Sustainable sailing: Environmentally-friendly initiatives at Cork Week 

An environmental initiative in Crosshaven is helping introduce sustainable change in event management, starting with the recent Volvo Cork Week.

“We like to think that sailing is sustainable, but the truth is that the industry needs to cut its carbon footprint by at least half by 2030 to align with the Paris Agreement," Gavin Deane, General Manager, Royal Cork said. "The Royal Cork is committed to actively managing our environmental footprint and this year we developed a significant sustainability strategy for Volvo Cork Week. 

"We want to see our seas and waterways free of contamination and plastic pollution, and we want to leave a more environmentally sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.”

One Green Village has helped with a number of significant green measures undertaken at the event. Sue Walsh, a member of One Green Village and the Royal Cork Yacht Club, has played a pivotal role in the changes.

The club introduced a full deposit return scheme on all outdoor drinks, in association with Heineken, and a deposit return system for reusable coffee cups at the clubhouse, in association with 2gocup. This has removed tens of thousands of single use plastics. 

The plastic beer cups are transported back to Dublin to be cleaned and used at another event once they are returned to the bar by the customer. The reusable coffee cups are also returned to the coffee vendor after use to be washed locally and used again.

“We put a lot of work into making the event more sustainable," Ms Walsh said. "This is a good event to begin with as it is containable.” 

Children were also introduced to marine conservation at a family-friendly event with marine scientist, best-selling author and Volvo Car Ireland ambassador Finn Van der Aar. Finn is passionate about helping people to live more sustainably and presents crucial environmental and oceanic research in a way that is understandable to all.

During her workshop, children had the chance to learn about how to care for the sea and coastal areas around them. Finn shared how she fell in love with the sea, her fascinating work as a marine biologist as well as tips on how we can combat some marine conservation issues such as marine noise pollution and how to reduce marine plastics. She also gave tips on how to do a beach clean-up.