We love the breathtaking beauty of nature in our sailing grounds and in order to keep them beautiful we must respect the people and animals that live there. Through a few simple changes we can minimize the impact on the environment and preserve it for the future. In order to raise awareness, we have collected the below suggestions that every water sports enthusiast can follow to help all of us be more environmentally friendly.
Plastic waste, a topic that affects us all!
We all use plastic items, but plastic never decomposes, over time plastic waste is transformed into microplastics that are barely visible to the eye. Microplastics are not just harmful to the oceans but also to humans as they end up in the fish we eat and the water we drink.
A PET bottle takes 450 years to decompose.
(Plastikmüll: Zeit Online, 2015, www.zeit.de)
It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tons of plastic from rivers reach the ocean each year. Many of these plastic parts do not sink and drive further into the sea. Finally, they end up in one of the 5 garbage swirls of the seas. Once there, the plastic parts are broken into microplastics through the influence of the sun's rays, waves and organisms. A huge vortex of water pulls the remnants of bottles, flip-flops or bags in the depths. The largest of the 5 garbage whirlpools is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and North America.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an area of about 1,600,000 square kilometres, three times the size of France.(The great pacific garbage patch: theoceancleanup.com, 2019, www.theoceancleanup.com)
10 Rules for every water sportsmen
Use sunscreen that does not harm the sea. The ingredients of common sun creams end up in the seas and pollute marine fish, coral reefs and other living things. Better: Access mineral sun creams from certified natural cosmetics manufacturers.
Use reusable water bottles and avoid plastic.
Shop local and seasonal food.
Use ecological cleaning products.
Dispose of garbage properly - above all, do not let anything go overboard.
Take a net on board and pick up garbage on the way.
Use a funnel to pour fuel to avoid spills
Observe the applicable regulations in protection areas. Often, water sports are prohibited within the areas.
Take only photos, leave only footprints. Do not disturb animals and best only from a distance observe and take pictures.
Inform yourself. Before the start of the sailing trip, research what you should be aware of in the sailing area. Apply these rules and pass this on to children.
What Sunsail have achieved so far
- We offer refillable metal bottles at our bases.
- We use biodegradable paper cups and lids for "To-Go" hot drinks.
- We work with environmentally responsible suppliers and partners. For example, Rees Leisure is one of our partners who organized the Southampton Sailing Week and made sure that it was as green and sustainable as possible.
- Our catering services allow guests to select only the freshest local products.
- We maintain our ships with the powerful and environmentally friendly cleaning products from the supplier SLEEK Clean Care. Their groundbreaking chemistry: ECOPOWER ™ Technology enables them to harness the power of naturally-derived, non-toxic ingredients for a powerful cleansing effect.
- Our yachts have a solar panel on the saloon roof, which supports the energy balance of the ship positively and ecologically. In addition, LED lights are also used.
- We invested £10M in our The Moorings & Sunsail BVI base. The redesigned breakwater now allows the natural wave action to refresh the water within. We also invested in water filtration systems to take out impurities from waste water after washing down antifouled hulls. This means the water which goes back into the Ocean should be just as clean as the water already in there.
We hope that you will join us in sailing sustainably to help protect our Oceans for the generations to come…