Sustainability

The most sustainable church in Friesland - and maybe in all of Europe?! Yes, that is our goal. Step by step we try to achieve this. What do we do then?

At the beginning of 2025, we started working towards obtaining the Green Key certificate, the international quality mark for sustainability in the tourism sector.

Some examples of what we do:

* We use 100% tree-friendly and sustainable toilet paper (The Good Roll), including in all B&B toilets.

* We clean with eco-friendly (Marcel's Green Soap); the hand soap in all B&B rooms is also environmentally friendly.

* The coffee cups in our B&B rooms are biodegradable and can be placed in the green bio bin in our garden.

* We put all vegetable waste on our compost heap in the church garden or in the green bio bin. Guests can also do this if they wish.

* We separate paper, glass, residual waste, oil and clothing; these are collected by Omrin, the sustainable waste processor of Friesland, or we take them to the waste separation bins at Jumbo.

Circular renovation

During the renovation and insulation we have preserved as many authentic elements of the church as possible. This way you can enjoy beautiful, original church pillars from your bed in the De Kraak studio.

All our B&B rooms are furnished as circularly as possible. The mezzanine in De Pelgrim studio is made from an old wooden church staircase that led to the organ. The headboard of the double bed in De Kraak room is made from a centuries-old church door that we found in the basement; you can also use the headboard as a bedside table and put your book, glasses or glass on top of it.

Both rooms have a restored, original wooden church floor, which Bonnie spent many hours sanding and painting.

Cleaning

We only use environmentally friendly cleaning products, green soap and natural vinegar. Our cleaners are given an hour to thoroughly clean a room; at most (also 5-star hotels) and bungalow parks this is only 15 to 20 minutes.

Sanitary

* All our toilets have a flush button for small and large items; this saves us a lot of (drinking) water.

* We soften all our water before it goes to our B&B rooms and our church with natural salt. This keeps our new taps (and appliances) free of limescale and therefore lasts much longer. It also feels like you are showering with spring water. Extra advantage: you need to use much less soap when showering and washing your hands.

Furnishing

Our furniture often lasts for decades or even centuries...! For example, we bought things from churches that were closing. Or we inherited Frisian furniture from our Frisian family. We also look around in the many thrift shops that Friesland has to offer.

In our church library hangs a beautiful lamp by master lampshade maker Rogier from Jirnsum. He designs and makes custom lampshades for individuals and companies in his lampshade workshop on the river De Boarn. He gets the new 'waste' wood from a Frisian floor layer; Rogier has his metal frame made in social workshops in Friesland.

Church garden

From the bare church garden we are gradually turning it into a real, wild garden with a vegetable and herb greenhouse where you can sit down. Guests can also pick free tea (mint, lemon) or herbs (laurel, thyme, etc.) to cook with. Plants, flower bulbs and seeds are of organic origin as much as possible. From pruned branches we make our own, natural hedges under which hedgehogs, birds, insects or other animals can live.

When enough fruit grows - this varies per season - we make jam. This is what guests get for breakfast.

Oh yes, the pine trees in our church garden are our old Christmas trees with root balls, which we put in our garden at the beginning of each New Year. One year our Christmas tree takes better root than the other.

We collect as much rainwater as possible and use it during dry periods to water plants in the garden.

We feed the trees and plants in our garden with compost from our own compost heap.

Birdhouses in our garden give birds a place to roost and hatch their eggs.

Energy

Our energy comes from Dutch windmills. We use CO2 compensated gas. for the floor heating. Our dream is to generate energy with our church itself, for example by means of solar panels or roof tiles, heat pumps or other innovative methods. We are currently mapping all possibilities.

Cats & Birds

Our two church cats (Gu-gu and Mei-mei) are kept indoors as much as possible at night, especially during the bird breeding season. The cats do not enter the B&B and church tower.

Tips and advice

We are always open to tips and advice, welcome! We are also interested in new environmentally friendly products and sustainable techniques; we are also open to companies that want to try out or test their product in our church. Feel free to contact us via info(a)mauritiuskerk.nl.

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