Making the Green Blue Pledge

Sailing is all about harnessing the natural world (wind, waves) as a force for good (to travel from A to be, and enjoying the ride and views along the way. In return, we need to look after the natural world. We’ve all arrived at faraway beaches covered in rubbish, seen oil leaking from engines in harbours, or anchors dragging along the sea-bed, causing untold damage to local habitats and harming wildlife.

 The Green Blue Initiative 

It’s against this background that the RYA and British Marine have launched their ‘Green Blue’ initiative, which aims to educate and encourage sustainable sailing practices – to respect, protect and enjoy our coastal areas, in ways which don’t harm the planet, or which even enhance them.

The Green-Blue initiative is about thinking about the impact we can have on the planet whilst we’re sailing, and changing bad behaviours with encouraging a series of common-sense rules to sail by, so that we respect the world around us.

PlainSailing.com are already carbon-positive (we replace more carbon into the environment that we use), but our entire team also recently took the Green Blue Pledge – and we encourage you to do the same.

 The Green Blue Pledge 

We all need to take care when we are sailing, and these are guidelines or rules which all sensible and responsible sailors can live by. We summarise them below, but you can read much more about them, and make your own Green Blue pledge at The Green Blue website.

The come in 3 categories:

RESPECT

• Minimise noise (particularly in areas with wildlife)
• Minimise wash (which can cause erosion)
• Keep to speed limits
• Respect voluntary no-anchor and no-access zones
• Use designated slipways
• Reduce – Reuse – Repair – Recycle wherever possible

PROTECT

• Don’t throw anything overboard
• Choose your anchorage with care
• Keep your hull and equipment clean
• Take care when handling fuels, oil and paints
• Discharge blackwater responsibly
• Use eco-friendly cleaning products

ENJOY

• Observe wildlife from a distance
• Research your destination to get the most out of your visit
• Enjoy our amazing inland and marine waters whilst safeguarding wildlife and habitats