Sustainable Juist

Sustainability and Climate Protection on Juist

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"Sustainable Juist"

What does that actually mean?

Koffercontainer nach Anreise mit der Inselfähre am Juister Hafen ©  Lars Wehrmann

Quite simply: We love Juist. We love the dunes, the sea, the beach, the mudflats, the woods. We love the cries of the seagulls and oystercatchers, the shrill calls of the pheasants, the unexpected encounters with deer on the promenade, the sudden seal sighting by the sea. We just love Juist.

And, when we think about the fact that this beautiful spot will suffer from climate change, we can feel sick. Precisely because we love the island so much, we want to protect it. No one can defeat climate change alone, but we can all do our part to ensure that the island remains as beautiful as it is in the future.

The status quo: Despite the fact that Juist is car-free, 23,500 tons of CO2 are consumed annually - the majority (43%) of this is caused by the journey to the island.

What can I do to act more sustainably?

Our top 13 tips for more sustainability

You're going to Juist - that's already the first step! We constantly hear these words "sustainability", "climate protection", "climate neutral" and many more. But in our private lives, it's about concrete actions, isn't it?

It's about how you can make your life a little bit more so that you use less electricity, gasoline, gas or oil.

And here they are, our top 13 tips for more sustainability in everyday life:

1

Turn off the lights in rooms you don't use. Turn on a "small" light. Upgrade to energy-saving and long-lasting LEDs.

2

When you brush your teeth or take a shower, turn the water off while you don't need it.

3

Use recyclable bags, bottles and containers, for example when shopping, going to work or eating out.

4

Ride your bike more. Stay fit, save money and do something for your ecological footprint.

5

Use the train to travel. Many places may seem far away, but you make an overnight stop, you discover a new area for yourself!

6

Save paper. Especially when you're on vacation, you often no longer need to have a printed ticket, but can conveniently use e-tickets or QR codes.

7

Unplug your devices when they are charged. Use timers, e.g. for televisions.

8

Buy regionally. The transport routes of your products will be shorter and therefore less harmful to the environment.

9

Think about consuming less dairy and meat. If you eat less of them, you can also treat yourself to the higher-quality alternative.

10

Ventilate properly: Two to three times a day, you should ventilate for about five minutes. You do not have to turn down the heating.

11

Check that your heating is set correctly (most rooms should be around 18°, which is a 3 on the heating scale). Make sure that your radiators are not obstructed by furniture. You will use less energy if you don't change the settings too often.

12

When planning your trip, look out for relevant seals and certificates. The East Frisian islands (including Juist), for example, are certified as particularly climate-friendly destinations. The same applies to your accommodation.

13

Learn about your destination. If you understand what nature and the animals there need, you can behave respectfully much easier.

Koffercontainer nach Anreise mit der Inselfähre am Juister Hafen ©  Lars Wehrmann
Fahrradfahren auf der Klimainsel Juist, Gruppe fährt Fahrrad auf die Kamera zu, seitlich von ihnen ist die Dünenlandschaft grün zu sehen ©  Lars Wehrmann
Juister Dünenlandschaft am Strand mit dunklem Himmel ©  Lars Wehrmann

Juist wants to be even more sustainable

We are a Climate Island. That makes us quite proud, because such an award shows that we are on the right track with our climate protection efforts. We would like to present a few of these efforts to you:

  • Juist is taking a communicative approach with the children's university "Sustainable Living" and the bike tour "Juist (Un)Plugged": we want to explain to you what climate change is "doing" to our little island and why it is so important that we all do our part.

  • Of course, we would like to recommend you to take the Deutsche Bahn to Norddeich-Mole. The train station is actually quite easy to reach from all over Germany, but if you still travel by car, you can easily offset your CO2 emissions.

  • In some of our restaurants you will be offered many regional products. This way you can experience East Frisian flavors and at the same time not cause even more emissions.

  • We want to become plastic-free: On the initiative of Juist businesses, the plastic-free project is in the starting blocks.

  • For less litter on the beach and on the whole island: As part of the funded project KlimaWerkstatt, young people have developed, among other things, a pocket ashtray to see less butts on the beach.

  • Through your guest contribution you do good: In the tourist information you can borrow (partly against deposit) volleyballs, boule sets and many more leisure services for free, which you would otherwise buy unnecessarily.

  • Of course, we also do something for social sustainability: due to the fact that Juist is tide-dependent, you can't "commute" here, so all employees have to be employed at least part-time, which means that the added value stays on the island and many seasonal workers keep coming back to work on Töwerland.

  • Also due to the tidal dependency we have few day tourists, which means that our long-term guests cause less emissions when calculated down to the vacation day. So stay a few days longer.

  • Beach Sports has long used reusable cups at events, declaring war on plastic consumption. Organic cotton is used for shirts whenever possible.

  • For some years now, you can find beach trash boxes on the beach, which make trash collection on the beach easier.

  • Juist's drinking water is naturally stored directly in the drinking water lens under the island. And it's tasty, too!

  • Together with the BUND we are running the projects "Plastic waste free beach" and "Plastic free islands".

  • Not only the administration, but also many service providers on the island obtain electricity from renewable sources or invest so that they use less electricity in the long term (e.g. combined heat and power plants or better insulation).

  • With our digital host directory, we produce fewer catalogs, which results in less use of paper.

  • Due to our newly introduced possibility to pay your guest fee online, we use less paper.

But that's not all, of course. In the future we will do more and more to preserve our island. We want to protect nature and preserve Juist.

This is how you travel sustainably on Juist: