Greening your club needn’t be hard 

“Take it a step at a time” says Carol Gilles, winner of The Green Blue’s Trophy for Individual Environmental Excellence.

Carol Gilles from Toward Sailing Club, Argyll was presented with The Green Blue’s Trophy for Individual Environmental Excellence by Dee Caffari, an ambassador for The Green Blue, at a special ceremony held on the RYA stand at the PSP Southampton Boat Show on Thursday 22 September 2011.

Speaking at the presentation Alan Morgan, President of the British Marine Federation said: “Carol reflects the very essence of this award – an unsung hero, passionate and committed to sustainable boating”

One step at a time

Carol Gilles’ message to other clubs is: “I would say to other clubs it’s not difficult. You’ve just got to take it a step at a time. We’ve got a recycling area for bottles; one for plastic bottles, one for cans and one for paper. It’s an easy system to introduce. Then you can start getting other messages across, such as being careful when anchoring, watching wildlife or refuelling”.

Environmental awareness

Alasdair Finlay, Commodore of Toward Sailing Club, described Carol as always being environmentally aware and went on to say that “she has implemented a number of environmental actions at Toward Sailing Club. Environmental awareness updates are a regular feature of the club’s newsletters, of which 90% are now electronic, thanks to Carol. She introduced recycling to the clubhouse, which she monitors on a regular basis and is active in encouraging members to dispose of rubbish in an environmentally friendly way”.

The club has encouraged members to fill up their outboard engines as far away from the shoreline as possible in order to prevent fuel spilling into the water. Throwing overboard cans or bottles, far less any plastic rubbish, is now unthinkable at the club.

The award

The Environmental Excellence Trophy will be an annual award and was established to honour the memory of Sally Banham, who spent many years working to improve environmental awareness across the recreational marine sector. She was instrumental in creating The Green Blue, an environmental initiative developed by the RYA and British Marine Federation (BMF). Very sadly, Sally died in 2008. Her sister, Carol and her mother Angela were present at the ceremony.

For information and advice on how you can ‘green’ your club go to www.thegreenblue.org.uk or contact jane.swan@thegreenblue.org.uk