Through the 'Gerinkel naar de Winkel' (Stroll to the Shop) campaign, the municipality of Kalmthout encourages sustainable travel for shopping trips. Participants collect a stamp per store visit, and winners are drawn from completed cards. This year, the grand prize, a 500 euro voucher for Aerts Action Bike, was awarded to Marianne Verbeeck.
Verbeeck highlighted her conscious choice for sustainability: "I make all my journeys by bike or train. I don't even own a car. It's a deliberate choice. It's sustainable and keeps me moving, which is good for my health."
She mentioned participating in the campaign annually and primarily shops at organic stores and the World Shop. "This year I only filled two stamp cards, in other years it was more." She expressed great happiness with the prize, as her current bicycle needs replacing and the voucher will help her towards a new one.
The municipality of Kalmthout annually invites local retailers to participate and sponsor prizes. This year, 1111 stamp cards were submitted, from which the municipality drew approximately 20 winners. The campaign aims to further incentivize sustainable and local shopping.
