Greener Horizons is Digital Yacht’s upgraded sustainability initiative for 2021. Our aim is to absolutely minimise our carbon footprint in everything we do and each month we’ll share some of our ideas and projects. We were spurred on by Bill Gates Climate Change Book “How to avoid a climate disaster” and it’s really made us think about the incremental changes we can make now. We’re also going to look at new products and innovations for e-boating so it’s been a great stimulus.
We’ve already moved to eradicate plastics in our packaging and we’re now repurposing and recycling any incoming plastic packaging. Alrerady, all our product packaging is now from 100% recycled board.
We’re also investing in electric vans. Our Bristol facility has expanded recently and added new remote warehouse space so we’ve regular trips between the locations. We’re now using Renault’s new Kango E-Van. It’s refined and quiet and gives us over 100 mile range between charges. Our Farleigh Court R&D facility now has charge points installed and there’s momentum in the whole business park with 4 of the 12 businesses now equipped with electric cars. Activity is acting as a catalyst for others too.
Charge point technology is also interesting – it was surprisingly difficult to find a qualified electrician to complete what should be a simple installation. Turns out there’s a lot of safety technology and new regulations built into the point which of course can be linked to the cloud to allow efficient charging during economy periods. We can definitely see e-boating becoming a reality and next month we’ll look at our CTO’s (Paul Sumpner) new hybrid narrow boat project. Hopefully, our Greener Horizons’ projects will act as catalysts for all our future thinking. Good Boating!
