Seafarers set out on sustainability challenge
Through its partnership with WWF-Canada, Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) has been working to influence the general shipping community by providing environmental leadership in minimizing its impact and making shipping even more sustainable.
As part of Canada Steamship Line’s 2014 Environmental Sustainability Strategy, the Company developed a five-year action plan to reach its long-term sustainability goals. One of the key pillars in implementing and achieving these goals is Employee Involvement. To bring this goal to life, CSL’s green committee has been working with WWF’s Living Planet @ Work team to activate ideas throughout the year to engage employees across all areas of the organization on sustainability. Stephanee tells us more about the unique and exciting challenge they launched aimed at seafarers that the committee launched this past Spring.
Written by Stephanee Legault
Today, Canada Steamship Lines operates 20 vessels on the Great Lakes and employs hundreds of captains, chief engineers and seafarers. To improve the Company’s environmental footprint and fully engage ship-side employees, CSL launched its first-ever Ship Efficiency Challenge this past March.
Aimed at crew members who have first-hand experience in vessel operations, the Challenge taps into their unique expertise and skill-set to uncover initiatives and ideas that can have immediate and significant impact onboard vessels.
The objective of the Ship Efficiency Challenge? Find valuable ideas from seafarers on ways to reduce CSL’s environmental footprint based on:
- Procedural changes or new procedures set in place (i.e. new way to recycle on board waste, purchase food with less packaging, etc);
- Retrofits and upgrades to current equipment; or
- Investment in new equipment.
Back in March, CSL put out a call to seafarers for ideas. Along with that they developed a support system to provide feedback to participants prior to the challenge deadline. A judging panel has also been named to review and assess submissions, the key criteria being creativity, environmental impact and ease of implementation across all vessels and more.
Rewards for the winning idea? Participants in the Ship Efficiency Challenge have the chance to win a trip to Churchill, Manitoba with WWF staff. Here, the winners will have the opportunity to witness polar bears in their natural habitat, go on a tundra buggy adventure, view the Northern Lights, and learn about polar bear and Arctic conservation initiatives. The winners will also have the chance to be involved in the implementation of their idea with the full support of CSL’s technical team.
Ideas received so far, vary from new recycling initiatives, to reduction of equipment usage, to the implementation of hot/cold air exchanges and more!
As the ideas come in, CSL’s technical team is enthusiastically welcoming the prospect of getting started on some of these projects. The Challenge, the first of its kind at CSL, is not only important to CSL because of the positive environmental impact the new ideas will generate, but it also supports employee engagement and defines what it is to be a CSLer!
Stephanee Legault is a green champion at CSL, working with WWF’s Living Planet @ Work team to implement initiatives within the Company’s Employee Involvement and Sustainability Strategy.
