsletter. Since then the Dutch Courier has spread it's wings and became the national printed newspaper for the Dutch Community in all of Australia.
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Migratie “moves” In de prachtige ambassadeurswoning van de Australische ambassadeur in Den Haag werd op woensdag 8 juli j.l. op feestelijke wijze de expositie Australia the Netherlands People Movement Stories geopend. Deze tentoonstelling is een van de evenementen die dit jaar ter gelegenheid van 80 jaar diplomatieke betrekkingen tussen Nederland en Australië wordt georganiseerd. Het is een hybride tentoonstelling. Dat betekent dat men hem ter plekke/in levende lijve kan bekijken, maar ook online kan bezoeken. De fysieke tentoonstelling reist binnenkort naar o.a. Perth en Canberra. Mogelijk is hij daarvoor ook nog te zien op enkele centrale locaties in Nederland. De online variant is natuurlijk 24/7 vanuit de gehele wereld bereikbaar! Het onderwerp dat erin uitgelicht wordt is de migratiebeweging tussen beide landen. Via talloze persoonlijke verhalen en diverse interessante documenten krijgt men een gedetailleerde indruk van anekdotes, aangrijpende gebeurtenissen en herkenbare sentimenten (zoals heimwee) die bij de overstap van Nederland naar Australië komen kijken. Een ding moge duidelijk zijn: migratie is niet altijd makkelijk, maar biedt ook kansen en avontuur. Neem vooral een kijkje op de website https://migrant.huygens.knaw.nl/ en lees de getuigenissen van o.a. Dianne Biederberg, Karien Dekker, Fred Feddes, Frances Larder, Helena Meinema, Matthew Meinema, Elly Spillekom & Dick Koelewijn, Adrian Strik, Jennifer Tucker, Kurt van Wijck en Johnny Young. Het is de bedoeling dat de historische datebase in de toekomst groeit; ook uw (familie-) geschiedenis kan er deel van uitmaken. Mogelijk heeft u aanvullende informatie naar aanleiding van de informatie die er aangeboden wordt? Bovendien worden nog vrijwilligers gezocht om dit geweldige project verder vorm te gaan geven. Initiatiefnemers dr. Nonja Peters (recentelijk opgenomen in de 2022 WA Women's Hall of Fame) en dr. Marijke van Faassen, onderzoeker bij het Huygens Instituut, kennen elkaar reeds vanaf 2006. Dat was het jaar waarin 400 jaar vriendschap tussen Australië en Nederland werd gevierd en tevens het jaar waarin dus de kiem werd gelegd voor het idee. Studenten van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen en de Universiteiten van Utrecht en Leiden hielpen mee bij de voorbereidingen en inspireerden het team met vernieuwende ideeën. Zo is bijvoorbeeld aan ieder gepresenteerd verhaal een unieke QR-code toegevoegd, die de bezoeker naar extra achtergrondinformatie op het internet leidt. Reacties over de tentoonstelling kunt u sturen naar: nonja.peters@curtin.edu.au en marijke.van.fassen@huygens.knaw.nl Adinda Slingerland |
Dutch news
09/07
Baggage
Unclaimed baggage is piling up at Schiphol airport, reports the NOS. The broadcaster, citing five anonymous sources in baggage handling, claims that ‘around 16,000 suitcases’ have been left at the airport, following weeks of travel chaos. ‘There are so many that some piles of suitcases are even outside,’ one told the broadcaster. Another reportedly said that the problems with baggage had not been so large for years.
Super fast delivery
The ‘boisterous’ growth of super-fast delivery companies is beginning to stagnate, according to market analysis by ABN Amro. The bank has analysed transaction data to show that although the four start-ups Gorillas, Getir, Zapp and Flink did huge amounts of business – peaking in the January lockdown – the number of daily transactions has since declined. The companies, which are funded by venture capital, promise to deliver all kinds of shopping within minutes, often using electric bikes and city-centre locations as warehouses for everything from fresh food to dog food.
Lockdowns
According to ABN Amro, they were taking just a few transactions a day in January 2021, but peaked in popularity in the weekend of 21st January this year. ‘They benefited from the lockdowns,’ ABN Amro economist Gerarda Westerhuis told NOS. ‘During the mandatory closure of bars, restaurants and cafes, a relatively large amount of snacks and alcoholic drinks were ordered from fast delivery companies.’ The amount spent per order is estimated to be an average of €16.88 per customer. Market researcher Gfk has predicted that the fast delivery firms will take €500 million in turnover this year, and the FoodService Instituut Nederland expects that the market for delivery will grow by 5% to 10%.
Gas
Gasunie subsidiary Eems-Energy Terminal has come to an agreement with two energy groups to deliver liquified natural gas (lng) to the Netherlands, limiting Dutch dependence on Russian gas. Once converted, the amound of lng Gasunie is buying from Czech group CEZ a.s. and Anglo Dutch Shell Western LNG Ltd, should create a total of seven billion cubic metres of ‘normal’ gas, which will then be pumped into the gas network. The liquified gas, which is frozen at a temperature of minus 160 degrees, takes up less space than the gas from, for example, the Groningen field. It will be stored in two floating terminals in the Groningen port of Eemshaven, The two terminals have a joint capacity of eight billion cubic metres. Gasunie has said a deal to cover the remaining one billion could be on the cards soon.
Farmers
Farmers have once more blockaded a Jumbo food distribution centre in Woerden,
The farmers are protesting at government aims to reduce nitrogen compound emissions by 50% by 2030, and by 75% in protected nature reserves known as Natura 2000 areas. The latest demonstrations were sparked by a government announcement suggesting some farm closures were inevitable in June and a detailed map suggesting which areas needed reductions from 12% to 95%.
07/07
Inflation
Inflation eased slightly to 8.6% in June, but households continued to feel the pinch as food prices went up by 11.2% in the past year, official figures show. The statistics agency CBS said inflation was down from 8.8% in May and a peak of 9.7% in March, mainly because gas and electricity prices are rising less quickly than they were 12 months ago. The cost of food went up by 11.2%, continuing a trend that began in September last year. Meat and dairy products were the fastest risers, but bread, oil, fish, fruit and vegetables also increased in price. -Advertentie- Fuel was a major driver of inflation, with the average cost of a litre of petrol going up from €2.19 to €2.35 while diesel increased from €1.99 to €2.14. Inflation also fell slightly according to the European Union’s measure, which excludes housing costs. The Netherlands still has one of the highest rates in the EU at 9.9%, down from 10.2% in May, but this is against a rising trend across the 27 countries, where the average rate of inflation went up from 8.1% to 8.6% in June.
Jobs agencies to be licenced from 2025 to protect foreign workers
5/07
jobagencies
The government is working on a licencing system for jobs agencies to weed out exploitation of EU workers. A licence for bona fide agencies is one of the recommendations made in a report by former SP leader Emile Roemer to protect foreign workers in 2020. . ‘It is too easy to set up a staffing agency and there are too many dodgy companies,’ Roemer said at the time. Only jobs agencies which follow the rules around pay and the provision of accommodation will be eligible for the licence. The move comes after years of complaints about illegal practices by agencies, such as health insurance rip offs, substandard accommodation, irregularities surrounding pay, and intimidation. Certified agencies will need to have a statement of good behaviour and pay a guarantee of €100,000. Any accommodation they offer will also need to be certified. Spot checks of wages and tax payments will also be made and any agency found to deviate from the rules will have its licence revoked. ‘Too often foreign workers are treated like second rate citizens,’ social affairs minister Karien van Gennip said. ‘Too many jobs agencies do not look after their workers properly and make them sleep and work in dire circumstances. That is not acceptable. People who come here to work have a right to proper living and working conditions, like you and me,’ she said. The new licencing system is expected to become operational from 2025. There are currently around 15,000 jobs agencies in the Netherlands.
1/07
Bank apologised for slavery
President of the Dutch central bank DNB Klaas Knot has apologised for the bank’s historic role in slavery at Friday’s Keti Koti ceremony to commemorate the end of slavery in the former Dutch colonies. Knot had said earlier the bank would make ‘a gesture that would have lasting value’, NOS reported. ‘Apologies to all descendants of enslaved people in the Netherlands, in Suriname, on Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, on Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Martin island,’ he said. ‘Apologies to all people who were reduced to a skin colour due to the personal choices of my predecessors.’ In February the bank reported on its own investigation into its founders, who were found to be closely involved in Dutch slave trade practices in the former colonies of Suriname and the Antilles. Knot said at the time he ‘deplored’ the bank’s role but stopped short of an apology at the time. Other banks are also investigating their colonial past. ABN Amro apologised in April for its share in the fate meted out to enslaved people while the ING’s investigation is ongoing.
more news at www.dutchnews.nl
Baggage
Unclaimed baggage is piling up at Schiphol airport, reports the NOS. The broadcaster, citing five anonymous sources in baggage handling, claims that ‘around 16,000 suitcases’ have been left at the airport, following weeks of travel chaos. ‘There are so many that some piles of suitcases are even outside,’ one told the broadcaster. Another reportedly said that the problems with baggage had not been so large for years.
Super fast delivery
The ‘boisterous’ growth of super-fast delivery companies is beginning to stagnate, according to market analysis by ABN Amro. The bank has analysed transaction data to show that although the four start-ups Gorillas, Getir, Zapp and Flink did huge amounts of business – peaking in the January lockdown – the number of daily transactions has since declined. The companies, which are funded by venture capital, promise to deliver all kinds of shopping within minutes, often using electric bikes and city-centre locations as warehouses for everything from fresh food to dog food.
Lockdowns
According to ABN Amro, they were taking just a few transactions a day in January 2021, but peaked in popularity in the weekend of 21st January this year. ‘They benefited from the lockdowns,’ ABN Amro economist Gerarda Westerhuis told NOS. ‘During the mandatory closure of bars, restaurants and cafes, a relatively large amount of snacks and alcoholic drinks were ordered from fast delivery companies.’ The amount spent per order is estimated to be an average of €16.88 per customer. Market researcher Gfk has predicted that the fast delivery firms will take €500 million in turnover this year, and the FoodService Instituut Nederland expects that the market for delivery will grow by 5% to 10%.
Gas
Gasunie subsidiary Eems-Energy Terminal has come to an agreement with two energy groups to deliver liquified natural gas (lng) to the Netherlands, limiting Dutch dependence on Russian gas. Once converted, the amound of lng Gasunie is buying from Czech group CEZ a.s. and Anglo Dutch Shell Western LNG Ltd, should create a total of seven billion cubic metres of ‘normal’ gas, which will then be pumped into the gas network. The liquified gas, which is frozen at a temperature of minus 160 degrees, takes up less space than the gas from, for example, the Groningen field. It will be stored in two floating terminals in the Groningen port of Eemshaven, The two terminals have a joint capacity of eight billion cubic metres. Gasunie has said a deal to cover the remaining one billion could be on the cards soon.
Farmers
Farmers have once more blockaded a Jumbo food distribution centre in Woerden,
The farmers are protesting at government aims to reduce nitrogen compound emissions by 50% by 2030, and by 75% in protected nature reserves known as Natura 2000 areas. The latest demonstrations were sparked by a government announcement suggesting some farm closures were inevitable in June and a detailed map suggesting which areas needed reductions from 12% to 95%.
07/07
Inflation
Inflation eased slightly to 8.6% in June, but households continued to feel the pinch as food prices went up by 11.2% in the past year, official figures show. The statistics agency CBS said inflation was down from 8.8% in May and a peak of 9.7% in March, mainly because gas and electricity prices are rising less quickly than they were 12 months ago. The cost of food went up by 11.2%, continuing a trend that began in September last year. Meat and dairy products were the fastest risers, but bread, oil, fish, fruit and vegetables also increased in price. -Advertentie- Fuel was a major driver of inflation, with the average cost of a litre of petrol going up from €2.19 to €2.35 while diesel increased from €1.99 to €2.14. Inflation also fell slightly according to the European Union’s measure, which excludes housing costs. The Netherlands still has one of the highest rates in the EU at 9.9%, down from 10.2% in May, but this is against a rising trend across the 27 countries, where the average rate of inflation went up from 8.1% to 8.6% in June.
Jobs agencies to be licenced from 2025 to protect foreign workers
5/07
jobagencies
The government is working on a licencing system for jobs agencies to weed out exploitation of EU workers. A licence for bona fide agencies is one of the recommendations made in a report by former SP leader Emile Roemer to protect foreign workers in 2020. . ‘It is too easy to set up a staffing agency and there are too many dodgy companies,’ Roemer said at the time. Only jobs agencies which follow the rules around pay and the provision of accommodation will be eligible for the licence. The move comes after years of complaints about illegal practices by agencies, such as health insurance rip offs, substandard accommodation, irregularities surrounding pay, and intimidation. Certified agencies will need to have a statement of good behaviour and pay a guarantee of €100,000. Any accommodation they offer will also need to be certified. Spot checks of wages and tax payments will also be made and any agency found to deviate from the rules will have its licence revoked. ‘Too often foreign workers are treated like second rate citizens,’ social affairs minister Karien van Gennip said. ‘Too many jobs agencies do not look after their workers properly and make them sleep and work in dire circumstances. That is not acceptable. People who come here to work have a right to proper living and working conditions, like you and me,’ she said. The new licencing system is expected to become operational from 2025. There are currently around 15,000 jobs agencies in the Netherlands.
1/07
Bank apologised for slavery
President of the Dutch central bank DNB Klaas Knot has apologised for the bank’s historic role in slavery at Friday’s Keti Koti ceremony to commemorate the end of slavery in the former Dutch colonies. Knot had said earlier the bank would make ‘a gesture that would have lasting value’, NOS reported. ‘Apologies to all descendants of enslaved people in the Netherlands, in Suriname, on Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, on Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Martin island,’ he said. ‘Apologies to all people who were reduced to a skin colour due to the personal choices of my predecessors.’ In February the bank reported on its own investigation into its founders, who were found to be closely involved in Dutch slave trade practices in the former colonies of Suriname and the Antilles. Knot said at the time he ‘deplored’ the bank’s role but stopped short of an apology at the time. Other banks are also investigating their colonial past. ABN Amro apologised in April for its share in the fate meted out to enslaved people while the ING’s investigation is ongoing.
more news at www.dutchnews.nl
Born in Sydney, played for Oranje
‘I was always interested in the Australian players who came to Europe when I was playing,’ Graeme Rutjes, former Netherlands International, tells me. We’re chatting via What’s App, Graeme at the golf course he manages near Utrecht, me at home in Hobart.[1] What makes Graeme unique amongst Oranje players is that he was born in Australia, the son of Dutch emigrants. ‘When you’re Dutch and playing football professionally but born in Australia, that’s something special. It was written about when I started, and when I made the Dutch team. Born in Sydney but Dutch.’ Graeme’s parents arrived in Australia in 1956, newly married and looking to start a new life. Graeme was born in 1960. The Rutjes were settled near Centennial Park, his mum raising two boys, his dad working for Hunter Douglas, the Dutch window and blinds manufacturer, when Graeme’s Opa in Holland died suddenly. In the winter of 1963, the family returned to Holland to support his widowed Oma. ‘I was born there but I can’t remember anything of my first three years.’ Graeme grew up in Rotterdam and followed Feyenoord, one of Holland’s biggest clubs. He started playing when he was ten and a couple of years later, he and team-mates went to Feyenoord to try out with their youth team. They were turned away. The Dutch system didn’t allow for kids to simply roll up, wanting a game - they had to be invited to trial by a club. ‘Most players are selected by the clubs when they are eleven or twelve or thirteen, and then by the time they are eighteen or nineteen, they’re in the First team. I started when I was nineteen, going to Excelsior - I did it by myself.’ Excelsior is the minnow of Rotterdam’s three senior football clubs.[2] Graeme had begun studying economics at Erasmus University; Excelsior’s grounds were next door, so he approached the club to trial with them. The trainer of the Seconds, Rob Jacobs, let him train with his team, liked what he saw and invited him back. Graeme spent a year with the Seconds before debuting with the senior side in 1980; he stayed five years, amassing 149 games, and settling into the role of defender. He also continued with his studies, lugging textbooks to training camps and onto the buses carrying the team to and from matches. ‘In those days players liked to play cards and games on the buses. I had my study books with me.’ Graeme transferred to KV Mechelen in the Belgium League in 1985, staying with the club five years - and 153 games - through its greatest era, including a European trophy and a domestic cup and title. Six years - and another 152 games - at RSC Anderlecht, one of Belgium’s most successful clubs, followed. Australian players first appeared in Continental Europe around this time, catching Graeme’s attention, especially those playing in Holland and Belgium. Striker Eddie Krncevic, starring with Anderlecht while Graeme was at KV Mechelen, made a particular impression. ‘I really liked playing against him. Always a hard fight, clear duels. He was a tall, slim guy and he could jump very high. Like an Aussie rules player. He knew how to jump and stay in the air; he was always hard to fight against. And when it was over, all the elbows, and we’d kicked each other, it was done and over with,’ Graeme laughs. ‘He was fun to play against.’ ‘Graeme’s one of the best defenders I ever played against,’ Eddie tells me later. ‘I couldn’t score on him. I finally broke my duck in a Belgian Cup match at home. The return game at Mechelen I didn’t touch the ball, he had me in his back pocket.’ [3] Graeme also played against Graham Arnold. ‘Another tough player - wasn’t mean, hard to fight against. Same as Eddie, the duels were tough, but afterwards, always fine.’ Frank Farina was a star in Belgium in this period. ‘He was a good striker, smart, quick for the first few metres, hard to play against…and a nice guy.’ Paul Okon was a teammate of Farina’s though his defensive role meant he and Graeme rarely clashed. Aurelio Vidmar topped Belgium’s goalscoring while at Standard Liege in 1994-95. ‘He was smart, not sneaky, he had a nose for the goal.’ Such a nose that Graeme recalls hitting him hard early in an important end-of-season match when he was at Anderlecht. Anderlecht went on to win the game.[4] Eddie knew of Graeme’s Australian background, at one stage urging Socceroo coach, Frank Arok, to cap him. But no one ever approached Graeme to play for Australia. ‘I might have switched if I hadn’t made it into the Dutch National Team. But it never went that far.’ While at Excelsior Graeme had played for the Dutch ‘B’ team; in top form at KV Mechelen, he was named in the initial squad for the 1988 Netherlands European Championship campaign though missed selection in the final squad that went on to win the country’s first major football competition. He finally made his senior Oranje debut in March 1989, a 2-0 victory over the Soviet Union. That same year Graeme graduated from University with a Doctoraal, the Dutch equivalent of a Master’s Degree; avoiding the card games on the team bus had paid off. In a unique ceremony, he received his award from Thijs Libreghts, the Manager of the Netherlands team at the time. ‘It was special because normally professional football players in Holland don’t study.’ He played another twelve games for Oranje over the next two years, including in the disastrous Dutch Italia 90 World Cup campaign. With the core of the successful Euros side still playing, including such talents as Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, the Koeman brothers, Gerald Vanenburg and Hans van Breukelen, Oranje was one of the favourites for the tournament, but the team, riven by big egos, dissention, and politics, fell apart. Scrapping through to the Round of 16 through three draws in the Group stage, the Dutch were then eliminated by eventual winners, West Germany. ‘We were never a team. In 1988 everybody wanted to fight for it, but in 1990 there was no cohesion, no glue. It was strange. The players were like little islands instead of a team,’ recalls Graeme.[5] Graeme made it to the Eredivisie the ‘long way’ and juggled studies with football for much of his career. He played his role in successful teams, played hundreds of senior club games, played for the Netherlands several times. He must have highlights? ‘Actually, making it as a professional footballer was the highlight.’ He expands. ‘I saw so many young players, eighteen or nineteen, when I started at Excelsior who I thought were better than me at the time. But they never made it. You need something special in your attitude to get to your goal of being a professional player. Yes, playing for my country was a highlight, winning a European title with Mechelen was a highlight, but if you look at it, the life of a professional footballer and getting paid to do what you love, then my whole career was a highlight.’ His answer makes perfect sense to me. After finishing at Anderlecht, Graeme returned to the Netherlands, taking up a role owning and managing a golf course in Zeeland. Soccer has still drawn his interest at times - he joined Feyenoord in a business advisory role in 2011 and later became Technical Director at NAC Breda but gave it away to return to golf management and development. With Graeme’s drive, I presume he must have a low golf handicap. He chuckles. ‘It’s terrible. I got stuck on nineteen. I still think I can play a single handicap. But when golf is your work, not even on your own course but any course, you look at the grass, the hospitality, the clubhouse, how the greenkeepers work, is it a two-tone mow or full mow, how the tees look, the feel of the course. It’s more work than relaxing.’ Ah, okay, so his focus is on the other aspects of golf rather than chasing that little white, dimpled ball around. These days his involvement in soccer is limited to being on the KNVB disciplinary committee, a role that’s been simplified in recent years with the introduction of VAR and disciplinary issues largely being sorted out during matches. Graeme’s interest in Australian soccer was piqued once more when Guus Hiddink arrived as coach of the Socceroos in 2005, and again when his former teammate in the Dutch National team, John van ‘t Schip was at the helm of Melbourne Heart and Melbourne City. But his interest in the country extends beyond soccer - he has a genuine affection for the country of his birth. He’s been back twice with family on extended trips travelling across the country. ‘I really like Australia. I like the way of living - not laid back, but there’s a certain relaxed attitude around. I like the people, they’re normally optimistic and happy. Sydney would be a great place to live - I could have lived there.’ And if he had, who knows, perhaps he’d have taken his place alongside Krncevic, Arnold, Farina, Okon, Vidmar and co., playing for the Socceroos… RSC Anderlecht has a short highlights video of Graeme Rutjes, available here: https://www.rsca.be/en/media/video/best-graeme-rutjes [1] Interviews with Graeme Rutjes, 21 October, 10 November 2021. [2] Feyenoord play in the south of Rotterdam and are one of the Netherlands ‘Big Three’ clubs, along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. Excelsior play to the east of the city. The third club is Sparta Rotterdam, based in the west of the city. [3] Interview with Eddie Krncevic, 6 Dec. 2021. Born in Geelong, Eddie was an Australian soccer pioneer, one of the first Australian players to make their way to, and succeed in, Europe. His Belgium career spanned more than ten seasons and included titles with Cercle Brugge and Anderlecht; in 1988-89 he took out the leading goal scorer award while at Anderlecht. He’d played Australian Rules at high school in Melbourne, at one point even being offered a trial at Essendon after kicking seven goals in a schoolboy’s match. He told me he credits Aussie Rules with helping his aerial game, as he knew how to use other players for gaining leverage and height. [4] Graham Arnold had stints in Holland (with Roda JC and NAC Breda) and Belgium (Standard Liege and Charleroi) over eight seasons from 1989. Frank Farina won a Belgium Championship with Club Brugge, the same year he was awarded the League’s Best Foreign Player (1989-90). Paul Okon had an outstanding five years in Belgium also playing for Club Brugge, winning two Belgium titles, and taking out the League’s Best Player award in 1995-96. Aurelio Vidmar won the top goal scorers award while at Standard Liege in 1994-95. John Aloisi was also at Standard Liege, and later Antwerp in this period. [5] For an account of the Dutch Italia 90 debacle, see Ch.18 of David Winner’s Brilliant Orange – the neurotic genius of Dutch football (2010). :
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Dutch blogs in DutchWie heeft hem al gemaakt?!'Bokkepootjestaart met advocaat en vanillepudding' op veler verzoek. Een heerlijk Limburgs recept voor bij de koffie, door het Recepten Uit Limburg team.
Klik hier voor het gehele recept en andere leuke blogs. |
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Blogs op de werelwijven website over Astra turf
Een schoolplein in Australië is niet zoals in Nederland een plein van stenen stoeptegels, maar vaak een groot gras-voetbal-veld met aan de rand meestal verschillende speeltoestellen. In Australië is het warm en groeit gras nou eenmaal niet als het niet veelvuldig besproeit wordt. Bovendien, is het beleid dat men de eigen tuin of grasmat niet mag bewateren met leidingwater en dat had ondertussen zijn tol geeist.
Het schoolveld in onze wijk kon inmiddels dan ook geen grasveld meer genoemd worden, dus toen we in 2017 (mijn zoon zat destijds in groep 5 van de lagere school) een memo van school kregen om het speelveld te veranderen in Astro turf, of beter plastic kunstgras, leek dat een logische keuze.
Plastic: onschuldig fris ogend groen?Althans, dat dacht ik. Totdat mijn buurvrouw mij een onderzoek onder de ogen schoof waaruit bleek dat het helemaal niet zo gezond was om een grasveld om te toveren naar een zogenaamd groen turfveld. Jazeker, het Astro turfveld zag er prachtig uit. Zo mooi en verzorgd, maar de vulling van zo’n grasveld blijkt ook kankerverwekkend te zijn. Mijn buurvrouw had er verschillende artikelen over die dat onderbouwden, en overhandigde ons deze tijdens een buurtbespreking.
De commissie leek niet van zijn stuk gebracht. De financiering voor een plastic veld, zo lieten ze weten, werd door de overheid gedaan. En als we niet hiervoor kozen, waar moesten ze dan zoveel geld vandaan halen om een nieuw fatsoenlijk veld te bekostigen? Logisch dus dat veel mensen voor die optie zouden kiezen, want wie wil nu een lelijk onverzorgd schoolveld waar de kinderen op spelen? Al met al, bizar want we wonen hier in één van de duurste suburbs in Melbourne. Waarom dan toch kiezen voor een plastic veld en geen natuurlijk grasveld…
Een goede buurUiteindelijk is het hele kunstgras-plan niet doorgegaan, ondanks dat er helemaal niet zoveel weerstand was. Ja, er waren buurtbewoners niet blij, maar niet vanwege de mogelijke kankerverwekkende redenen. In het financiële plan was namelijk opgenomen dat het schoolveld óók gebruikt zou worden voor andere verenigingen. De buurtbewoners waren dus vooral bang dat er veel meer auto’s in de buurt zouden parkeren en ze er zelf niet meer konden parkeren. Het was de organisator zelf die de stekker uit het plan trok, omdat ze geen zin hadden in welke eventuele tegenwerking dan ook bij de uitvoering.
Uiteindelijk is er een andere oplossing gevonden en heeft de golfvereniging meegeholpen de kosten te dekken voor een natuurlijk tapijt bij de school. Natuurlijk weet ik ook wel dat dit niet in elke buurt kan. Niet iedereen heeft een golfvereniging als buur, die zo vriendelijk is om het school-grasveld te sponsoren, maar dit was voor ons een welkome oplossing.
Groen van ‘groen’ scheidenWaar onze buurt de kans kreeg het natuurlijk groen te behouden, zie ik al jaren een heel andere ontwikkeling. Hele voetbalvelden veranderen hier opeens in plastic velden, een trend die ik ook in Nederland zie. En niet alleen voetbalvelden, ook de hockey velden. En ik vraag me af hoe anderen daarover (na)denken? Waarom maken we ons niet meer druk over al die kunstgrasvelden? Afgezien van het feit dat het kankerverwekkend is en daarmee een gevaar voor de gezondheid kan betekenen, vraag ik me af of we met de kennis van nu over plastic-afval en een aarde die sterk opwarmt, echt grote stukken grond willen bedekken met… plastic?
Aan de ene kant proberen we in de Westerse wereld natuurgroen te stimuleren, maar leggen wel plastic sportvelden aan omdat het makkelijker te onderhouden is? We weren de stoeptegels in de tuin, zaaien bermen vol met wilde bloemen, creëren verticale tuintjes tegen muren van flatgebouwen en gras op daken. Prachtig en ik juich het toe! Maar ondertussen spelen en bewegen we heel gezond op… kunstgras. Kunstgras, dat bovendien veel zeer doet als je valt en slecht is voor je knieën als je erop speelt, afgezien dat het helemaal niet goed is voor onze gezondheid en het milieu op langere termijn.
Plastic is helemaal niet zo fantasticIk schrijf dit omdat het die ene buurvrouw jaren geleden was, die mij wakker schudde. En ik vraag me gewoon af of dat bij jullie ook zo is. Turfvelden en kunstgras: zullen we er gewoon gezamenlijk tegen zijn? Want zoals ik inmiddels heb ervaren, hoeft er niet eens een hele grote groep mensen op te staan om dingen te veranderen.
Kijk eens om je heen in je omgeving, op je school of vereniging wat er gebeurt als je ‘nee’ zegt tegen nog meer plastic op de aarde! En vooral, vertel het je je buur(vrouw) ! Die oude slogan werkt nog altijd: een beter milieu begint bij jezelf.
Het schoolveld in onze wijk kon inmiddels dan ook geen grasveld meer genoemd worden, dus toen we in 2017 (mijn zoon zat destijds in groep 5 van de lagere school) een memo van school kregen om het speelveld te veranderen in Astro turf, of beter plastic kunstgras, leek dat een logische keuze.
Plastic: onschuldig fris ogend groen?Althans, dat dacht ik. Totdat mijn buurvrouw mij een onderzoek onder de ogen schoof waaruit bleek dat het helemaal niet zo gezond was om een grasveld om te toveren naar een zogenaamd groen turfveld. Jazeker, het Astro turfveld zag er prachtig uit. Zo mooi en verzorgd, maar de vulling van zo’n grasveld blijkt ook kankerverwekkend te zijn. Mijn buurvrouw had er verschillende artikelen over die dat onderbouwden, en overhandigde ons deze tijdens een buurtbespreking.
De commissie leek niet van zijn stuk gebracht. De financiering voor een plastic veld, zo lieten ze weten, werd door de overheid gedaan. En als we niet hiervoor kozen, waar moesten ze dan zoveel geld vandaan halen om een nieuw fatsoenlijk veld te bekostigen? Logisch dus dat veel mensen voor die optie zouden kiezen, want wie wil nu een lelijk onverzorgd schoolveld waar de kinderen op spelen? Al met al, bizar want we wonen hier in één van de duurste suburbs in Melbourne. Waarom dan toch kiezen voor een plastic veld en geen natuurlijk grasveld…
Een goede buurUiteindelijk is het hele kunstgras-plan niet doorgegaan, ondanks dat er helemaal niet zoveel weerstand was. Ja, er waren buurtbewoners niet blij, maar niet vanwege de mogelijke kankerverwekkende redenen. In het financiële plan was namelijk opgenomen dat het schoolveld óók gebruikt zou worden voor andere verenigingen. De buurtbewoners waren dus vooral bang dat er veel meer auto’s in de buurt zouden parkeren en ze er zelf niet meer konden parkeren. Het was de organisator zelf die de stekker uit het plan trok, omdat ze geen zin hadden in welke eventuele tegenwerking dan ook bij de uitvoering.
Uiteindelijk is er een andere oplossing gevonden en heeft de golfvereniging meegeholpen de kosten te dekken voor een natuurlijk tapijt bij de school. Natuurlijk weet ik ook wel dat dit niet in elke buurt kan. Niet iedereen heeft een golfvereniging als buur, die zo vriendelijk is om het school-grasveld te sponsoren, maar dit was voor ons een welkome oplossing.
Groen van ‘groen’ scheidenWaar onze buurt de kans kreeg het natuurlijk groen te behouden, zie ik al jaren een heel andere ontwikkeling. Hele voetbalvelden veranderen hier opeens in plastic velden, een trend die ik ook in Nederland zie. En niet alleen voetbalvelden, ook de hockey velden. En ik vraag me af hoe anderen daarover (na)denken? Waarom maken we ons niet meer druk over al die kunstgrasvelden? Afgezien van het feit dat het kankerverwekkend is en daarmee een gevaar voor de gezondheid kan betekenen, vraag ik me af of we met de kennis van nu over plastic-afval en een aarde die sterk opwarmt, echt grote stukken grond willen bedekken met… plastic?
Aan de ene kant proberen we in de Westerse wereld natuurgroen te stimuleren, maar leggen wel plastic sportvelden aan omdat het makkelijker te onderhouden is? We weren de stoeptegels in de tuin, zaaien bermen vol met wilde bloemen, creëren verticale tuintjes tegen muren van flatgebouwen en gras op daken. Prachtig en ik juich het toe! Maar ondertussen spelen en bewegen we heel gezond op… kunstgras. Kunstgras, dat bovendien veel zeer doet als je valt en slecht is voor je knieën als je erop speelt, afgezien dat het helemaal niet goed is voor onze gezondheid en het milieu op langere termijn.
Plastic is helemaal niet zo fantasticIk schrijf dit omdat het die ene buurvrouw jaren geleden was, die mij wakker schudde. En ik vraag me gewoon af of dat bij jullie ook zo is. Turfvelden en kunstgras: zullen we er gewoon gezamenlijk tegen zijn? Want zoals ik inmiddels heb ervaren, hoeft er niet eens een hele grote groep mensen op te staan om dingen te veranderen.
Kijk eens om je heen in je omgeving, op je school of vereniging wat er gebeurt als je ‘nee’ zegt tegen nog meer plastic op de aarde! En vooral, vertel het je je buur(vrouw) ! Die oude slogan werkt nog altijd: een beter milieu begint bij jezelf.
