A sustainable Tilburg

The challenge

Sustainability is becoming one of the most important trends in the world. The people that have the knowledge about sustainability and are active players in the solving of these problems are students. Sustainability does not only entail the betterment of the environment but also the wellbeing of the people in the vicinity, which in this case is Tilburg. Furthermore, for students it is very common to live an unhealthy lifestyle because of their busy schedules and students are therefore more likely to eat junk food. Another sustainability problem is related to mental health which can be caused by the lack of social interaction. What better way to help students focus on being sustainable, eating healthy and provide a place for social interaction, than providing student houses with ‘sustainable’ (vegetable/fruit/green) gardens?

The solution

Our proposed solution is to provide student houses with a shared ´green´ vegetable garden. The purpose of these gardens is to stimulate a healthier lifestyle, improve their social life, lower living costs and create a long term engagement/commitment to sustainable living. To create a social environment there will be a weekly meet up to harvest and tend to their garden as well as a monthly dinner made together with their own grown vegetables, greens and fruits. The garden can thus act as a social hub, which helps with establishing connections and improving their social interactions. Another benefit from this vegetable garden is the fact that it is much healthier to eat, which can result in a more sustainable lifestyle for students. Also, growing their own greens, fruit and vegetables will reduce their need to buy these products somewhere else, thus lowering their monthly living costs. To make the gardens more appealing to use we do not only want to make more ‘traditional’ gardens, but also vertical gardens. This will cut down on space as well as the cost of making the gardens.