SAIL WITH US AND PROTECT THE REEF
Lindsay is passionate about caring for the beautiful Whitsunday environment.
She is the author and co-author of 11 books. Her latest book, an award-winning book on climate change Following its Dirty Footsteps: Adani won the People’s Choice awards in the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards in 2019.
It is a memoir documenting the battle to stop Australia’s largest coalmine which included a trip to India in 2017 with other environmentalists to lobby against the development of the mine with its catastrophic implications for the future of the Great Barrier Reef already facing five major bleaching events in the past 7 years.
Lindsay is on the management committee of both the inaugural Whales of the Whitsundays and the Whitsunday Conservation Council (she is one of its founding members).
The Whales of the Whitsundays recently successfully lobbied for the Whitsunday region to be recognised as a Whale Heritage Area recognised by the World Cetacean Alliance, only the second listed site to be recognised as such in Australia.
As a member of the Whitsunday Conservation Council, she has been actively involved in a campaign to mount buoys around Pigeon Island urging vessels to Go Slow to look after the dugongs and turtles around the island. She has also been actively involved in launching a project with Whitsunday Regional Council to build the region’s Reef Discovery Centre beginning with an interactive discovery trail showcasing the marine life using augmented reality videos.
Whitsunday Sailing is a High Standard Tourism Operator. This means we operate ecologically sustainably, delivering high-quality reef experiences. Our family-run business helps to protect and present the Marine Park to a consistently high standard and is recognised by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for their commitment and dedication to showcasing and preserving the reef. We are independently certified by environmental certification schemes, Ecotourism Australia and Earth Check, as part of the High Standard Tourism Operator program requirements.
For example, we do not sell bottled water but request our guests to BYO water bottles and we have cold water to refill onboard. We do biodegradable packaging on our food. We recycle all waste that qualifies and we use our sails whenever we can (weather dependant) which does not rely on fossil fuels to get to our beautiful island destinations.
Our vision is to honour and protect the World Heritage UNESCO listed Great Barrier Reef, the only living organism to be seen from space. The biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef is climate change. We pride ourselves on caring about the environment and have been eco-accredited by Ecotourism Australia. We are also Healthy Heart partners with the Whitsunday Regional Council counting our carbon emissions so we can reduce our carbon footprint.
We don’t sell bottled water. We have a minimum of waste onboard and use biodegradable plates and recycled wrapping. We have the latest environmental toilets. We handed back a tourism award because it was sponsored by the coal giant Adani. Best of all – we have a low carbon footprint – we use our sails when we can, which do not rely on fossil fuels to get to our beautiful island destinations.
Want to help protect this beautiful reef? Our latest tailored cruises focus on preserving our coral and reef for future generations. Jump on board and get involved in saving this amazing life and helping it to recover.
WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
Taking care of the environment is not just a passion but a necessity for Whitsunday Sailing. That is why we joined Earth Check’s Whitsunday Regional Council Healthy Heart initiative to measure, manage and report our sustainability performance. What exactly is our carbon footprint?
EarthCheck is the world’s leading scientific benchmarking certification and advisory group for travel and tourism.
So far we are excited to announce that we have benchmarked all of our carbon emissions for the year of 2020. This is not solely recording obvious things like fuel output but also measuring things such as emissions created by crew and passengers travelling to and from our marina and much more.
We will continue to record as much data as possible to keep our company and our community as eco friendly as can be.
Our aim is to become an Earth Check Regional Leader for our industry which requires an exemplary recorded standard of eco performance.
We believe making small changes can lead to incredible results, and will also help us inform our future guests on our upcoming eco tours. Watch this space….