The 10-member Estate Master Sailing team used to produce a large garbage-bag full of rubbish every day we went sailing.
We’d eat and drink and in our need to concentrate on sailing the boat to the utmost efficiency, we’d just throw all wrappers, bottles and scraps into a big garbage bag which went into a bin on shore at the end of the day
Of course we all recycle stuff when at home, but somehow it seemed ok to put recyclable bottles in with the garbage when on the water, especially when we were in competition mode and didn’t want the fuss.
Now, thanks to eco-crew member Andrew Verdon we produce 1/5 of the rubbush each day by simply separating out our recyclables and putting them in the recycle bin at the end of the day. We saved 120 water and sports drink bottles from going to landfil in the previous 3 weeks alone.
It’s hardly revolutionary, but in a sport that is seen as ‘green’, it’s probably something we should have done a while ago and certainly encourage all yachties to do the same.
Of course, the next step is to find an efficient way to re-use the bottles rather than throw them away.
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