Sustainability
Sustainability News
By Rear Commodore for Sustainability, David Riley.
On Saturday, the 23rd of March 2024 I was appointed the new Rear Commodore for Sustainability, taking over from Ted Sansom who built with his team, the foundation of Sustainability at Christchurch Sailing Club. His experience and drive has proved invaluable in the role and Im pleased to say he is still a valued member of the sustainability team.
Following a handover period between myself and Ted, the team continued working towards gaining planning approval for solar panels on the club house roof and batteries under the club house. Im pleased to announce that we now have permission and are at present undergoing the tendering process.
The team is continuing to discuss Electric Propulsion for tenders, storage for members electric outboard motors including battery storage, improved bicycle storage for electric bicycles, club waste bins and their use. We also now have monitoring systems in place on appliances around the property, testing their efficiency.
We are planning on promoting The RYA Green Blue more than we do already by erecting more information boards and notices in and around the club. My wish would be for every member to sign up to the RYA Green Blue pledge and news letter, we are after all affiliated with the RYA. This valuable asset acts as a reminder to how to look after our oceans, rivers and waterways.
The sustainability team is also working toward a relationship with Bournemouth University Engineering and Technology Department. The aim is to invite students to the Club to use specific areas within the grounds and possibly on the river, to test their projects.
The projects would be relatively small but scalable for real world situations. The prospect of seeing one or more of the students designs being used around the world to create energy, predict flooding, harness the power from water or tidal rises all for the betterment of our planet and its inhabitants would, I believe, be a hugely rewarding achievement for Christchurch Sailing Club.
Myself and Paul Rushton visited Bournemouth University for their Festival of Design on 21st June where we discussed the club and our offer, we spoke with leading academics, listened to a lecture, but the most inspiring part was meeting the students and seeing their projects.
One young lady had designed an early broach warning system for dinghys and cruisers, others had designed different methods of power generation using flowing water, water quality testing buoys, robotics and a host of other unbelievable projects.
What would the club get out of it?
The Club would benefit from joint advertising with Bournemouth University, we would undoubtedly gain new members, more income from functions with a much wider membership base. Some of our members would also benefit from getting involved with mentoring and some of our young sailors may be encouraged into the world of Design, Engineering and Technology.
We could even hold seminars where the students would discuss and show their designs.
At present we host the Environment Agencys fish survey, this project in no way impacts on the normal running of the club and I believe that, carefully planned and situated test projects would have a similar impact on club members and their activities.
The future of Sustainability, our goal is to;
Maintain all relevant documentation. The Environmental Policy, The Environmental Action Plan and The Port Waste documentation.
Reduce the requirement for energy at the club, both gas and electric. Create our own electricity, store it and use it using Solar and Batteries.
Make using electric propulsion more appealing to club members by providing storage for electric outboard motors and their batteries.
Plan to replace the existing stock of diesel powered boats with electric propulsion when they become obsolete.
Make travelling to the club on bicycles more appealing to club members by providing secure covered bike storage.
Create a better more user friendly bin area to tidy up the car park.
But most importantly, keep you, our valued club members well informed with news on sustainable topics not only locally but world wide in the form of short articles in this section of the web page.
When an article has been published on this web page, you will hear about it first in our news letter.
Thank you for your continued support with sustainability, Its our duty to make sure that your club is as enjoyable for your grandchildrens children as it is to you.
If you have a question or wish to contribute, please send me an Email via the office and Ill do my best to reply to you.
David Riley
Rear Commodore Sustainability
The Green Blue Boating Pledge
Members are encouraged to join the Sustainable Boating Community and sign up to the "The Green Blue Boating Pledge". See https://thegreenblue.org.uk/boating-pledge
Anti-fouling:
The sailing season is approaching fast and anti-fouling time is here. One thing to consider is whether you need to do a full antifoul every year. Several members have told me that they only antifoul the top 30cm or so around the waterline, and find this to be sufficient due to the low levels of fouling on their river moorings. Not only does this reduce the amount of nasty biocides getting into the river, it is also cheaper and much less effort. Worth thinking about; I think I'll try it myself this year and see how I get on.
Boat Maintenance Waste:
The club provides skips for general waste and for recycling. However, this does NOT include paint tins, brushes, thinners, oil, oily rags, etc. These are considered Hazardous Waste. It is the users responsibility to remove these from site themselves and dispose of them responsibly at a suitable facility. Unfortunately, there have been some instances of members ignoring the clear signs to this effect, and using the club waste skips. For everyone's benefit, please keep to these simple rules. Thank you for your co-operation.
HaveYour Say
You may have seen the Environmental Action Plan which has now been published on the club website. You may agree with it, you may disagree, you may think we've left out important things, Let us know.
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Are you replacing any rope this winter? Don't forget to recycle your old worn out rope through the club recycling point located under the flat. |
Downloads
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Environmental policy Updated August 2022.pdf
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CSC Environmental Action Plan Issue 1 .pdf
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CSC Survey - Emissions Awareness.pdf
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CSC Sustainability Survey February 2023.pdf
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Port Waste: Notice to Members and Visitors
Last updated 22:26 on 15 August 2024