Which ever way you look, you will always see water. Ameland is surounded by sea. The northern side has the North Sea with its broad beaches and on the eastern side is the Wadden Sea. Three of the four main beaches on Ameland have a Blue Flag. The Ballum beach does not have one because access is not free of danger due to the development of a number of large sandbanks along the beach. It is expected that in future the sandbanks wil connect to the beach and then the municipality will also submit an application for a Blue Flag for this beach.        

The drinking water of the island of Ameland is partially reliant of drinking water through a waterpipe under the Wadden Sea from the mainland. There are two drinking water installations on the island itself which purify water from the dunes into water fit for consumption. Due to the large number of tourists the water demand during peak season is several times high than during off season. The water demand on the island varies from 2 to 58 m3/h. The municipality stimulates its inhabitants to catch rainwater for secondary use, e.g. watering the garden or washing cars.

 

Ameland has no fixed connection to the mainland and is dependant on the ferry between Holwerd and the ferry dam in Nes. This is not just an obstruction. Holiday makers experience the passage from the mainland to the island as a trip to a far away vacation destination. The company Wagenborg provides the transportation over water and gives priority to economical traffic. The inhabitants of the island have a special arrangement for traffic to the mainland. The high fare for transportation of cars onboard is an inhibition to take cars to the island.

Compared to other municipalities in the Netherlands, Ameland is isolated concerning garbage collection and removal. Ameland has a municipal cleansing department, which is also the only garbage collector on the island.

The island does not have a rubbish dump, however there is a sorting location. All collected garbage is moved to this sorting location, from which it is moved in parts to the mainland by ship.

Ameland wants to become the most energy-conscious municipality of Friesland. Starting with trials for the application of innovative and sustainable energy sources, the island wants to become energy independent eventually. This ambition is described in the declaration of intent which the municipality has made in February 2007 with NAM, Eneco Energie and GasTerra, which also was the starting point for experimentation with alternative energy sources. This includes a test site for collection of tidal energy from the current between the islands during the transition of tides.