In August 2022, you can enjoy some terrible customer service at Karen’s Diner in Amsterdam. After ordering a meal, you can get a free middle finger with dessert. How gezellig!
Karen’s Diner is popular worldwide with restaurants in the United States, Australia, and England. Now, the Netherlands can get a taste of their full-knuckle sandwich. 🥪
At Karen’s Diner, the staff are trained to be very mean to customers. So, if you had an enjoyable experience, you should probably write a bad review. 🤔
The Dutch staff probably won’t need that much training as we all know how direct the Dutch can be already. 😉
The Karen crisis
The restaurant gets its name from the infamous “Karen”, which represents a rude, entitled, middle-aged woman who wants to get her way with everyone.
On social media, a Karen is usually seen confronting or screaming at others, usually styled with bobbed hair, AKA the Karen haircut. 💇♀️
Karen’s diner on social media
The restaurant has been gaining a lot of traction on platforms like TikTok with users posting videos of their ‘horrible’ experiences with the staff.
We assume the mum ended up having a great time at the restaurant since it promises a free drink if your name is actually Karen. So to all you Karens out there, bring your ID for some free cocktails. 🍹
Will you be visiting Karen’s diner in the Dutch capital? Tell us in the comments below!
What if you were given the opportunity to buy a boat, while still being able to “think green?” Well, now you can! The Rotterdam-based company, RAW Idea, has created the world’s first sustainable and fully customisable 3D printed boat.
Mixing advanced technology with a goal for an eco-friendly future, Raw Idea’s newest invention, the Tanaruz boat, is about 14 metres long and made up of recycled plastic.
The start-up company manufactures the boat in Rotterdam using a 3D Printer, and currently offers four different models of the boat ranging from 4.5 to an impressive 10 metres in length, RTL Nieuws reports.
Reasonably priced and green
The entry-level model of the boat will set you back a sweet €15,000, which is actually a more affordable option compared to the average price for a traditional boat.
And there won’t be much waiting around. RAW Idea only needs two days to print the smallest model, so they can make great strides when it comes to reducing costs during the production process.
Sailing has become a way of life for the Dutch, and chances are that you’ve probably heard of at least one person who owns a pleasure boat in the Netherlands.
Alex Shifman, founder of RAW Idea, saw an opportunity. “With Tanaruz, we want to make pleasure yachts accessible to everyone who is looking for an affordable, but above all a sustainable product”, they tell RTL Nieuws.
Build your dream boat
Let’s not stop at prices though. RAW Idea also gives their customers the ability to get creative as they’re able to customise their order by choosing the colour, shape, and size of the boats as well as equip them with electrical engines and solar panels.
Striving to become more budget-friendly
Shifman has future plans to increase the number of boats they print from 100 to 300 by 2023. By doing this, they also hope to bring prices down and make the Tanaruz boats even more financially accessible to the public.
For all the boating enthusiasts out there, what do you think of this clean and green approach? Tell us in the comments below!
Using a new technique, Dutch investigators have commissioned a deepfake of a victim in order to appeal to witnesses. Sedar Soares, who was shot dead in 2003, has been “brought back to life” in a video.
Commissioned by the Rotterdam police and broadcast on NPO1, viewers can watch as Sedar Soares walks across a football field.
His sister Janet narrates the scene, urging the perpetrators and any witnesses to the murder to come forward.
“I beg you”
Soares was just 13 years old when he was shot dead on February 1, 2003. Police long thought he was shot for throwing snowballs at motorcyclists, but this has since changed.
Police now believe he was an innocent victim of a rip deal while playing with his friends at the metro station Slinge in Rotterdam, says RTL Nieuws.
“After so many years we all still have so many questions, but no answers. Surely someone must know who killed my dear brother”, says Janet Soares.
“Sedar was brought to life, especially for this film. We won’t get him back but hopefully, it will provide answers.”
Who’s up for another pandemic? Not us! Monkeypox has existed for decades, but mostly in Central and West Africa. It is now spreading in Europe, and some are wondering if we should be concerned.
According to the Dutch Minister of Health, Ernst Kuipers, “there is a good chance” that the disease will spread to the Netherlands from its neighbouring European countries, writes RTL Nieuws.
Let op: As we are writing this article the RIVM is looking into the first potential cases of monkeypox in the Netherlands. However it has not been confirmed that the samples are indeed monkeypox yet, writes the NOS.
We get it, nobody really wants to hear the word “pandemic” ever again. Still, diseases come and go, spread and die, and there’s little to be done about it. That’s why it is important to keep an eye out for new diseases that might throw us back into the strange and chaotic Tiger-King-whipped-iced-coffee-banana-bread era of 2020.
What is monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a virus that spreads from animals to humans, most likely through respiratory droplets. The disease usually lasts 2-4 weeks, after an incubation time of five to 21 days. 😷
It has symptoms similar to smallpox, but it is, according to the WHO, less severe, and the infection has been described as “mild.”
Just like smallpox, symptoms of monkeypox include fever, muscle aches, and a characteristic rash.
It has had a fatality rate of 1-10%, but the records are mainly from West- and Central African circumstances, and European cases have not yet shown similar qualities.
Will it come to the Netherlands?
The virus has so far been detected in several European countries, including France, Germany, and Belgium. Many are now wondering if monkeypox will spread to the Netherlands, and the simple, most realistic (albeit not very attractive), answer is: yes.
As we have all had to learn the hard way — it is hard to contain infectious diseases within the borders of our community-loving European states.
Should we be concerned?
Although monkeypox should not be confused with the coronavirus, it is of course hard not to go straight into crisis mode when hearing about new diseases. Monkeypox should be taken seriously, since it can be deadly, and the recent developments have been described as “highly unusual.”
However, there’s no reason to go into panic mode just yet.
There is some good news to dampen the slight feeling of anxiety accompanying news like this: there is already an effective vaccine! That means that we can get straight to fighting this new and scary virus, if necessary, and not wait months like we did for the coronavirus vaccine — *cough cough* Rutte. 👀
As of recently, there has been a declining interest in learning German language and culture amongst secondary school students in the Netherlands.
Learning the German language has been very common — not to mention required — in most Dutch schools throughout the decades. But it’s becoming increasingly less popular with Dutch students, says De Volkskrant.
It’s no secret that, for most Dutch people, German is easier to learn than other languages, considering that the two languages share similar words, like waarom (why?) and “warum”, or ik ben (I am) and “ich bin”.
In spite of this, fewer Dutch students have German on their final list of subjects when finishing their secondary education.
Numbers are at a 10 years low
In total, about 56,000 students will take the German exam this month, which is the lowest number in 10 years.
However, the number of German final exam candidates haven’t dropped too drastically. This year, 30% of Dutch students will take the German exam, whereas in 2018 it was 33%.
At this point in the school year, some students have already completed their German final exams, but will still have to do it in pre-vocational secondary (VMBO) and pre-university education (VWO).
During German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit with Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, he criticised the fading interest in the German language, reports De Volkskrant.
Spanish is more popular than German
Another reason behind Dutch students’ lack of interest in learning German is due to their increasing desire to learn Spanish, especially in pre-university education. (“Dios mío!”) 😮
This year, about 4,500 students will take the Spanish final exam. Students are also still in favour of keeping the French language as a top priority to learn within Dutch schools.
What do you think of Dutch students not wanting to learn German? Tell us in the comments below!
With heavy thunderstorms hitting the southern-east part of the Netherlands, the province of Limburg is up against possible flood damage yet again.
The risk is particularly high in south Limburg which will see two-centimetre-thick hailstones and winds that reach up to 120 kilometres per hour, report the NOS and NU.nl.
Code yellow
Yesterday, the KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) issued a code yellow warning in response to thunderstorms, hailing, and strong wind gusts for the whole country.
Today, the warning still stands for the provinces of North Brabant, Limburg, and Gelderland, reports. The KNMI warns about falling trees, flying objects, flooding, and lightning strikes.
Limburg is on high alert
In 2021, Limburg experienced disaster flooding which resulted in loads of damage and chaos. After that experience, the Limburg Water Board is now on high alert for flooding, reports RTL Nieuws.
A member of the Limburg Water Board said that they “constantly monitor the water level and possible mudflows due to precipitation.”
However, the water board doesn’t expect to deal with flooding as extreme as last year, since this year’s thunderstorms aren’t similar to the prolonged rainfall which occurred in 2021.
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Thankfully, the Dutch cabinet changed this because they want to increase the purchasing power of those earning a minimum wage salary at a quicker pace, due to recent high inflation.
What does this change imply?
In 2023, the Dutch cabinet will increase the minimum wage via a three-step process, sticking with the original decision to increase it by 7.5%.
For example, the minimum wage for those 21 and older working full-time is now €1725 per month. But, this will rise to approximately €1854 after the increase. 🤓
Currently, foreign residents working in the Netherlands pay no tax on a maximum of 30% of their income.
According to RTL Nieuws, this rule will now only apply to incomes reaching a maximum of €216,000 — a.k.a deBalkenendenorm (a rule that government workers in the Netherlands may not earn more than 130% of a minister’s salary).
What do you think of the Dutch cabinet’s decision? Tell us in the comments below!
About 710,000 households have too little income to pay the cost of their rented home — but the Dutch cabinet plans to take a tough approach against expensive rent prices.
If it is up to the cabinet, they will implement a system to cap rent up to €1,250 per month in the mid-market housing sector. They also aim to reduce rent for people with lower incomes, the NOS reports.
At the moment, outside of the social housing sector, landlords in the Netherlands can still determine the price of their homes. And with the current housing shortage, they’re free to set these prices quite high.
“Affordable housing”
Hugo de Jonge, Minister of Housing and Spatial planning, introduced this plan in a new memorandum titled “Affordable Housing”.
The cabinet is concerned about middle and low-income residents who live paycheck to paycheck or have too little money to make ends meet.
Given the housing shortage in the Netherlands, home seekers and homeowners alike are the victims, says De Jonge.
People in the Netherlands are increasingly spending more and more of their income on rent. Nearly one million people have too little income to pay the bare minimum living expenses, based on Nibud’s calculations.
Expensive prices
There is so much demand for homes in the free market that landlords drive prices up, especially in the Randstad. The asking price for a small rental apartment comes to around €1,500 per month.
Tenants usually can’t do anything legally — the house will go to someone that can offer the requested amount of money.
De Jonge wants to introduce rent protection up to €1,250 by 2024 — however, this amount is yet to be decided.
Future plans
The VVD, builders, and investors have long opposed the regulation of mid-market rent because it becomes less valuable to build mid-market homes.
But De Jonge and other parties such as GroenLinks (Green Left) want to place a rent cap to make housing more affordable.
Minister De Jonge is drafting this bill which still has to be passed by the Parliament and the Senate. They will also determine what the upper limit of the regulation will be.
What do you think about the Dutch cabinet’s bill to lower rent prices in the free market? Tell us in the comments!
Okay, so not every company wants the world to crash and burn. We’ve already spoken about how big companies are trying to make a difference (hello plastic-free supermarket aisles),but in the Netherlands, it’s also the smaller players that are changing the world for the better.
Many of these inspiring Dutch startups use circular design. What is it? Here’s a quick recap: circular design represents a way of designing products in a way that is — you guessed it — circular.
Instead of going for the standard produce 👉 use 👉 throw away, they are, so to say, “closing the loop” by making products that can be reused, recycled, or upcycled.
This reduces the use of resources and prevents their overexploitation. Our society is still unfortunately very much a throw-away one.
But circular design helps ensure that we live in a world where we don’t just use up all our finite resources at once. So what is it exactly that these startups do to make the world a better place?
1. Fruitleather
Based in Rotterdam, Fruitleather is an initiative that develops fruit waste into leather-like materials for fashion, footwear, and furnishings.
The whole process is very eco-friendly. Not only is fruit waste being reduced, but ultimately it serves as an alternative to real leather, for which over one billion animals get slaughtered every year.
The things you can do with fruit waste. Image: Sophie de Vos/BlueCity
The possibilities are endless with this product. Incredibly cool, huh?
They even made a tent from mango waste (263 mangos to be precise)! If you took that to a festival and told people that your tent was made out of mangoes, they’d think you’d already drank all 20 of your beers.
2. Bluehouse World
Have you ever set out to buy sustainable clothing, home decor, or beauty products just to give up your search a few hours later because it was impossible to find products that are actually good for the environment (and don’t just say there are)?
We’ve been there too. Bluehouse World is a brand-new eco-friendly platform that connects people with a large network of ethical producers.
For sustainability newbies, Bluehouse World has excellent starter kits. Image: Bluehouse World/Supplied
They make sure that every vendor who sells through their platform adheres to so-called Blue Labels — a set of Bluehouse World’s different sustainability standards.
Fairtrade and cruelty-free are a must, but you’ll also find products that are recycled, circular, or aimed at waste reduction.
3. Mud Jeans
MUD Jeans produce jeans in both an ethically and environmentally friendly way. Their cotton isn’t conventional, their mills are GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certified, and the trade is fair.
On top of that, every pair of old MUD Jeans is recycled by being shredded into pieces and then blended with new cotton to make an upcycled pair of new jeans!
The jeans also have a cool little touch that they’re named after their previous owner. So if you want your name to make a claim to fame, don’t forget to recycle your old jeans and that might just happen.
Just look at these pieces — they look brand new, but I wonder how many owners they’ve had? So cool!
4. Kromkommer
Kromkommer is the business that saves all of the “ugly” vegetables from the bin and turns them into something lekker.
Weirdly-shaped veggies don’t have to end up in landfill. Image: senatamaka@mail.ru/Depositphotos
You’ve probably noticed how all of the wonky vegetables get left in the supermarkets. I spent a couple of years working in a supermarket, and I can vouch for the fact that people just don’t want to buy wonky veggies.
Well, Kromkommer uses these wonky vegetables and turns them into soup, which then gets repackaged and sold back to us! No more excuses to overlook that wonky veg.
5. Fairphone
Let’s be honest with ourselves now, nearly every single one of us has a junk drawer. This is the drawer where we just chuck any old stuff that we what nothing do with. Sometimes, this includes an old mobile phone that we keep JUST IN CASE.
I’m guilty of saying that at one point I actually had four just-in-case-phones. (Editor’s note: that’s crazy Emma, we need to talk about this).
Fairphone recognised that this was an issue — but what they also saw was potential. That’s why they are now recycling these old phones (ethically and environmentally), so we can use them again!
This helps reduce all of the issues that come with phone waste, such as pollution and the mountains of e-waste that gets shipped to poorer countries.
6. Dick Moby
When people decide to go plastic-free or try and reduce their plastic usage, they typically don’t think about items such as sunglasses.
Well, Dick Moby, a business that sells sunglasses, has created a way to make even our sunglasses guilt-free. In collaboration with Mazzucchelli, they created black sunglasses frames from 97% recycled acetate.
The other 3% is literally just black ink. This way, we aren’t just producing plastic for the sake of it. A lot of us are guilty of buying cheap throw-away glasses without thinking about the impact.
Look how nice they are! Now you can look like the trendy sunglasses emoji AND do that knowing that you’re using recycled plastic.
7. Wasteboards
We all know that plastic pollution is a HUGE problem and it’s only getting worse. We may have seen the terribly upsetting David Attenborough documentaries showing how plastic is killing animals in the oceans and also recognize it littering our streets on a day-to-day basis.
So how does Wasteboard fit into this? The clue is in the name.
Wasteboard creates handmade skateboards from recycled bottle caps which are collected by schools and companies. This means that every single skateboard is unique and they look super cool!
8. BlueCity
Another Rotterdam-based initiative, BlueCity is more of a community than an actual business. It’s basically a place where circular startups can all work together to help combat waste.
It’s described as a ‘playground’ for circular companies (like some of the ones we mentioned above).
BlueCity is a community of circular entrepreneurs. Image: Sophie De Vos/BlueCity
Ever heard “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” Well, this couldn’t be more true in BlueCity. Waste from one startup is a treasure for another one.
It’s basically just one massive building block of getting the most out of everything we use and working together to make it happen.
We don’t know about you, but looking at what these companies do already makes us feel like the world is a nicer place!
What other inspiring Dutch startups do you know? Let us know in the comments below!
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in April 2018, but was fully updated in May 2022 for your reading pleasure.
The KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) has given out a code yellow warning due to thunderstorms and lightning spanning across the entire country. ⚡️
Thunderstorms will appear in the morning throughout the northwest of the Netherlands and will pass through the east and the southeast during the afternoon, reports RTL Nieuws.
There will also be short bursts of rainfall and hailstones, so pas op (lookout for) your head!
The eastern half of the country will be most affected by extreme storms due to wind gusts up to 75 kilometres per hour and heavy hailstones, according to Weerplaza.
What does code yellow mean?
Code yellowis a level one warning, meaning that the impact of the weather is most likely limited. However, it’s suggested that residents remain wary of their surroundings. 🌳
The KNMI’s advice is to avoid open areas and being too close to trees as lightning can strike them anytime.
Do you think these thunderstorms will bring the much-needed rain or do you wish the sun was back already? Tell us in the comments below!
