https://www.sailingholidays.com/blog/project-protect-sailing-holidays-commitment-to-reduce-plastic-waste-in-2019
https://www.sailingholidays.com/blog/11-ways-to-give-mother-earth-a-helping-hand
For 2019 we have decided to join AITO’s Project Protect programme, an initiative for travel companies to become more sustainable and economically friendly. Each company devises a pledge that summarises their commitment to sustainability, how they wish to improve their own efforts and what results they hope to see. In Greece we are aware of the plastic pollution caused by the purchasing of multiple plastic bottles of water by our staff members and clients. Highlighting this issue through our pledge was our first step towards hopefully changing the way we do things.
We have teamed up with Water-to-Go, a company that produces filtered water bottles which remove 99.9% of bacteria making the water safe and pleasant to drink. We have calculated that our average client goes through approximately 3 large plastic bottles of water a day, which costs roughly €10 a week. By purchasing a Water-to-Go bottle for only a fraction more than this, you, as our clients, will not only be helping the environment, you will also be saving yourself the hassle of carrying a heavy 6-pack to your boat every day!
As part of our partnership with Water-to-Go, we have a landing page set up on their website which offers our clients 30% off their products, and there are two different sizes of water bottles to choose from. Through considered marketing we aim to have the majority of our clients making use of Water-to-Go bottles, and by the season’s end we hope to see some great results. If you’d like to purchase a Water-to-Go bottle with our special discount, click on the button below to go to their website!
In addition to this project, we have started to work on lots of other things we can do to reduce our impact on the environment, both in Greece and our London office. We’re trying to find naturally compostable/degradable single-use items like our punch party cups and bin bags – things we get through a lot of during the season. You should start to see these items appearing more as the season progresses.
We’re also getting better in the office by turning off lights and power supplies whilst doing our best to recycle more. Even the simple task of switching off your computer screen doesn’t sound like much, but if all 20 of us do it every day, it makes a difference – most notably to the electricity bill!
In an ideal world we’d switch to electric engines and install solar panels in an instant! But things like that take time and a lot of money, so for now we are starting small. By making small changes effectively and with the right attitude, we can feel proud that, as a company, we’re doing our bit for our planet. With your help we can only improve and we’ll continue to work hard to protect the beautiful Greek islands we love to sail around!