Contact:

Dave White, New York Sea Grant, Recreation/Tourism Specialist, P: 315.312.3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu

Rochester, NY, July 8, 2013 - Boaters can practice environmentally friendly boating by following a few simple steps. For this edition of Going Green, Your News Now’s Terry Ettinger has more.

“The first thing boaters can do is to make sure their boat is in good working order. They have the engine tuned, that they make sure they’re not allowing any product that’s supposed to be on the boat from going overboard. So, they have a well-tuned, well-maintained, well-managed boat is the first thing they have to do,” said New York Sea Grant's Recreation/Tourism Specialist Dave White.

There are also several new products that can help boaters help the environment.

“What I have here is a fuel nozzle bib, which is placed over the nozzle of your fuel tank, either in your boat or the fuel tank if it’s an off-board tank. This will make sure that any gas that’s being splashed will be caught. This (gas fuel bib) absorbs all of the petroleum to make sure no gas goes overboard,” said White.

Another helpful device is called a bilge sock. It goes on the bottom of your boat.

“And it will absorb any petroleum product that either leaks out or drips from the engine or the fuel tank. It only absorbs petroleum products, not water. So, you turn your bilge on, the only thing going out is clean water, making sure you’re not putting any petroleum products overboard into the waterways of Upstate New York,” said White.

Bilge socks and fuel nozzle bibs aren’t required but more and more people are using them.

“Many marinas and other areas aren’t requiring these items, but recommending them and many will actually give them to boaters so they’ll have them on board to help them be good stewards of the resource and help keep our waterways clean and safe,” said White.

For more on this topic, check out the video clip.



And there's more "NYSG Great Lakes Boating & Marine Trades" News available via the "News/Topics" link in the left-hand sidebar at www.nyseagrant.org/marina.

The YNN channel, based in Syracuse, telecasts two separate program feeds, one to Central/Northern New York; one to the Southern Tier. YNN is available to nearly 600,000 cable subscribers across a 25-county, 15,000 square mile area.

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, which, in 2014, merges with the program's e-newsletter, Currents. NY Coastlines is published several times a year.