ALL AT SEA APRIL 2021
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THE GREEN BLUE
Winning Green Clubs The clubs taking part in The Green Blue’s University Sailing Sustainability Challenge have achieved positive changes despite a challenging year. Kate Fortnam, The Green Blue Campaign Manager
Actions, small and large, are making a difference. Image: Birmingham University
Now in its fifth year, the returning clubs move through a three-tier award system: Bronze, Silver and then eventually to Gold. Each tier has a different set of actions for the club to achieve, which range from raising awareness of The Green Blue’s key campaign issues, eliminating single use plastics from training and events, to undertaking an environmental assessment of the club’s sailing venue.
Helping hand
The Silver Award was given to Bournemouth University, University of East Anglia and the University of Plymouth. Finally, the clubs to successfully complete the Gold Award of the Challenge were the University of Bath Sailing Club and the University of Portsmouth. All those clubs were entered into a cash prize draw, sponsored by eco-friendly clothing brand OceanR. University of Plymouth Sailing Club won £250 in the Bronze category, £350 for the Silver category was won by Bournemouth University Sailing Club and University of Bath Sailing Club won £450 in the Gold category.
The students were helped with the free guides and documents available on The Green Blue’s website, including the Inland Club Environmental Checklist and the How to Write an Environmental Policy Guide. The resources are available to all sailing clubs with an interest in becoming more sustainable. Although the pandemic may have meant that the students were unable to meet up and hold he clubs have risen to the task of events in the same way, they were still able to raise lowering waste and increasing awareness via their social media networks. The sustainability at their local clubs Green Blue’s website has a range of infographics, despite pandemic setbacks, says The which all clubs and training centres can download Green Blue. for free and add to club newsletters or social The annual challenge, which is sponsored media sites. by OceanR, encourages members of university The university sailing clubs which achieved the sailing clubs to become more environmentally Bronze Award this year are Aberystwyth University, aware and recognises the positive actions that University of Birmingham, Durham University, the clubs have implemented to lower their Exeter University, University of Liverpool and BHG Marine 1-4 (LYH):Layout 1 21/10/20 16:57 environmental impact. Swansea University.
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“University sailing clubs may be leading the way with sustainability, but their actions are easily transferable to other local clubs and training centres.”
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University sailing clubs may be leading the way with sustainability, but their actions are easily transferable to other local clubs and training centres. Issues such as waste management, energy and catering are universal factors that could be affecting your club’s sustainability. If you are a student who would like to nominate your university to take part in next year’s challenge or a member of a club interested in learning how you can make activities at your club more sustainable, visit the ‘Get Involved’ pages on The Green Blue website or follow The Green Blue on Facebook, Twitter @TheGreenBlue and Instagram: @the_green_blue #GreenBlueUniChallenge. www.thegreenblue.org.uk
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