What do you get, when you cross the leading manufacturer of wind turbines with one of the toughest sailor races in the world? You get the most sustainable team, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race.
Apart from winning the race, the major goal of this team was to show that you can be sustainable in every aspect and still be competitive.
So, how was the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team sustainable? And what role did Sprout pencils play in this mission:
Workshops:
The Sprout pencils were used as gifts to the guests – mainly kids and young people who attended the workshops about sustainability in every harbor that the team stopped by.
Carbon footprint:
The team tracked their carbon footprint and reduced it in various ways. By adopting “Meatless Mondays”, the team reduced their carbon footprint by 2.72 tonnes and prevented the use of 671,000 liters of water. 92% of the team’s accommodations were within walking, biking, or public transport distance from the race villages. And finally, they supported Seagrass Grow, a program of the Ocean Foundation. Seagrass is up to 35x more effective than Amazonian rainforests in their carbon uptake and storage abilities.
Donations:
The team awarded $120,000 in grant funding to local environmental organizations ($10,000 at each stopover) to support and raise awareness to the incredible efforts happening worldwide to restore ocean health.
Trash removal:
The team removed 212 kilos of trash from beaches. And one of their grantees, Healthy Seas, removed 2.1 tons of abandoned fishing gear in the Southern Ocean.
Thank you for inviting us on this journey!
At Sprout World, we are proud of being part of the world’s most sustainable team, and we are happy to contribute to the important task of educating the next generations to leave a positive impact on the planet.
Photo credit: Atila Madrona