Environmental Awareness Workshop
Raising awareness of key environmental issues
Caring for the environment is one of the most important issues
facing us all today and topics such as waste management and ways to
prevent pollution and reduce energy costs are of significant
importance to the marine industry. However just how marine
businesses most effectively deal with these issues and comply with
the necessary legislation is often less easy to identify. The
BMF's Environmental Awareness Workshop highlights ways in which
this can be done and shows businesses how they can minimize their
environmental impact.
The workshop also shows how companies can save money by
recycling. Brian Clark, the BMF's Environment Executive, comments:
"We've had two companies attend the workshop who have implemented
some basic recycling and waste management initiatives and as a
result have been saving tens of thousands of pounds every
year." These savings admittedly were achieved by large
organizations but Brian hopes these sorts of initiatives can be
emulated by others and undertaken on a much wider scale. "Big
companies can make a huge difference, but 99% of our members are
small and medium enterprises and they too can make a significant
impact to make the industry greener," Brian adds.
Julian Goldie, Owner Manager of Tollesbury Marina attended the
workshop. "I found it to be very useful and very professional,"
says Julian. " It highlighted the relevant environmental problems
we face and gave us some very good pointers about how to deal with
them." A key area of interest for Julian is the need to develop
better recycling facilities. In his own area he has had difficulty
finding refuse contractors to deal with this and feels that UK
authorities generally have a long way to go to catch up with some
European countries. "I was in Portugal recently where waste
separation schemes for recycling were widespread and very customer
friendly," he comments. "Obviously the councils there take a very
forward thinking approach. Waste is segregated at source which is
obviously the cheapest way of dealing with it."
Tollesbury Marina has 250 berths and caters for 83% cruising
yachts and 17% power craft. A full working boatyard operates on
site, plus a new boat sales division, a chandlery and a cruising
club. At his busy independent marina Julian says customers are also
in favour of environmental initiatives: "People produce waste and
want to dispose of it in a managed way rather than just dumping it.
The workshop explained how you are able to turn waste management
into a money saving operation."
Julian says attending the workshop also gave him a valuable
opportunity to discuss environmental issues with < others in the
industry. "The workshop is very much an interactive and open forum
where members can share experiences and pass on lessons they have
learnt," adds Brian who points out that members can be reassured
that this is all done in a supportive and constructive manner.
"We're not trying to find out if people aren't complying with
legislation for example. It is a confidential forum to raise issues
and we're not there to lecture anybody." Prior to the course an
information pack is sent out and this gives members the opportunity
to submit specific questions which can be researched if
necessary.
More information on environmental issues and details of the
latest green initiatives can be found on the Environment and
Boating Section of the BMF website, www.britishmarine.co.uk. For
further details regarding the workshop and courses run by the BMF
contact the Training Department on 01784 223631.