The
policies and goals outlined below are guidelines for members, guests, staff,
and Sailing School parents and sailors. They are the results of many Green Team
discussions and research into effective sustainability
policies at other sailing venues, yacht clubs and regattas. We
have updated them for this season, based on our experience of past years. We
welcome your feedback and ideas on how to improve these policies so that we can
all help make the Fleet more environmentally friendly, cleaner, and more enjoyable for
all.
The Fleet endorses the
sustainable principles of Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle.
♦
Plastic is a major cause of ocean pollution,
and we seek to eliminate single-use plastic and packaging throughout the Fleet and the Sailing School.
♦
We encourage the use of reusable beverage
and food containers.
♦
We encourage responsible recycling and
the proper disposal of all wastes, including composting for food waste.
Enjoy the food and beverages that you bring, but please take
home the trash and reuse or recycle the containers appropriately. The Fleet provides facilities for redeemable bottles
and cans, via Clynk, with proceeds going to support
the Sailing School. Please take your general trash and recyclables home and dispose of
properly.
No items, including food wastes, should ever be thrown
overboard. If compostable, food items and scraps should be properly disposed of ashore. Everything should be brought ashore for proper disposal, never thrown into the
water. Let’s do all we can to keep
our Mount Desert Island waters clean.
Avoid the use of plastic
wrappings, Styrofoam and single-use containers for food and beverage items whenever possible. Most food packaging is not recyclable or compostable – and
simply ends up in landfill, as litter, or in our waters.
We have two water bottle filling stations at the Fleet and one at Clifton, offering fresh, filtered water for refilling your reusable water containers. Please use only reusable water containers and forego single-use plastic water bottles.
Sailing School students are encouraged to bring their own
personal reusable water bottles from
home. Please try to avoid the use of single-use containers for other beverages – but if you must, please
deposit any redeemable bottles and cans in our Clynk facilities and recycle any non-redeemable bottles or cans.
All members, guests and Sailing School students should
avoid the use of single-use plastic
bags – whether for shopping or transporting items to the Fleet. Plastic shopping bags are not easily recyclable and are a major cause of
pollution on land and sea. There are many responsible alternatives to plastic bags readily available.
Compostable napkins, paper towels and toilet paper are
readily available, and cardboard
boxes and six-pack beverage containers can be recycled.
No plastic
straws are to be used at the Fleet. (We also
encourage you to say NO to plastic straws
when ordering drinks at
your favorite watering hole!)
Reduce your carbon footprint: we have bike racks, and you can also charge
up your E-bike or electric scooter if need be.
Too far to bike? Try carpooling. Sharing a ride means at least one less car’s
worth of pollution.
The Northeast Harbor Fleet Green Team thanks you!