Sustainable Boating Practices

While boating is an enjoyable activity for people of all ages, it can do some real damage to the surrounding environment if you aren’t careful. As a boater, it’s important to do everything you can to keep the ecosystems that you boat in healthy and clean so that they can be savored by generations to come.

It’s not too hard to be a green boater if you know what to do. Nisswa Marine has been your Nisswa Lake boat dealer since the 1930s and we’re happy to help you in any way we can. Here are some tips to help you protect the environment so that you can be a more responsible boater.

1. Gather Up Trash & Recycling

Littering is a very common cause of water pollution, and you’ve no doubt heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that mars the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Trash takes a long time to break down; even organic matter like an orange peel can take up to two years to completely decompose! Plastics are, of course, the worst offender, taking over 500 years to break down, which is why so many of our waterways are clogged with the stuff.

Keep secure trash and recycling bins on your boat and encourage all your passengers to make use of them. Never throw anything over the side of your boat. Be wary of windy conditions that can blow things like food wrappers and napkins into the water. Dispose of all trash and recycling securely on land when you return to dock.

2. Don’t Use As Many Chemicals

There are a lot of chemicals that boaters often use that can really damage the environment when they enter the water of a lake or river. For example, anti-fouling paint is commonly used to prevent organisms from growing on the hull of a boat, but it’s usually full of toxic metals and metalloids like arsenic, copper and mercury, which can get into fish and people in the water. Avoid using this paint if possible or find a greener alternative.

When cleaning your boat, avoid using chlorine, phosphates and ammonia. Gentle cleaners like vinegar, borax and baking soda are best. When scrubbing or sanding your boat, collect all scrapings and dispose of them correctly rather than allowing them to soak into the soil. A good rinse after every boat trip will help to reduce the amount of cleaning you’ll have to do, so try to get into the habit of doing this.

3. Contain Fuel & Other Solvents

Maintain your boat’s engine and battery to keep them from leaking chemicals into the water like oil, battery acid, coolant or fuel. Before you pump your bilge, check it for oil, and install a bilge sock to catch fluids. If you do spill oil or fuel in the water, soak it up with an absorbent pad and immediately have your boat repaired to prevent it from polluting again. The service department here at Nisswa Marine will be more than happy to address your issues!

4. Be Careful When Around Wildlife

You’ll need to be vigilant when boating amid wildlife so that you don’t catch your propeller or any other part of your boat on something. Try to grant larger animals a wide berth when moving through the water. When hunting or fishing, only do these activities in approved waters and never hunt or fish for endangered species.

5. Buy a New Boat

While older boats have a lot to offer, the truth is that they are often not as fuel efficient or as green as you might like them to be. Boat manufacturers are always coming up with new technologies that help their boats to run more cleanly and produce less waste. Also, older boats may have more toxic materials used in their construction that can leach into the surrounding waters, but a newer boat will be built with materials and substances that adhere to higher environmental standards. 

We hope these tips help you to boat more sustainably no matter where you go. Looking to buy a boat that’s more eco-friendly? Check out our website to see our full stock of new and used boats for sale at our dealership in Nisswa, MN. We even provide financing options to help you fund your purchase, as well as trade-in values in case you want to sell your old boat to us. Nisswa Marine proudly serves the greater Minneapolis metropolitan area as well as the city of St. Cloud, MN.