5 ways rowers can be eco-friendly

August 13, 2021

Have a read of our top tips on how you can be more sustainable and eco friendly in the rowing environment

The UN’s climate change report this week has made us all take a moment to reflect on what each of us can be doing to look after the environment. Have a read of the top five ways rowers can be eco friendly:

Travel. If you live close to your club or fancy that extra bit of exercise, walk on down to your training session or bike it. If you live further afield or are travelling to a regatta, to cut down on car emissions, group up with your teammates and car share. Who doesn’t love a carpool and a bit of karaoke?
Reusable drink and food containers. An estimated 17.6 billion pounds of plastic leaks into the marine environment from land-based sources every year. In order to prevent this we can all start doing our bit to stop using single use plastics, from using a tin or reusable water bottle, to taking reusable tupperware with your post training food in to training. If you’re sitting down for a natter post training and fancy a cuppa then take along your reusable coffee cup with you. Hit the high street and pop into shops such as WHSmith, who are now selling a wide range of products from water bottles, lunch bags and boxes, straws…
At home. After a long training session on the rowing machine or a trip out on the water in adverse weather conditions, you’ll want to put a wash on to clean your kit. First up, make sure you’re using eco-friendly laundry detergent such as Ecover. Something else you can look out for is that the detergent bottle is 100% recyclable and is made out of recycled plastic. Lastly, be sure to put on a full wash to save water.
Boat maintenance. How boats are cleaned after use can have an impact on our waterways and coast. Careless storage of boat fuel, for example, has the potential to pollute waters. A few things you can do around the boathouse include minimising water consumption, the use of hoses to clean boats and use a bucket and sponge instead! Use biodegradable cleaning agents for boats and equipment.
Club culture. Whether it be encouraging members of your club to pick up litter around the boat house, pledging to reduce single use plastic, making sure you put your rubbish in the correct bin, encouraging carpooling or using public transport…creating an eco friendly ethos at your club is important. Setting goals or naming a club environmental champion each month are a few ways you can get started.