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Posted by Samina Cabral on Monday, 13 August 2012 in Mother Nature's Water

Row, Row, Row Your Boat with West Marine

The results of the 2012 West Marine’s “Green Product of the Year” contest resulted in a three-way tie funny-pictures-pierre-loved-boating-he-just-hated-the-shirts meaning Entropy's Super Sap epoxy, Torqeedo's Travel 1003 Electric Outboard, and the LEHR Propane Powered Outboard Motor had to share the designation and the $10,000 prize.

Your boating product could sweep the competition in the company’s fourth annual contest which began accepting applications today.

The contest is free and open to individuals, manufacturers, distributors and/or inventors of boating products.

The company has expanded eligibility to include the entire United States; this means residents in Washington DC and Puerto Rico can enter now but not those in Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Canadian residents can enter too, except for residents, in the province of Quebec. These areas have likely been excluded due to local laws that prohibit contests or make them extremely difficult to run the way a company chooses without penalty.

A panel of ten judges, including West Marine executives, will be looking for the products to excel (or meet) requirements in six areas: “effectiveness, economy, environmental impact, degree of innovation, timing, and verification of claims.”

The last criterion is perhaps the most important because it’s what a participant must do to prove the veracity of the product’s environmental impact: “All environmental or efficacy claims must be verifiable and substantiated by an independent third party. Entry must provide actual data, test results, laboratory analyses, etc.”

West Marine is also looking for a cost-efficient (“economy”) and competitive (“effectiveness”) product when comparing it to what is currently available in the market.

The “Green Product of the Year “ contest is a part of West Marine's BlueFuture® initiative: a company-wide program designed to promote marine conservation and safe boating. The program currently awards grants annually in two categories, a Youth Boating and a Marine Conservation. This year’s grants have already been awarded but the application period for the 2013 grants begins in January.

“As a leading marine retailer, we want to use our position to support and promote sustainable innovation in the marine industry," said Matt Hyde, West Marine’s Chairman and founder, and one of the contest’s judges, in a statement this morning.

The application deadline is November 23 and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony during the 2013 Miami International Boat Show next February.

For a complete list of rules and an entry form please visit westmarine.com/green.

Tags: boating, competitions, conservation, consumers, corporate responsibility, green technology, how to go green, marine conservation

Samina Cabral

Samina Cabral is a native Southern Californian who now resides on the shores of Lake Erie in Northeast Ohio. Samina and her husband believe that sustainability starts in the home and try to live their lives as simply as possible without compromising comfort.

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GREEN LIVING TIPS

Turn off your lights
An easy one. Turn off your lights when you are not using them. The benefits are obvious.

1944: Camano Class Light Cargo Ship was laid down for the US Army as FS-289 at Wheeler Shipbuilding in Whitestone, NY.

1945: Delivered to US Army.

1950: Acquired by the US Navy on July 1, 1950 and placed in service as USNS New Bedford (T-AKL-17).

1954: The movie, Mister Roberts, was made on the USNS New Bedford (T-AKL-17).

1955 - 1963: Used as a cargo supply ship for the Texas Towers, a network of advanced radar stations located off the Eastern Seaboard. In 1957, Capt. Sixto Mangual was commander of the AKL-17 and in 1961 it was rechristened the USNS New Bedford. The New Bedford, sailing out of State Pier, was keeping vigil when Texas Tower No. 4 callapsed off the New Jersey coast during a January 1961 nor'easter.

1963: Reclassified as Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX-308).

1971: The New Bedford (IX-308) served as a Torpedo Test Firing Vessel in the Puget Sound area.

1994: Ceremony in New Bedford.

1995: The ship was struck from the Naval Register on April 4.

2004: The Sea Bird's current disposition is a tuna long liner (fishing boat) out of San Diego, CA.

2006: Design of the Tesla Turbine began on June 11, 2006. The Sea Bird was sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for commercial service.