Just a quick thought about the wider picture from my earlier post about aiming towards using zero fossil fuels on Vida.
This has to be part of a bigger picture and one of the beautiful things that a sailing boat does is bring that bigger picture to a more human, a more manageable scale. So focusing on zero fossil fuels in the boat needs to be reflected in every other issue of sustainability. Not that we are anywhere near perfect or even good enough but we are trying to move forward.
So we believe that cutting fossil fuel use should not be isolated from other decisions and needs to be supported by for example:
- Cutting down on plastics and other chemicals.
- Keeping to a zero flying commitment. Sustainable sailing to other parts of the world and then flying back and forth is deceiving ourselves about the impact of our lives. This needs to be faced right up front and might mean that living aboard does not imply long distance voyaging if you have work or family commitments. It is part of the cost and we are trying to be honest about what it means for us and the important people in our lives. They all know that we have chosen not to fly for the last 14 years and that it isn’t something that we are going to change. At the same time we are honest enough to admit that there are a small number of situations that we would consider an emergency (what counts as an emergency will obviously be a very personal and individual thing) and where we would bike the bullet and fly back.
- Lowest impact materials possible used on the boat. For example bio-epoxy resin.
What other areas do you think should be priorities for trying to build consistency and hold everything together?
Sustainable Sailing 