Yacht Charter Brokers Attempt To Cut Plastic Water Bottle Use

Instead of depending on a yacht's watermaker during a luxury yacht charter vacation, many charter yachts still carry plastic water bottles on board. The CYBA is working to reduce this by awarding its Save the Blue Award to any charter yacht that fills out a survey and can answer ‘yes’ to the first two criteria, as well as check off eight additional criteria, all of which demonstrate a conscious effort to help preserve the environment.

The questions the yacht captains have to answer include the following:

Do you reduce plastic water bottle waste by producing your own drinking water? (We understand that some clients still want bottled water - we just want to know that you offer your own water as an option).

If you do not have a watermaker, do you reduce plastic water bottle waste by purchasing water in large containers?

Have you made sure your 'green specifications' are posted online?

Any charter yachts that qualify will receive a Going Green ribbon to display at any charter shows they attend in St. Thomas and Antigua this winter. Charter yachts that score the highest will be awarded CYBA’s Most Eco-Friendly Yacht award, one for motor yachts and one for sail yachts at each show.

This eco-friendly effort has been implemented to make an impact on the amount of waste that charter yachts leave on the smaller islands of the Bahamas and the Caribbean where recycling does not existent.

We hope that with broadened awareness, more yachts will rely on their own reverse osmosis water makers for drinking water, reducing the number of plastic bottles to be disposed into the landfills - CYBA