It’s all about sustainability at SIBS

The Southampton International Boat Show hits the halfway mark today and the sun is still shining!

Picks of the day
Today looks set to be a great day. There are two key events to promote women’s participation in sailing and careers in the marine industry. On the Festival Stage at 13:00 there is a Q&A with registered charity, The Magenta Project.  This collective of passionate sailors is committed to creating equal opportunities for women in sailing. The Project was started in 2015 by members of the all-female ‘Team SCA’ who successfully competed in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race campaign.

At 16:00 the Women in Marine reception provides a great networking event as industry professionals and influential figures come together. Taking place in the British Marine Members and Exhibitors lounge, this year’s speakers include Dawn Ramsay, UK & Eire Country Manager at Navico, and Lottie Harland, Founder and Trustee at Ausome Charity. Current registration levels mean the reception looks like it will be the biggest one yet. If you would like to attend use this link: https://www.britishmarine.co.uk/Events-and-Courses/2019/September/EVT11707-Women-in-Marine-Industry.

Bottles and badges
The Southampton International Boat Show organisers are aiming for this year’s show to be the most environmentally friendly show yet.  As we reported earlier in the week, water refill points have been introduced around the event and all single use plastic bottles have been removed at catering stands. Press passes are no longer being issued in plastic wallets, which is great from a plastic waste point of view but does leave paper passes open to the elements. If you are heading to the show, bring your own bottle . . .  and badge holder.

Sustainability
The theme of sustainability and environmental awareness is also one that has been embraced by many marine businesses at the show and beyond. Two prominent examples are RS Sailing and Spirit Yachts.

RS Sailing has implemented a Sustainability Programme – analysing and improving the recyclable aspects of its boats, using plant based packaging and clean energy sources. Plus it’s aiming for an almost paperless office. RS Sailing has set itself a zero waste challenge and its stand has been created reusing carpets and materials.

Spirit Yachts’ managing director, Nigel Stuart, spoke on the Wessex Resins and Adhesives stand yesterday about the company’s sustainability efforts. The company is also now virtually paperless; information is now available only in electronic format. The only exception is business cards, but they are made from recycled paper. All materials used in the construction of a Spirit Yacht come from sustainable sources. The company has also moved away from teak decking as teak is now considered a ‘high-risk timber’. Once its current supply has been exhausted, standard decking on a Spirit Yacht will be made of Lignia.

“Having done extensive research into different options, we have found Lignia to be the best alternative to teak,” says Nigel. “Teak decks last approximately 10-15 years, we believe you will get another five years from a Lignia deck. Once they get to the end of their lives in about 100 years’ time, the wood from a Spirit Yacht can be repurposed and made into chip board or MDF.”

Both RS Sailing and Spirit Yachts have won the show’s British Marine Environmental Award for their endeavours.

Recycling initiatives
According to a study released by Southampton International Boat Show, a staggering 5.981 million Brits lie about how much they recycle through fear of looking bad to friends and family. However, recycling at the boat show is taking centre stage with many companies, and none more so than MDL Marinas.

Prior to the show, MDL worked closely with its waste management company, Suez, and has gone to great lengths to recycle everything it can to reduce its environmental impact of attending the show and to minimise its contribution to landfill waste. From glass bottles to dry mixed recycling, there are separate on-stand bins and boxes for the different waste materials, including a TerraCycle snack recycling box, specifically for sweet and chocolate bar wrappers.

Head of Marketing at MDL, Maxine Lane, says: “Our aim is to leave the show with just one black bin bag of landfill waste, which is quite a tall order considering our stand is very much a hospitality lounge for our members. However, we are determined to reduce our waste at the show this year and have taken the necessary steps to ensure that this happens.”

Tomorrow, MDL will present its Sail Training Awards in the members lounge on stand E052.

1 Based on 9% of UK adults who admitted to lying about recycling. Multiplied by the 2018 UK population figures from ONS (released 26 June 2019 the population of the UK was an estimated 66,435,600 million). Research was carried out online by Research Without Barriers – RWB, between 1st August 2019 and 4th August 2019. The sample comprised of 2,055 UK adults.

Comments are closed.