The meaning of Green and greenER

8:19 PM Tue 19 May 2009 GMT

'Ocean pollution' .

Roving sailors see the pollution on remote beaches - .. .

The green revolution is happening. Damning evidence on global pollution is produced by scientists, relayed by media and acted upon by appalled consumers. More and more we vote for green candidates, buy green products, using the power of the vote and the pocket book. This is particularly true of the sailing community, who tended to be green from the beginning. But what does 'green' mean?

As consumer interest in 'green' products continues to grow, we are seeing more of a 'green' or 'greener' trend in many products being offered in the marine world. Companies like Clorox, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Black

GreenER Marinas are being built - .. .

& Decker are being forced to take a hard look at sustainability and how to compete in this new market.

However, the term 'green' gets thrown around a lot and that no clear guidelines exist to define exactly what being green is all about. For some companies, the term greenERmight be more appropriate.

Even if green is not a possibility for a particular product steps can be taken during the manufacturing process to yield less impact to the environment.

A perfect example of this is Proctor & Gamble. Recently P&G introduced a new highly concentrated laundry detergent packaged in a smaller format. This change alone allowed P&G to reduce packaging materials by almost 40% and water usage by 45%.

GreenER Marine Varnish is being produced - .. .

Although the chemical itself is not really 'green', the reduction in water and plastic usage is far more environmentally friendly then the original product, thus greenER.

In other words, being green does not only mean using organic ingredients or banning coal fired power plants. Changes implemented by companies like Proctor & Gamble or Power Generation plants should all be considered as making great strides.

Leading the way in a much more assertive way are such companies as Trac Eco, whose business model from inception included the primary goal of developing their product line to minimise the impact boaters have on the environment.

With such companies, most of their chemicals are organic based solutions, containing only food grade materials and can be safely disposed of down regular sewer drains. All the products are completely non-toxic to humans and aquatic organisms, 100% biodegradable in less than 28 days, non flammable, soluble in water, petroleum free and fragrance free.

It's one time when good marketing and good consumer behaviour are in line - the classic win/win.

When you go shopping for your next marine product, make sure you check the content of the product you are buying, and that, even if the product is not fully green, try to purchase products from the companies that are making a continual effort to be at least greenER.

Sail-World would like to thank Trac Ecofor their contribution to this article.

by Des Ryan