Carbon Conscious Cruising

At Chalice Charters, we try to take a responsible attitude toward environmental issues and run our business ethically. We recycle waste products, we keep engines and machinery well maintained so that it runs efficiently, we buy local produce and communicate electronically where possible to minimise on paper useage.

We can't deny that we generate carbon dioxide in delivering our holidays. Even though the engines on Chalice are quite 'mean' with the deisel that they burn, we feel that as we're enjoying ourselves in an amazing natural environment, whatever we can do to to minimise any negative impact we may have is worthwhile. This got us thinking about what we could do to lower our impact on the environment due to the carbon dioxide that we create in the delivery of your holidays. Although we realise that the problem is a global one, we want to try and contribute on a more parochial level and find something worthwhile that we can do to make a real contribution toward a real problem.

In 2008 we were introduced to an initiative run by the charity Trees for Life. The aim of the organisation is to re-establish the Caledonian forest which once covered over 1.5million hectares and is now reduced to only 1% of this area. Trees are the 'lungs' of our planet and a crucial natural resource, absorbing the harmful CO2 gas that is a major contributor to global warming. We feel that thisorganisation supports and sustains the natural environment in a realistic way, and that we can promote its aims in line with our own promotion of the natural environment.

We therefor decided to establish a grove of trees in the Caledonian Forest with Trees for Life. But the great thing is that this is only the start of the initiative - as we take bookings for holidays, we will continue to plant trees in 'our' grove and give you the opportunity to match our contribution with a tree - or trees - of your own.  You can read more about Trees for Life on their website - www.treesforlife.org.uk

It is important to point out that we're not suporting this initiative to justify the fossil-fuel intensive lifestyle and culture that we all life in, but as a proactive response to a problem that we cannot change immediately. We all need to be aware of the cause and effects of global warming and realise that we can all take positive steps to minimise our contribution to the pollution of our planet.

How we calculated our impact....

This was the tricky bit! With a bit of delving into the internet, reading who-says-what-and-why, we came up with the following, which is our best estimate based on information available:

Each litre of marine diesel burned generates 2.7Kg of carbon dioxide.

The total fuel burn (per trip) provides heat, light and transportation (not to mention tea and coffee!) for up to sixteen persons for up to nine days. Working on a seven day inner Hebrides cruise with, say twelve persons on board, this equates to roughly 180Kg of CO2 per person. Let's call this 250Kg to allow for fluctuations in numbers and the fact that unless you walked to Oban, you needed transportation of some sort to get you there!

A longer trip to St Kilda or the Outer Isles would use roughly twice as much fuel due to the longer distances travelled. So for an Outer Isles or St Kilda trip, each person on board would contribute towards the generation of 400Kg of CO2.

Roughly, 1000kg of tree will absorb 1000kg of carbon dioxide.

What we propose....

...is that for every booking that we take, we will add one tree to the 'Chalice Charters' grove in the Caledonian forest. If you'd like to add a tree - or trees - then you can either make a small donation up-front when you book (by far the easiest way) or 'do your own thing' and contact Trees for Life directly by using this link. You may already make a contribution to a similar initiative in which is fantastic - please don't feel that you have to support this particular organisation. The main thing is that we all realise that we are jointly responsible for the generation of 'Greenhouse Gasses' and that we all need to adopt a more responsible attitude towards this.