At the tile seesaw campaign in Harderwijk, the waste containers quickly fill up with discarded paving. There are initiatives like this all over the country. But in the meantime, many gardens are also being tiled or re-tiled. “Something is coming, something is going,” says Ingrid Klooster. “Every little bit helps and the more attention we pay to it, the more people will get excited about it.”
That is also the most important effect of this type of campaign, says researcher sustainable urban development Mendel Giezen of the University of Amsterdam. “The total impact in square meters of garden is limited, but awareness is important.”
Another way of greening gardens is by introducing a ’tile tax’, as already exists in Germany. It has also been suggested more than once in the Netherlands. Giezen doesn’t think that’s a good idea. “That can make a lot of people very angry. The garden is private domain. If the government tells you how to set it up, it creates a lot of resistance.”
Nor should it have a polarizing effect, warns researcher socio-ecological learning Loes Witteveen, affiliated with Wageningen University. “You have to try to get people on board, without making those who choose tiles look crazy.” You won’t get everyone on board with such a campaign, but that doesn’t mean people are against green. “It’s not that simple to start gardening.”
–
