They won the Golden Shovel with a point. That is the prize for the best tile-wipping municipality at the NK Tegelwippen. The municipality of Halderberge removed more than 129,000 tiles: four tiles per inhabitant. That is much more than any other municipality. Most of the tiles were removed in the public space.
For example, many areas of greenery have been added in the center of Oudenbosch. But the residents themselves also got to work. For example, all the tiles disappeared from the garden of Hanneke Lems from Oud-Gastel.
She walks along the shell path through her garden. “Look, there used to be lots of tiles here.” All together it was about forty square meters. “That has all gone in recent years. The National Tile Wipping Championships was a great opportunity to get rid of my tiles.”
“It’s so much better for the garden,” she says. “The water can enter the ground better. It makes the plants grow better.”
More green
The NK Tegelwippen was devised to get more greenery in villages and cities. Replacing tiles with grass, flower beds, trees and facade gardens is better for insects and animals. It also provides cooling on hot days, the organization says. And Hanneke also notices this in her garden. She points to the stretch of shell path in front of her back door. “When it rained, it was always full of water here. That doesn’t happen anymore,” she says.
She has a tip for people who find tile rocking complicated. “Replace your garden path with gravel. Water can pass through it. But worms and other creatures can also find their way.”
And although the municipality of Halderberge is proud that they have removed so many tiles, Hanneke also has criticism. She’s talking about the street in front of her house. “All the trees there have disappeared. They were sick. But nothing has come back yet. This is how the green disappears.”