At Second Star Sailing we give priority to sustainability at sea in all we do.
This is why we believe in forming crews that not only respect the environment in general, but that always acts along the simple principle of leaving things better than you found them. This can range from the simple gesture of picking up a piece of trash – and recycling it! or securing a shackle you noticed loose on a boat, to actively taking part in changing the way we consume water or any other product.
We want to create a complete maritime ethos of Sustainability at Sea, by offering a variety of courses and workshops that give our students the opportunity to learn techniques to fully use (and reuse!) all the resources we already have on board before tapping into new materials or requesting assistance from outside sources.
We strive to lead by example, and part of what we teach includes an eye to attentive maintenance, learning to repair sails or engines, and creatively reusing all supplies and components instead of purchasing, thus reducing our environmental impact. A strong knowledge of navigation can help us take precise routes that will respect protected areas and avoid collisions. Awareness of our water, electric and fuel consumption allows us to sail with fewer resources. And choosing ecocompatible and biodegradable products that do not damage the environment avoids damaging the fragile ecosystem that hosts us.
Some of the things we do include:
- Water: avoid bottled water whenever practicable – use desalinator on board to make potable water, filter tap water, use saltwater pump for washing up, reduce water use overall
- Power: reduce power consumption through awareness, use solar lights at night, rechargeable batteries, high efficiency lighting, reduce the need for fuel by using solar panels to help charge boat batteries, sail whenever feasible
- Food: purchase local and organic food whenever available, responsible sustainable fishing, no wasted foods, compost when possible
- Plastics: no single use plastics, wraps made with beeswax cloth, repurpose food containers, perform man overboard exercise to retrieve all plastic and flotsam/jetsam we find at sea
- Anchor instead of using commercial ports
- Recyle materials as much as possible or bring to next recycling location
- Choose organic, biodegradable or biocompatible products
- Reuse and repurpose all sailing materials we have on board
… and we always lend a hand to our partners at sea, even if we are racing against them.