By Isle of Wight ObserverRed Funnel’s new long-term environmental strategy was announced on Monday (September 17).
Dubbed, Red Goes Green, the strategy introduces a discount for electric vehicles and other green schemes including reducing plastic waste and beach clean ups.
The scheme seeks to showcase the “environmental successes” of recent years and highlight a wide range of new green initiatives.
With a focus on improving air quality, increasing recycling rates, reducing waste & packaging and encouraging sustainable travel, many of the ideas will require testing and MV Red Falcon will be used for this purpose.
To raise public awareness, the ship has been rebranded with a green funnel and logo and the main passenger thoroughfare on B Deck will shortly display information about the measures being taken and how the public can get involved.
Below are Red Funnel’s new green initiatives:
Discounts for electric vehicles
Red Funnel will be one of the first ferry companies in the world to offer a discount for pure electric vehicles. Initially in place for bookings between now and the end of this year, for travel up to 31 March 2019, the owners of pure electric cars/small vans can enjoy a 25% discount when pre-booking online at redfunnel.co.uk/electric
Biofuel
From early October, the main engines and generators on Red Falcon will operate exclusively on Green-D Bio-Fuel. Red Funnel expects to see a significant reduction in the amount of Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide and soot particles in the exhaust gases which is good news for the environment. The long-term trial, one of the first in the marine sector, will help determine the impact, if any, on maintenance regimes, reliability and fuel consumption.
Anti-idling campaign
In partnership with Southampton’s Clean Air Network, environmental charity ‘tec’ and a local school, Red Funnel is up-weighting its anti-idling campaign to politely encourage more private and commercial customers not to idle their engines when waiting to board or disembark from the ferries. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the issues and improve the air-quality for customers and staff working at the terminals and on-board as well as those living and working in Southampton and East Cowes. See redfunnel.co.uk/anti-idling
Single use plastics and coffee cups
Red Funnel is striving to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of single-use plastics in unison with the IW Council’s plastic-free Island campaign. Plastic straws, cutlery and plates have already been replaced with eco friendly alternatives and a reusable hot drinks mug made from recycled material will be retailed shortly. A discount on hot beverages is also available to customers who bring their own travel mug.
Isle of Wight Beach Clean
As part of this year’s Isle of Wight Day, Red Funnel is donating £15,000 to support the clean-up of the Island’s entire coastline over the weekend of (September 22-23) and has published some attractive ferry offers to encourage beach-clean volunteers from the mainland to help with this mammoth task. Red Funnel staff will also be removing plastic and other litter from the beach at Ventnor and Steephill Cove on Saturday (September 22).
