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Despite all the images we see in the media about big factory drain pipes dumping toxins in our waterways, America’s largest source of water pollution actually comes from activity that takes place far removed from our beaches and marinas.

Nonpoint Source Pollution remains the number one contributor to declining water quality across the country.

NPS pollution happens as rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation water travels across fields, forests, backyards, parking lots, and other land formations on its way to the sea. Along the way, water molecules grab hold of all sorts of pollutants that are lying on the land, sweeping them up and providing a free ride into the closest stream, lake, river, or bay.

NPS pollution is such a big problem because so much of modern activity relies on the use of man made compounds. So much of what we do these days, from fertilizing our crops, to fueling our cars, painting a house, etc… releases these synthetic compounds into the environment.

Look at the puddles you see in any urban environment the next time it rains and chances are you will see a miniature oil slick or something similar. Seen individually these don’t look like much. Taken collectively, however they represent an enormous problem.

The most common NPS pollutants are nutrients and sediments that are stirred up by agricultural activity, construction sites and other earth moving events. Pesticides, pathogens, oil, salt, chemicals, and  heavy metals that come from industrial as well as residential areas also contribute significantly to the problem.

The end result of our national carelessness is that today roughly 40% of America’s recreational waterways are not considered safe enough to swim or fish in anymore.

To fix this problem every citizen needs to think like a raindrop.

If it is possible for rain to mix with toxic compounds more NPS pollution will be created.

If on the other hand, we don’t let this simple bonding occur we can solve the problem.

Don’t top off your gas tank, use tarps when you paint outside to keep coatings from finding their way into the soil, wash your car house, windows, etc… with natural cleansers,  be cautious cutting pressure treated lumber, dispose of batteries properly, watch what you take to the dump, and so on and so on.

Simple things to be sure, but easily accomplished with a second or two of forethought and a bit of common sense.

Let’s Get Serious About Punishing Polluters

We recently read with interest a story about a series of fines levied by the EPA against an industrial company that was caught dumping toxic waste into a major river on the East coast of the United States. At first we applauded the enforcement efforts and the penalties that were assessed, until we looked a little deeper into who was being punished and why.

As it turns out, the guilty party had a long and sordid history of this type of behavior. While they have been fined a few times before, there are also numerous allegations brought against them from local fishermen and other residents who have noticed a dramatic decline in the aquatic ecosystem surrounding the factory in question. From all accounts, it looks as though this corporation has been cited for roughly 1 in 20 violations that they were involved in.

Those times they were penalized, to the tune of roughly $100,000, the dollar amount of their fine looks pretty substantial to the average citizen. What most people don’t realize is that the $100,000 the company paid to get rid of their waste illegally was substantially cheaper than the $500,000 it would have cost them to dispose of it properly. Someone within this company decided that they would rather get a few days of bad publicity and pay an insignificant fine than to follow the law by doing the right thing.

How did we get here?

How is it that corporations, who enjoy all the benefits that individual citizens do in this country, have become so irresponsible? Granted there are plenty of good guys out there doing things right. Unfortunately, however, more and more polluters look at the cost of breaking the law as just another business expense, one to be managed and dealt with like any other.  

Something is wrong with a system that has made it less expensive, both in dollars and in the public eye, to harm the planet. Unless policies change, as corporations get bigger and bigger there is no incentive for them to change their ways. As much as we would like to rely on the honor of those occupying board rooms, the current state of affairs makes it clear that too often honor takes a back seat to profitability.

Since the decision to pollute or not usually comes down to dollars, dollars are where any reforms have to begin.

1 – We encourage everyone to contact their legislators and demand changes be made to the enforcement provisions available to the EPA and other regulatory agencies. To start, the fine for any actions leading to pollution entering the ecosystem should be, at a minimum, twice the cost of doing things the right way. In other words, if it costs $500,000 to clean things up properly the penalty for doing it improperly should be $1,000,000.

2- Introduce shame as an enforcement penalty. Instead of sweeping things under the rug with fancy press releases, companies found guilty of willful violation of the law should be required to pay for a full page display in the largest local newspapers, both print and online editions, within 100 miles of where the violation occurred, and within 100 miles of corporate headquarters, explaining what happened and how the company played a part in event. The drafting of this release should be prepared and coordinated by local regulatory agencies and NOT by the offending party.

3 – In an effort to promote positive behavior, offenders that do change their ways should have an equal opportunity, after a specified period of at least 24 months to have their efforts recognized in public with as much fanfare as their violations received. The cost of publishing such a “Good Citizens List” should NOT be assessed to the one time offender, but rather should be a cost borne by recent offenders.  

4 – In keeping with the idea of full disclosure, the names of all individuals found guilty of involvement should also be prominently published in the newspapers within 100 miles of where the offence was committed, and in the local paper, if different, where they live. The idea that your friends and neighbors might learn of your bad behavior is a strong incentive from committing it in the first place. Guilty individuals should be required to pay for all publishing costs either voluntarily or through garnishment.

5 – Introduce provisions to automatically mandate higher insurance premiums for offending parties. Parties found guilty of violations should be forced to pay premiums for at least one year that are at a minimum twice those required by law abiding customers.

6 – Like most aspects of corporate management, offending parties should be required to adopt internal policies that spell out how the company will manage to avoid pollution problems in the future. Citizens committees and regulatory agencies should be allowed to review these plans at least once a year and publish a “grade” or some such measure of performance on a public website.

While these ideas are clearly directed at high profile corporate polluters, there is no reason why similar measures should not be adopted against individuals as well. Until pollution enforcement really hurts the offender, there is no reason to expect society as a whole to change.

Comprehensive Ocean Management Plan Finally Happening

The Obama administration recently announced an initiative that is long overdue.

Overshadowed by all the screams and shouts over health care and stimulus plans, in June of this year the president set in motion the creation of a comprehensive ocean management plan to help define the challenges our Ocean environment faces, and hopefully develop sound, long range policies to turn things around.

Like most things political, the devil will most certainly be in the details, but it can only be a step in the right direction that this issue has reached the oval office and found a friendly ear.

Despite how vital our coastal and offshore areas are to the health of our planet, it has been maddening that Ocean policy has been a mish mash of piecemeal policy lacking any central theme, until now.

For the first time in history, the president of the United States has made the health of our Ocean a national priority.

When it comes to Ocean policy, the average American is usually unaware that the town they live in has a more coherent plan for growth and development than Uncle Sam has yet to adopt for the sea around us.

Hopefully, this sad reality will change with what Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the president’s Council on Environmental Quality told the nation will include “a more balanced, productive, and sustainable approach to using. managing and conserving ocean resources.”

Along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, and a few dozen other agencies, a plan is in the works to finally identify the problems we face and develop solutions.

The primary objectives of the Ocean Policy Task Force will be to address

1. Ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for comprehensive management of the Ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes.
2. Coastal and marine spatial planning to resolve emerging conflicts to ensure that shipping lanes and wind, wave, and oil and gas energy development do not harm fisheries and water quality.

3. Improved coordination of policy development among federal state, tribal, local, and regional managers of Ocean, coasts, and the Great Lakes.
4. Policies that focus on resiliency and adaptation to climate change and ocean acidification.
5. Policies needed to deal with changing arctic conditions.

Conflicting reports on the task forces pending findings and recommendations are, of course, inevitable, along with all the other challenges any political review board faces, but at least a dialog has begun.

You can’t solve a problem until you know what it is and at long last Mother Ocean is getting the attention she deserves.

A Victory For Full Disclosure

Believe it or not, most companies that manufacture cleaning supplies, and similar chemical-based products, are not bound by the laws of the land to disclose the ingredients that make their “wonder” products so wonderful.

In a country where coffee cups now come with disclaimers about the damage their contents can do, this seems incredible

For many folks learning about it for the first time, there is a better word for this lack of oversight – appalling.  

Like so many perplexing problems that seem to defy common sense, the reason for this state of affairs is as American as apple pie.

It’s all about money.

Since the chemical revolution following World War II, the corporations that have whipped up so many of the toxic cleaning products we take for granted have made billions peddling compounds that certainly will make your kitchen counters shine, but what else do they do?

At the risk of repeating previous blog posts, the chemicals in your laundry soap or dishwashing detergent can, and have, caused all sorts of damage to people and the Planet since their introduction.

As any honorable chemist will tell you, the stuff that lifts months of grime off your oven’s interior is capable of doing similar damage to your insides should it find its way into your bloodstream.

While most cleaning products obviously warn us not to consume them directly, they almost all fall short of telling us what is actually in the bottle we keep under our kitchen sink.

Somewhere along the way, the titan’s of cleaning products decided that they would lobby their buddies in Congress to grant them an exemption from having to put their products ingredients on the containers they sold.

The reason for this lack of disclosure is one of corporate America’s lamest excuses ever – trade secrets.

These guys actually got millions of people to believe that if they told us what was in their products, their competitors would rush out and copy the formula, damaging their business and thus denying the world of hormone mimicking shampoos and conditioners.

At first glance, this reasoning might make sense, to a third grader.

At second glance the holes in this deceptive reasoning are big enough to pilot a cargo ship through.

Patent and trademark laws exist in this country to protect innovative ideas and brands from being copied. All the detergent executives need to do to protect their precious poisons is to hire a good lawyer, and believe me, they already have.

The other ridiculous aspect of this “protection” claim is that every chemical company on the planet employs teams of engineers who have the diagnostic tools at their disposal to easily determine what is in their competitor’s laundry soap.

 Just knowing the ingredients, of course, doesn’t guarantee you can copy your rival’s product. You still have to know how and when to combine the ingredients to get the results you want.

However, if Coca-Cola can list their ingredients on each can of soda with fearing imminent doom, why can’t the chemical companies?

Maybe they are afraid that consumers might not want to expose their families to all the nasty stuff that goes into making their whites whiter or whatever it is they claim?

Luckily, the tide appears to be shifting in this decades old policy of deception.

Several high profile companies, including the SC Johnson company, Clorox, and others have recently taken some baby steps towards full disclosure by listing some of their product’s contents online.

Whether this is a preemptive step taken on the advice of their lawyers – “We told the world what was in this stuff, see our website” – or a genuine move in the right direction, it needs to go further, PUT IT ON THE BOTTLE!

At greenboatstuff we only carry cleaning products that tell us, and our customers, what they contain. They work great, and you know what they are. How easy is that?

We know organic soap and some of the other stuff we carry isn’t for everybody, but for folks who want to keep using chemical cleansers, we encourage you to demand more from your detergent or shampoo maker.

Tell them, in no uncertain terms to get with the program and PUT IT ON THE BOTTLE.

One More Reason to Avoid Plastic

For those of you who do not know how much plastic is accumulating in our Ocean, please check out the following story http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/us_nm/us_ocean_plastics

Disposable plastic has become such an accepted part of modern living that most people don’t give it a second thought. 

For those people who are trying to decide why they should care about tossing a plastic water bottle aside, consider this – the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a collection of floating plastic debris about the size of Texas and growing.

One idea to solve this problem would be to redirect Hawaiian bound cruise ship traffic through the Patch for a month or so and see what kind of outcry would result.

Wishful thinking I know, but awareness is the first step in resolving environmental issues.

Green Inspiration

Make no mistake, being green is gaining ground.

New stories are emerging every day about concerned citizens who have had enough of the way things used to be and are demanding changes.

Awareness is rising, inspired by everyday people doing extraordinary things to point out the serious environmental challenges our Planet faces.

We were recently introduced to a dedicated young woman who is literally going the extra mile to help address one of the growing problems of our time – access to safe drinking water.

This December, Katie Spotz is embarking on the adventure of a lifetime – a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean.

The 2,500 mile journey will begin in Senegal, West Africa and finish in French Guiana, South America.

After 70-100 days at sea, Katie will become the youngest person and the first American ever to row an ocean solo from mainland to mainland. 

Katie has partnered with the Blue Planet Run Foundation, whose mission is to help the billion people around the world in need of life’s basic necessities.

We applaud everyone who does their part to help make things better out there, but Katie’s story goes so far above and beyond what most people do that we felt compelled to bring it to everyone’s attention.

Spending a Saturday afternoon cleaning up a local beach is a great way to contribute, but rowing across an Ocean is in a class all by itself.

We encourage everyone to take a look at Katie’s website, www.rowforwater.com and consider making a donation to support her journey.

At greenboatstuff we are honored to know that some of our products will be accompanying Katie on her voyage, hopefully making her adventure a little more comfortable.

While we believe any support of an environmental cause is a good thing, there is something special about knowing that, in an indirect way, you are actually in the same boat with someone as inspiring as Katie Spotz.

10 Quick Tips for the Green Boater

The good folks at Boat US recently published a great list of simple things we can all do to be more environmentally friendly on the water.

We have written extensively on this blog about most of these issues, but sometimes a few quick bullet points sink in better than a longer version.

Please keep these great ideas in mind the next time you head out.

Boaters have a vested interest in clean water, which is able to support diverse fish and wildlife.  One by one our collective actions add up.  Here are some ideas from the BOAT/US Clean Water Trust about how you can help the waters while boating.

1- Stash your trash.  Never throw anything into the water that didn’t come out of it. Keep trash, even food waste, onboard and bring it back to recycle or throw away on shore. 

2 – Respect marine wildlife.  Don’t feed or harass dolphins and other mammals. Reduce speed and give a wide berth to all marine life.

3 – Fish for the future.   Learn proper catch and release techniques and use them after you’ve caught what you need.

4 -Watch your wake.  Large wakes can unnecessarily accelerate shoreline erosion.  Throttle back in narrow waterways. Use moorings rather than anchoring in environmentally delicate areas such as coral reef. When snorkeling or diving, never touch any live coral.

5 - Comply with sewage standards.  Install a coast Guard- approved marine sanitation device on your boat and use it.  Consult up-to-date cruising guides for the locations of pump- out facilities. If you can’t find one in your area, organize boat owners to convince your local marina to install one.

6 - Tune up your engine.  A tuned engine improves fuel economy and burns fuel more efficiently, causing fewer emissions into the air and water.

7 - Refuel with care.  Take precautions to keep fuel and oil out of the water.  Do not top off your fuel tanks, as it usually leads to spillage.   Use a “bilge pillow” to soak up leaks in your bilge.

8 - Reuse and recycle.  Recycle spent antifreeze, fuel, oil, oil filters, and batteries.  Use less toxic propylene glycol antifreeze whenever possible, but check before mixing it with other antifreeze for recycling.

9 - Wash often.  Wash your decks regularly with fresh water and a scrub brush to reduce the amount of strong chemical cleaners needed throughout the boating season.

10 - Get involved.  You can make an even greater impact by donating money and/or your time to environmental action groups, from national organizations like the Center for Marine Conservation,  the BOAT/U.S. Cleanwater Trust, and to regional groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.   Be a watchdog. If you’re out on the water and see oil or chemical spill or other pollution, call the Coast Guard’s National response Center hotline (800-424-8802).

Encourage Your Marina To Go Green

 

Here in the beautiful state of Washington where we live and work there are now 39 certified Clean Marina’s operating. With several hundred marinas, both public and private, operating in our state, there is still a long way to go. Still, progress is being made.

The Clean Marina Initiative is a program promoted by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to move our vulnerable waterfront recreational facilities in the right direction. All you need to do is walk the docks at most marinas to see the assortment of unnecessary junk that is floating around in a slick of gas, oil and diesel.

Since so much activity takes place at marinas that can cause pollution, from fueling to maintenance and beyond, it is only sensible that the common sense, environmentally conscious standards should be employed there.

As the green tide spreads, it is also quite likely that more stringent rules and regulations are only a matter of time. In several locations that have become toxic nightmares, like San Francisco Bay and Seattle’s Lake Union, changes are being enforced to clean up this mess, and we say, about time.

For the marina owners and operators looking to preempt costly changes that are mandated from on high, the time is now to get on the clean marina bandwagon. Far sighted boat yard owners are already improving the products and processes they use such as installing waste water filtration systems, employing safe cleaning agents or shifting to copper free paints in an effort to get ahead of the game.

The benefits of becoming a clean marina, in addition to doing the right thing, are many. The following information can shed more light on the subject.

For those of you who want to clean up your local marina, make your concerns known and encourage the powers that be to go green.

What is the Clean Marina Initiative?

The Clean Marina Initiative is a voluntary, incentive-based program promoted by NOAA and others that encourages marina operators and recreational boaters to protect coastal water quality by engaging in environmentally sound operating and maintenance procedures. While Clean Marina Programs vary from state to state, all programs offer information, guidance, and technical assistance to marina operators, local governments, and recreational boaters on Best Management Practices (BMPs) that can be used to prevent or reduce pollution. Marinas that participate in the Clean Marina Program are recognized for their environmental stewardship.

Why is the Clean Marina Initiative Important?

Clean Marina programs help reduce pollution to our coastal waters by encouraging environmentally-friendly marina and boating practices

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Marinas and recreational boating are increasingly popular uses of coastal areas. The U.S. Coast Guard reported a 14% increase in recreational boating between 1990 and 1999. Because marinas are located right along the water’s edge, pollutants created by marina activities are released directly into the water. Although not one of the leading sources of polluted runoff, pollution from marinas can have a significant impact on local water quality. Therefore, is it important to promote operation and maintenance practices that will prevent pollution from entering coastal waterways.

Benefits of a Clean Marina Program

A Clean Marina Program offers many benefits to marina operators and coastal areas participating in the program.

Benefits for Marinas Operators and Owners

• Reduce waste disposal costs. The Best Management Practices (BMPs) will reduce the amount of wastes produced so disposal costs will be less.
• Generate new sources of revenue. Studies have shown that Clean Marinas can charge slightly higher slip fees and have fewer vacancies.
• Receive free technical assistance. Best Management Practices guidebooks, training workshops and on-site visits are available to marina operators. Often states will even offer on-site assistance for meeting regulatory requirements.
• Reduce legal liabilities. By participating in the Clean Marina Program, marinas can ensure they are meeting all regulatory requirements, thus avoiding fines.
• Enjoy free publicity. States recognize Clean Marinas through press releases, newsletters, and boating guides, etc.
• Attract knowledgeable customers. Clean Marinas are aesthetically pleasing facilities that can attract responsible clientele that will follow good boating practices.
• Improve water quality and habitat for living resources. The marina and boating industry depends on clean waters and a healthy coastal environment for their continued success.
• Demonstrate marina is a good steward of the environment. Many states distribute special burgees and signs for Clean Marinas to display. Clean Marinas are also allowed to use the State’s Clean Marina logo on all letterhead.

Benefits for State Coastal Managers and Others
Interested in Starting Clean Marina Programs

• Educate boaters. The Clean Marina Program is an excellent way to reach out to recreational boaters and demonstrate how they can alter their own practices to minimize impacts on the marine environment.
• Satisfy the requirements of the State Coastal Nonpoint Control Program. By developing a Clean Marina Program, a state will demonstrate a commitment to implement the marina management measures required by the joint NOAA/EPA program.
• Improve Coordination. By joining in the Clean Marina Initiative, states and their partners will be able to join the growing network of Clean Marina Programs nationwide.

NOAA’s Role in the Clean Marina Initiative

NOAA, jointly responsible for administering the Coastal Nonpoint Control Program with EPA, plays an important role in protecting coastal waters from polluted runoff. The Coastal Nonpoint Program establishes a consistent set of management measures for all coastal states to use in controlling nonpoint source pollution. Management measures are designed to prevent or reduce runoff from a variety of sources, including marinas.

NOAA recognizes that the Clean Marina Initiative can serve a valuable role in protecting coastal waters from nonpoint source pollution and has promoted the program as a way for states to meet many of the marina management measure requirements under the Coastal Nonpoint Program. As a result, the Coastal Nonpoint Program has been responsible for driving the development of most of the state Clean Marina Programs existing today and developing a national interest in the Initiative. NOAA continues to support the Clean Marina Initiative through targeted grant funding to states developing Clean Marina Programs. Between FY01 and FY06, nearly $3 million went to support clean marina efforts.

For more information, contact cleanmarinas@noaa.gov.

The China Syndrome – Considering Asian Made Goods

We recently received an email from a customer who laid into us for carrying products made in China.

With all the bad press out there about tainted toothpaste, leaded kid’s toys, poison pet food, and so on it is easy to see why many people have a hard time purchasing Chinese goods. We too are sick and tired of the proliferation of cheap crap coming out of Asian factories. The vast majority of the low price plastic products found in boating supply stores are manufactured in this part of the world.

Anyone who tuned into the Olympics this summer saw images of smog and pollution that even the best Politburo image consultants couldn’t convince us were simply “mist.” There is no denying that China today suffers from intense environmental degradation, and in much of Asia this pattern of 19^th century industrialization is causing terrible harm. A look at the statistics on water and air quality over there is straight out of Dickens.

Much has been said about the consequences of the unabated growth   in China, most of it accurate and reason for concern.

At the same time, however, we take exception to the idea that everything coming out of Asia is bad and should be avoided at all costs. We don’t expect everyone to agree with our reasons for this stance, but as an environmentally conscious company we feel that a little explanation is a good thing. We welcome your comments, either in agreement or dissent.

For one thing, as patriotic as we are, we have trouble with the blanket thinking that essentially argues that all goods produced in the USA are good and everything from China is bad. For anyone paying attention to history, it is important to recognize that the vast majority of toxins that modern industry has dumped into our waterways were originally synthesized in American laboratories by American companies. The post World War II boom in chemical production is well documented as being driven by American industry. We could go on and on here, but before we throw rocks at other countries for the pollution they cause we might want to look in the mirror first.

Granted, great strides have been made with environmental policy here at home, however, there is still a very strong argument to be made for American culpability in the proliferation of compounds linked to cancers, genetic abnormalities, and countless health problems in human beings and other life forms.  As much as we detest the oppressive and misguided policies of the Chinese government, they didn’t bring the world PCBs, PVC, plastic, and so on, we did.

Since any discussion on China vs. America inevitably leads to a review of our different political systems, let’s get this one out of the way right now. We love America. This great nation has done more to secure and promote liberty than any country in the history of the world. We hate communism. The damage done to Mother Earth and mankind in general under communism is immeasurable. At the same time, though, we believe America has made her fair share of mistakes.  Our point here is simply that to base a decision about buying, or not buying, goods made in China by exalting our great country over theirs’ might be a bit hypocritical.

Moving beyond the historical and political issues brings us to the current state of affairs we find ourselves confronted with when dealing with suppliers who use Chinese factories. We will not carry goods made in China unless we are certain that the manufacturing facilities involved meet strict criteria.

One of our favorite examples of the oversight we require comes from the apparel supplier we deal with, HT Naturals. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, HT Naturals designs and produces high quality clothing made from such earth friendly materials as organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and so on. Given the economic realities of profitably manufacturing these items, HTN made the decision to locate their main manufacturing facility in China. Unlike many old-school apparel companies, however, HTN established rigorous and verifiable standards for the operation of their factory.

These common sense provisions include strict environmental standards for air, water, and overall facility operations, banning child labor, implementing an anti-discrimination policy, establishing a living wage, offering affordable health care and maternity leave, and so on. These programs are overseen by managers whose livelihood is tied to their enforcement. HTN executives perform routine inspections and employee interviews to verify everything is proceeding according to plan.

While no system is perfect, we would argue that conditions in the Chinese operations of HTN are vastly superior to what the majority of the world’s textile workers experience.

The point here is that it is possible to do business in China, or any other country, while still occupying the moral high ground. Consumers should boycott companies that abuse their workers or intentionally pollute the planet. The only way real progress will be made in the efforts to clean up the planet, however, will be if all companies adopt the type of policies HTN has put in place, whether in China, America, or anywhere else.

Consumer choice is one of the most powerful means of executing change. As you make your buying decisions we would urge you to consider the many factors that go into producing an earth friendly product, not just the geography of its’ origin.

What is Green Boating?

These days the term “green” is pretty fashionable. From cars to cleaning products, everybody is coming out with green versions of something or other. A way of life that was once associated with society’s fringe elements has worked its way into the most upscale neighborhoods and company board rooms. Automobiles that cost twice what a schoolteacher makes in a year are heading home from grocery stores and farmers markets full of organic vegetables, phosphate-free soap, and fair-trade clothing. Corporate America is realizing that acting green, and probably more importantly, being perceived as green might actually be profitable.

This is a good thing.
I think it is safe to say that the move towards environmentally friendly products and practices is not only alive and well, but gaining ground. The fact that a relatively boring industry like groceries has seen a 20% plus increase in the sale of organic items in the last few years is just one indicator that the movement is entering the mainstream. There is still a long way to go, of course,  but  like so many changes in societal behavior that are driven by the fact that they are the right thing to do, it is safe to say we are heading in the right direction.
How quickly we solve the problems brought on by mankind’s choices over the last century or so is the big question. It is one thing to be aware of a problem, and quite another to actually work to solve it through deeds.
“Green Boating” is about solving the problem. For too long now our planet’s waterways have been neglected. Raw sewage, chemical toxins, eternal plastic, and even nuclear waste have been dumped in our rivers and Ocean over the past century to the point that our aquatic treasures are in big trouble.
This shameful practice is really nothing new; almost every major city in history sprung up near the water. Egyptian dumped their trash in the Nile, Romans used the river Tiber as a sewer and a graveyrad, Londoners fouled the Thames, and so on throughout history.
The unique appeal of dumping trash in the water is that your junk usually passes out of sight rather quickly. The current whisks it away, tides pull it out to sea, and stuff sinks. Nowhere is the old cliché, “out of sight, out of mind”, more applicable than in describing mankind’s attitude towards water pollution.  
For most of history, Mother Nature could deal with mankind’s trash disposal methods. As disgusting as it may have been to smell any major metropolitan river in mid-summer two hundred years ago, given enough time,  Nature could clean things up. After all, the trash that found its way into these waters was almost exclusively biodegradable;  animal and human waste, bodily remains, plant materials, fabric, wood, etc…  These were the days before plastic, industrial chemicals, and all the other neat stuff we live with today. With plenty of bacteria and other natural processes in place the stinkiest waterways could heal themselves if they had enough time.
Not anymore.
Most of the modern world’s miracle products that find their way into the water do not break down in a very friendly way, if they break down at all. Despite marketing friendly words on your soap bottles like “biodegradable” or “earth friendly”, most modern cleaning products  not only persist in the water for years, many of them may actually alter the sexual development of wildlife and humans too. Heavy metals like copper have been used for years to make bottom paint for all types of vessels. As this stuff sloughs off and falls to the seafloor it does not just magically go away. The plastic bucket you accidently dropped over the side while washing your boat will be in the water in one form or another FOREVER.
As technology has evolved, our ability to cause irreparable environmental harm has done the same. Unless your time on the water is spent on a bamboo raft or a birch bark canoe, chances are the products you use to enjoy boating are adding to the problem. Greenboatblog and www.greenboatstuff.com hope to help change that.

The shortsightedness we humans have had regarding our waterways needs to change. When I think of the out of sight, out of mind way of doing things it reminds me of dealing with children. A young child who is not able to fully appreciate right from wrong has no trouble blaming their mistakes on an imaginary friend or a sibling who wasn’t in the room. The little kid who breaks the cookie jar and feels no remorse when they cover it up with the kitchen rug is acting a lot like the boater who looks over his shoulder as he “accidently” tosses his trash over the side.

It is time to stop acting like children. The stakes have changed. The repercussions of our actions today go far beyond making the old swimming hole a little ripe in August. Every day countless boat owners are causing harm to the environment that is very much avoidable. If you put just a few green boating ideas into practice, the world will be a little bit better off.  By simply acting like adults instead of children, we can make it possible for future generations of people and wild things to truly enjoy this big blue planet.
To get back to the question posed, the answer to  “What is green boating?” is far from simple. To some, green boating means abandoning technology completely and letting the wind fill your sails or your arms pull your oars. For others it involves taking the time to question how they run their ship and deciding to do things in a more environmentally friendly way.

At the heart of it, doing anything “green” requires you to look at your actions and how they affect the world around you. When it comes to spending time on the water all you need to do to be green is to consider how the things you do and the products you use may impact the stuff you are floating on.

Common sense, a little education, and applying the Golden Rule to Mother Nature is all you need to get started.