Green Boating

You don’t have to rev up a motor to enjoy a day on the water. Paddle in a kayak or sail in the wind! Row your boat down the stream… and you won’t have to renew that gym membership  All this being considered, that’s not to say you should abandon your motor boat right away. Forsaken boats, which are becoming more commonplace during the economic recession, are introducing a plethora of environmental problems, like sheens of leaking oil.¹ If your boat has an engine that runs on fossil fuels, consider following these instructions to keep our waters clean.

BENEFITS FOR YOU AND THE ENVIRONMENT: When a motor boat runs smoothly, it gobbles fossil fuels. When it doesn’t, its environmental footprint gets even larger. Each year, Americans spill 180 million gallons of used oil into our waters.² That’s more than 85% of the amount of oil spilled after the. A single pint of spilled oil can cover one acre of water surface area, affecting thousands of species of animals, plants and microbes.³ Moreover, discharging oil that causes a sheen to form on water violates federal law, and violators are subject to a penalty of $5,000.⁴

Cost: Medium

Time and effort: Medium

Guidelines for Clean Boating

• Take precautions when fueling up. Gas or diesel can overflow out the vent fitting or backsplash out the fuel intake. Use two oil absorbent pads, one around the fuel nozzle and the other around the boat’s fuel opening.⁵ Slow down at the beginning and end of fueling, and fill the tank to no more than 90% capacity to give the gas room to expand as it warms. Don’t fill up when you return to port. Instead, do it right before your next trip to prevent spills due to thermal expansion.⁶
  
• Use a non-spill pump when changing motor oil. Before removing a used oil filter, cover it in a plastic bag to catch drips. The Maryland Clean Marina Initiative also recommends “punching a hole in the dome end [of the filter] and draining [it] for 24 hours.”⁷ Recycle used motor oil and metal canisters. Use the amount of oil recommended by the engine manufacturer. Purchase premium oils, which burn cleaner.
  
• Keep your engine tuned to minimize fuel and oil leaks. Place oil-absorbent pads under the engine and in your bilge.
  
• Minimize water pollution. Clean dishes and take showers on shore whenever possible. Save boat maintenance projects for the boatyard. If you must perform maintenance on the water, make sure you have an extra absorbent pad on hand to catch spills.
  
• If a spill occurs, do not try to clean it yourself—call the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center at 800-424-8802. Do not use soaps to disperse fuel and oil. Adding soap is detrimental to marine life, and it’s illegal.⁸
  
• Improve your gas mileage. Lighten up your boat by throwing out everything that you don’t need. Make sure your propeller is free of dings, clean your hull, and don’t idle unnecessarily. To offset your boat’s remaining carbon emissions, purchase carbon credits 
  
• Dispose of waste properly. Don’t discharge sewage within three miles of shore. Empty sewage in harbor dump station or bathrooms. To get ride of engine oil that accumulates in the bilge, look for contractors or marinas that offer a bilge pump-out service. Know what type of oil-absorbent pads you are using, and dispose of them as the Maryland Clean Marina Initiative outlines:
  
  • Standard absorbents that are saturated with gasoline may be air dried and reused.
  • Standard absorbents saturated with oil or diesel may be wrung out over oil recycling bins (if they are saturated with oil or diesel only!) and reused. Alternatively, they should be double bagged with one plastic bag sealed inside of another and tossed in your regular trash.
  • Bioremediating bilge booms may be disposed in your regular trash as long as they are not dripping any liquid. Because the microbes need oxygen to function, do not seal them in plastic bags.⁹
    
• When you’re on board, live by the same environmental values that you abide by on shore. Clean with baking soda and vinegar instead of commercial chemical cleaners whenever possible. Before cleaning your vessel, check out this detailed list of alternatives to toxic products. Always use phosphate-free, biodegradable soap. Don’t throw any sort of garbage (not even cigarette butts or fishing line) into the water. There are strong legal incentives to recycle… throw some plastic in U.S. waters and you might face a fine of $50,000!¹⁰
  
• If you’re looking to ditch the motor, you needn’t ditch your boat. Even yachts can run on renewable energy after conversion. To flaunt the feasibility of earth-friendly power, PlanetSolar, a 100-by-50-foot white catamaran with 5,380 square feet of black solar panels, is scheduled to circumnavigate the world this year.¹¹
  
  • Do you want to go solar, too? Purchase a solar panel (or two), a battery to store energy, and a controller.
  • Want to harness the energy of the wind but not a fan of sailing? Exchange the solar panel for a wind generator (but be prepared for a noisy ride). Water seems like an obvious energy source for a boat; purchase a water-towed impeller and you’re set¹². Visit Boat Trader for tips on which machines to buy and for how much.

James Taylor once said, “Being on a boat that’s moving through the water, it’s so clear. Everything falls into place in terms of what’s important and what’s not.” When you’re out boating in the waters, consider which natural places are most important to you, and make sure they are preserved for future generations. For starters, join the National River Cleanup, which removed 2 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways last year,¹³ or participate in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, which collected more than a million beverage bottles in just one day.¹⁴ Here’s to clean boating!