Last month the world has celebrated Earth Day, marking the anniversary of the environmental movement started in 1970, to demonstrate support for conservation and increase awareness of environmental problems.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has drastically changed the way of life for everyone. Whilst we have all adapted to a new generation of communicating and daily routines involving juggling acts between Zoom calls, home workouts and for those warriors home-schooling, the freedom to get back onboard has had its challenges.
The pandemic restrictions have made ocean adventures, coastal cruising and even lunch on anchor down your favourite picturesque river with glass in hand near impossible.
But what it has allowed for, is people from all over the world the opportunity to regain that important connection with nature, which is so often lost in modern society.
We know how much our clients have missed the freedom and need to get back on the open water, as the industry has seen a significant surge in yacht sales in 2020.
Earth Day campaigns around the globe have received huge coverage this year, perhaps due to altered perspectives as of a result of COVID-19 and the effects of reconnecting with the great outdoors on our physical and mental wellbeing.
At CompareYachtInsurance.com, we’re great ocean enthusiasts and to celebrate Earth Day we are proud to share with you how the top-end of the industry are leading the way in ocean conservation. Here are just a few of the most distinguished organisations and inspiring people out there making a catalyst change to our future.
“The Ocean Race” is often described as the toughest test of a team sport and naturally one of the most prestigious events in the sailing calendar. The last edition ending in 2018 saw over 2.5 million fans attending the race stopovers and over 3300 hours of television broadcasting, putting it into the top-tier of international sporting events and in the perfect position to influence and educate millions of people worldwide.
Their ‘Racing with Purpose’ sustainability programme is at the heart of the event, playing a lead role in all aspects. Tangible initiatives include working with host cities to ensure the race villages are sustainable, from the food produced to the plastic free packaging it comes in, a huge factor in our ocean’s deterioration. In addition, they aim to have all the race villages running on 100% renewable energy.
In the previous 2017-18 race, teams gathered invaluable scientific data, but they’ve stepped it up a gear for the next race in 2022-23, as even more extensive sampling will be undertaken and more boats equipped with specialised equipment. The continued collaboration with experts and institutions will aid researchers towards a better understanding of our oceans health and the threats it faces.
If you think they’ve got everything covered, they’ve gone one step further, hosting innovation workshops in over 50 countries and curriculum-based learning programmes for thousands of schoolchildren.
It’s not only the racing industry that are doing their bit. One of the world’s leading charter companies “Sunsail” have been making changes to cut their environmental footprint and encouraging customers to follow responsible green guidelines.
Plastic pollution is one of the growing environmental concerns and eradicating it from our sea is vital for the ecosystem. To reduce the number of plastic bottles obtained, “Sunsail” have installed water fountains across their bases and their new fleet of yachts are fitted with water makers, eliminating the need for any plastic water bottles. Beyond their business, they have partnered with charities from global ocean and coastline clean-ups to recycling schemes in Lefkas and protecting the Ionian dolphins and monk seals in Greece and Croatia.
Shocking headlines concerning plastic pollution have flooded the media in recent years, as figures come to light as humanity are faced with the realisation that it’s likely the sea will contain “more plastic than fish by 2050”, said Dame Ellen MacArthur to the “Guardian”.
Who better to sit up and pay attention to than the UK’s very own, around the world record-breaking sailor, who has experienced more of oceans than almost anyone else?
‘The Ellen Macarthur Foundation’ was launched in 2009, developing and promoting the circular economy. The foundation works across five areas to bring global economic change, conducting work with government, business and academia as well as the education sector. The aim required to meet a plastic circular economy is one in which, the plastic never becomes a waste product or pollution, starting by the way products are designed.
Dame Ellen Macarthur and the foundation have achieved huge success partnering with major brands worldwide. The focus on change coming from the top, shaping the economy with the environment in mind, affecting the public consumer needs and lifestyle in a positive way.
Whether time on the water is your refuge, your weekend playground or tinkering around the boat is a favourite pastime to avoid the jobs list at home, restoring the health in our oceans is vital.
We give great thanks to all involved, taking responsibility to ‘restore our earth’; an enterprise needed to sustain our need for the sea.
Sustainable practices and new innovations will continue to increase in the future, dominating the way we experience time on the water, reducing our impact on the environment for the better. As laws slacken and the weather improves, this summer we hope to see a bustling of boats, taking the pros and cons from COVID-19 to treasure and preserve what nature has to offer.
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