Image Credit: PROtect Tapes
Plastic pollution is no secret - and its impact has been particularly damaging for our oceans and sea life. This can feel especially hard to stomach in the sailing circle: as ocean lovers, it is hard to admit that our racing or cruising might be having a negative impact on the environment.
As awareness around plastic pollution grows, we are all increasingly mindful of the part we need to play to protect our seas. Whilst clean-up initiatives like 4ocean work to combat plastic pollution globally, other marine firms are also stepping up to the plate by tackling plastic pollution at its source.
One such company is PROtect Tapes. Established in 2008, the ambitious team of professional sailors are making a huge leap forward for the future of sustainable yacht racing.
Experts at creating products designed to tackle chafing, abrasion, scratches, damages, ageing, and wear, PROtect Tapes have now honed their unique technical film know-how to create biodegradable and compostable bow and hull stickers – PROtect Bow # – for all racing boats, from dinghies to superyachts.
Now, with all boat parts manufactured for longevity, the word ‘biodegradeable’ is not often used in conjunction with the yachting industry... However, if you’re a regatta organiser, compostable bow number identification and hull advertising will come as a blessing, avoiding the potential release of plastic that will linger in our seas and on our beaches for centuries to come.
Made from renewable resources, the stickers – which have been shown to perform as highly as their traditional, unrecyclable counterparts – can fully biodegrade in the ocean or on the beach within 12 months, heavily reducing environmental impact if a sticker does happen to fall off due to poor application or waves.
At the end of the regatta, the removed stickers simply go straight into the organic waste bin, ready to break down.
But what are the stickers made of? There are two versions of PROtect Bow # available. For shorter events, stickers are moulded from compostable paper made from sugar cane residue – a paper that is far more sustainable than FSC and recycled papers. For longer events - that are 7-10 days long - PROtect Bow # stickers are formed from a bioplastic film.
If you have any questions about PROtect Tapes toolkit, please feel free to email us at support@upffront.com, or click the link below to see our full range:
