Published on: 25 August 2021
A sustainable transition is mission critical, but it is easy to be overwhelmed with the scale of the challenge and where to even begin.
In response, The 11th Hour Racing Team (a professional offshore sailing team working on collaborative solutions for ocean health) has released a suite of guides, tools and templates called the Toolbox. Created for the purpose of establishing a sustainability program within any organisation, no matter the size or industry sector.
11th Hour Racing Team CEO, Mark Towill (USA) says: “This is about putting values into practice.”
Towill is a professional sailor who also manages the business and commercial delivery for the offshore sailing team and has sailed around the world twice competing at the top levels of the sport internationally.
“Value-driven businesses need to be economically viable, socially responsible and leave a positive impact on the environment. Our experience is that often organisations struggle to understand the environmental piece and specifically how to create lasting impact. Through a pilot programme, collaboration between our in-house team as well as industry experts in the sustainability and communications spaces, we have created The Sustainability Toolbox, which we hope can serve as a starting point for organisations of all types as they embark on their sustainability journey,” he added.
The Toolbox is split into eight ‘How-to’ guides that are supported by dedicated case studies, covering different topics from identification of issues, progress assessment and engagement of stakeholders, to reporting and communications. The templates will support users to draft their sustainability programs, and the trackers will help measure an organisation’s social impacts, waste, water, and carbon footprint.
The opportunity for the team to provide a supporting framework for peers and the wider community is part of the team’s net positive approach. Sustainability Officer Amy Munro explains, “We are in the fortunate position where we are supported by our sponsor, 11th Hour Racing, to not only focus on our sporting performance, but also to have sustainability at the core of all areas of our operations. From the alternative materials innovations and build practices for our new race boat being built in France, to minimising our impact as we move around the world; our work with legacy grantees in each stopover, to the clothing that we wear. We have the determination to leave a positive impact with a regenerative approach.”
The long-term vision for the Sustainability Toolbox is to create a collaborative community, through the Creative Commons approach, a licence to grant the public permission to use and, importantly, to develop the Sustainability Toolbox resources under copyright law.
Speaking at The Ocean Summit in Genoa, Towill shared the vision: “From a business perspective, there are competitive advantages and a strong business case to being a purpose-driven leader. Alone we can do a little, but collectively we can achieve so much. Our goal is to establish sustainable business practices as the new norm within the marine industry and beyond. We hope the Sustainability Toolbox can help others put these skills into play while forming a strong community of collaborators all working together for an entirely new way of doing business.”
To find out more on how to establish a sustainability programme, please head to the Toolbox website here.