I was shiny and new when she picked me up from the shop; basket attached, spurs oiled, bell secure and ready to be rung.
She was nervous, I could tell. Her hands shook slightly as she clutched my handlebars. I decided then and there that I would go easy on her. No flat tyres, no loose chains. She was scared; I would be too if I landed in a country with more bicycles than people. With aggressively red lanes of cyclists everywhere you turn, jam-packed with wheels, bells screaming, and cars advancing from behind.
The first day we wobbled, well, more like she did, and I tried to keep us on track. She huffed and puffed, pushing her feet in my pedals, the two of us slowly being one until I began to feel her nerves slip into something else, something crackling with excitement and exploration. I remember her smile that day, beaming with wonder and cracking at the seams with laughs of childlike glee.
Time passed and the seasons changed. We pushed our way together, through snow, and wind, and rain, and then more wind. Through leaves turned golden brown and then grass shining with the fresh morning dew of spring. Over canals of memories and down streets of joy.
We grew close – she and I. I watched from my perch with the others, and saw her grow, saw her flourish, saw her connect. Trips to university in the morning, adventures with friends through the park, late-night cycles through a city covered with darkness and silence except for the wind whooshing past us and the shallow breaths of exertion.
I was there when she first learned of ‘statiegeld ’-the Dutch deposit system for recycling. I remember her enthusiasm, her desire to make greener choices and contribute to a country she began to see as home. She filled my basket to the brim with cans, bottles, and plastic, ignoring the looks of others. I saw her want to do better, be better; to break free of a world intent on taking rather than giving, to distance herself from a generation intent on creating AI images of animals, rather than advocating for them.
I wonder, now that she has to leave, what life will look like for her. We’ve spent so much time together; it’s hard to believe that she’s returning to a world without me. But I trust in her; she’s learnt from me, learnt of my importance. I’ve left a wheel-shaped mark on her heart that can never be erased.
For now, we part ways. A time ended, moments passed, and duty served. No words ever exchanged, but a love and appreciation buried deep in the soul.
References & Resources:
1. https://www.government.nl/themes/economy/renewable-energy/step-by-step-the-netherlands-is-transitioning-to-sustainable-energy
2. https://localyse.eu/cases/statiegeld-nederland-increases-recycling-percentage-and-online-findability/
3. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/environment-at-a-glance-country-notes_59ce6fe6-en/netherlands_d05be180-en.html
4. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/ai-has-environmental-problem-heres-what-world-can-do-about
5. https://sdgs.un.org/goals
6. https://swapfiets.nl
