Sustaining the Environment

 

Not only are UK Boat Hire holidays one of the most relaxing and rewarding holidays around, they are also one of the ‘greenest’.
Starting the moment customers board their floating home, a holiday cruising through some of the country’s most breathtaking scenery,working the locks or sitting back with a glass of wine won’t ‘cost’ the earth.

In fact a UK Boat Hire holiday is estimated to be some 20* times better for the planet than spending two hours flying for a holiday overseas.

At no cost to our customers, we donate a percentage of our profits to “The Waterways Trust Green Fund” to offset the environmental impact of their holiday. The Waterways Trust (www.thewaterwaystrust.org.uk) is a registered charity which works to promote and protect Britain’s waterways. Customers is they wish,  can further reduce the impact of their holiday on the environment by offsetting their own travel to and from the boat with a voluntary donation through us to the same fund. We suggest £5.00 per car all of which goes directly to “The Waterways Trust Green Fund” which they can indicate on the booking form.

In addition if customers select Gift Aid when making their donation it will be worth even more. For every pound given to the Waterways Trust they receive an extra 28 pence from the Inland Revenue.

Following the launch of our greener holidays campaign in 2008 we are pleased to report on some of the projects which have benefited from donations from customers and ourselves to “The Waterways Trust Green Fund”.

• A new section of traffic-free walking and cycling path has been constructed by Powys Council and Sustrans between Newtown, Llanllwchaiarn and Aberbechan on the Montgomery Canal. The 1.5km trail, which received a grant from the Green Fund, is part of the Montgomery Canal Walking and Cycling Project and forms part of Route 81 of the National Cycle Network. The new stretch allows people to travel more easily and safely between local communities. It also allows better access to the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust’s Pwll Penarth wetland nature reserve by bike or on foot.
• The new Hanbury Lock Towpath will extend an existing route on the Birmingham & Worcester Canal, from Hanbury Wharf into Droitwich encouraging even more people to make use of the restored canals and visit the town.
• Funding has also contributed towards the opening of the Action Outdoors Centre, Falkirk. A brand new outdoor activity centre on the bank of the Union Canal, giving young people in the region the opportunity to get out and get active. The centre offers a wide range of activities both on the canal and in the surrounding area.

* Based on flying a family of four to an average European location compared to a family of four taking an average hire boat holiday

 

A narrowboat holiday on the UK canals and rivers is the perfect way to explore the beautiful countryside of England, Wales & Scotland. Enjoyment of the holiday depends upon the sustainability of the canals, the towpaths and the countryside itself.

At ABC Leisure Group we are proud to actively work to reduce our impact on the environment. We consider all aspects of our operations and are constantly reviewing our activities and trying to minimize our environmental impact throughout the organisation.

Although a narrowboat holiday is a very low carbon holiday we try to ensure we improve this and our general marina activities even further.

• We make a donation to the Waterways Trust Green Fund to offset the small amount of carbon created by every holiday we provide. We also provide our customers with the option of making a donation to offset the carbon from their travel to and from the holiday start location.
• All our holiday brochures, documents and information are available on the UK Boat Hire website electronically. The information booklets that are sent out with holiday confirmation are recycled (hirers are invited to return the booklets to the marinas at the end of the holiday for recycling).
• Our hire boats are fitted with long life oil filters requiring only one oil change each year, reducing waste petrochemical and filter quantities.
• We use efficient modern diesel engines and encourage hirers to drive the boat responsibly by charging them directly for the actual fuel they use.
• A plentiful supply of hot water is supplied to sinks and showers which is produced as a by-product from the cooling system of the engine.
• Boats are all provided with Ecover washing up liquid and our cleaners use a Diversy Leaver cleaning system. These reduced packaging waste and are completely and immediately biodegradable which has minimum effect on aquatic life and the surrounding environment.
• We endeavour to recycle as much of our waste as is practically possible and constantly look for ways of improving our impact on the environment. Waste from our sites is either pre treated or sorted by the disposing companies.
• Our boat building operations use as many materials as possible from recycled and sustainable sources and we try to fit low energy equipment where possible. We are able to build Eco hulls which limit wash that erodes banks and increases fuel efficiency.