British SUP Club And Starboard Have Come Together To Help The Planet

On September 28th, 324 individuals attended the British SUP Championships event at Bray Lake, England.

Whilst enjoying outdoor events there is a hidden negative effect on the environment that may not come to everyone’s mind straight away. It is more than likely that everyone contributed to adding to the planet’s greenhouse gasses, through the emission of carbon dioxide from travel. Each individual emits carbon dioxide whilst traveling unless walking or cycling. This is why the British SUP Club and Starboard have come together to help the planet.

British SUP Championships. Photo Bray Lake Watersports : Emily Crawshaw

The British SUP Club asked for assistance from Starboard knowing the SUP and Windsurf company have done a lot to reduce and to plant trees to absorb the emissions. Starboard then agreed to sponsor the event by planting enough mangrove trees to make the travel to and from the event carbon neutral. Sequestering all travel emissions for the championships. 81 of these attendees responded to the travel form provided. This travel form allows for the team at Starboard to calculate the emissions of travel. To account for everyone the number of responses was multiplied by 4.

The breakdown of travel.

Car = 60,200 miles (96883 KM) 17.16 tonnes of CO2 Plane = 800 miles (1287.5KM) 0.36 tonnes of CO2 Train = 350 miles (563 KM) 0.02 tonnes of CO2 10% for any inconsistencies = 1.75 Total = 19.29 tonnes of CO2 It is clear to see that car travel is the highest contributor to emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The Crowds Racing At The British SUP Championships. Photo Bray Lake Watersports : Emily Crawshaw

Our planet needs our help as much as possible. We need to reduce the impact we are creating, firstly by reducing our travel emissions. At this year’s British SUP Championships a group of people selected to car share with others who were already driving to the event and another portion selected to take the train. Each of these reducing their impact. Public transport being a great option to reduce your impact! After reducing our impact it is important to find a way to absorb the emissions that have been created. The way Starboard does this is through planting a special tree.

The mangrove tree.

Each mangrove tree absorbs 1 tonne of CO2 within its first 20 years of life. These magic trees absorb 5 times more CO2 than many other trees. Not only this but the roots of the trees also protect the shoreland from heavy storms and land erosion. These magical roots are home to schools of baby fish, with the replantation and protection of these mangroves fish stocks have increased by 50% in the Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park in Myanmar. For the British SUP Championships, 20 mangrove trees will be planted to absorb the 19.29 tonnes of CO2 emitted from the attendees’ travel. Therefore helping with all of the mentioned aspects.

Starboard Team Paddling Through The Mangrove Park In Myanmar. Photo By Trevor Tunnington

Supporting The Industry

Starboard wants to make the planet a better place, to do this the help of everyone is needed. A step the company takes is to sponsor a wide range of events in the industry to become climate neutral or climate positive. This year alone Starboard has sponsored; OutDoor By ISPO, European Freestyle Pro Tour, Head of the Dart and the upcoming Nautic Salon in Paris. The sponsorship of these events aims to inspire, event organizers, participants, and attendees to think about their choices and decisions which ultimately can help or hinder the future of our planet.