Leisure marine industry commits to action on sustainability

The Green Blue, a joint initiative of national boating body the RYA and the British Marine Federation (BMF) to encourage a sustainable recreational boating community, held an event on Monday (November 4) to get marine businesses and sailing clubs to use sustainability to drive performance and cut costs.

Around 75 representatives from the leisure boating industry attended the conference entitled ‘Success And Sustainability For The UK Recreational Marine Sector’, where they were provided with information on issues ranging from resource efficiency, waste management and green purchasing, and were asked to come up with three changes they were going to make in order to become sustainable.

Sarah Brown, project manager for The Green Blue, said: “I think today has really pressed home the fact that sustainability is not just a moral issue, but a financial one too. We have heard first hand how saving resources has helped organisations save thousands whilst also lowering their CO2 emissions and increasing credibility.”

One such case is the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), which has used sustainability to drive its business since its inception in 1999.

“Today the WPNSA has an active recycling programme, grey water from the roof is re-used for boat washing, and solar panels provide significant electricity generation and motion sensor lights limit energy loss,” explained its chief executive John Tweed.

Meanwhile, Rod Carr , chief executive of RYA, announced at the conference that the RYA had succeeded in cutting the organisation’s head office energy in consumption by 9.8 per cent – saving more than £10,000. This was achieved by using less electricity by cutting the hours that the servers and the air-conditioning units were switched.

Those attending also heard from Sir Keith Mills, deputy chair of London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games 2012 and principle of Team Origin, the British America’s Cup team. The 2012 Olympics promise to be the most sustainable games in history, while Team Origin has teamed up with the Carbon Trust to make the America’s Cup campaign as low in CO2 emissions as possible and to inspire action on climate change.

“Sport has a unique ability to change the behaviour of millions. A naturally green sport, sailing is about harnessing the raw power of nature and so there is a natural fit with environmental issues,” commented Sir Mills.

Susan Burgess from Lymington Town Sailing Club described this week's Green Blue event as inspirational. “I will go away enthused and determined to make a difference,” she said.