Cruises are very popular on the West Coast. They are a relaxed way to enjoy the pristine coast, the fresh air, the wildlife. Are you aware, however, that cruise ships are heavily polluting and hardly regulated? Canadian regulations are practically non-existent, and more relaxed than the United States’.
It is left up to each company to upgrade what they want. Ships routinely dump oily bilge water, food waste, graywater, sludge, garbage, and, yes, toilet sewage too. Companies differ in their level of polluting and ships in each company differ as well. The best thing you can do is choose a ship that minimally pollutes.
Get a hold of these facts - how could cruise ships not pollute?
• Your average cruise ship travelling in B.C. carries 3,000 passengers and crew!!
• About 300 cruise ships travel between B.C. and Alaska per year
• Per year that’s about one million passengers and about 12,000 crew
• These ships’ emissions and discharges are virtually unmonitored, and their wastewater is virtually untreated
• Now you do the math!
• Besides the serious pollution of marine environments, there is also air pollution, and beach pollution when all the junk washes ahore -- don’t go swimming when you dock!
• The incinerators and the high-sulphur fuel used discharge 3 times more carbon emissions than aircraft, trains, and passenger ferries
• The contamination of marine environments with bacteria, contaminates shellfish -- don’t eat shellfish when you come home!
Six years ago, Schwartzenegger put a definite end to cruise ship dumping in California waters. Why can’t Canada do the same? Why can’t we protect the Georgia Straight and the Inside Passage?
Get all your facts before you book, to truly have a peaceful vacation. Check out these sources:
The Canadian organization Georgia Strait Alliance:
http://georgiastrait.org/
Oceana, http://www.oceana.ca/en and
Friends of the Earth with their excellent Cruise Ship Report Card, to help you choose the best ship:
http://www.foe.org/cruise-report-card
Happy Cruising!
ECO-audit.ca Your green blueprint
It is left up to each company to upgrade what they want. Ships routinely dump oily bilge water, food waste, graywater, sludge, garbage, and, yes, toilet sewage too. Companies differ in their level of polluting and ships in each company differ as well. The best thing you can do is choose a ship that minimally pollutes.
Get a hold of these facts - how could cruise ships not pollute?
• Your average cruise ship travelling in B.C. carries 3,000 passengers and crew!!
• About 300 cruise ships travel between B.C. and Alaska per year
• Per year that’s about one million passengers and about 12,000 crew
• These ships’ emissions and discharges are virtually unmonitored, and their wastewater is virtually untreated
• Now you do the math!
• Besides the serious pollution of marine environments, there is also air pollution, and beach pollution when all the junk washes ahore -- don’t go swimming when you dock!
• The incinerators and the high-sulphur fuel used discharge 3 times more carbon emissions than aircraft, trains, and passenger ferries
• The contamination of marine environments with bacteria, contaminates shellfish -- don’t eat shellfish when you come home!
Six years ago, Schwartzenegger put a definite end to cruise ship dumping in California waters. Why can’t Canada do the same? Why can’t we protect the Georgia Straight and the Inside Passage?
Get all your facts before you book, to truly have a peaceful vacation. Check out these sources:
The Canadian organization Georgia Strait Alliance:
http://georgiastrait.org/
Oceana, http://www.oceana.ca/en and
Friends of the Earth with their excellent Cruise Ship Report Card, to help you choose the best ship:
http://www.foe.org/cruise-report-card
Happy Cruising!
ECO-audit.ca Your green blueprint