Greening the West Boathouse
Rowing is an aquatic sport, reliant on clean water. While there have been huge improvements in water quality along the River Clyde over the past few decades, pollution, littering and bio-hazards can all have serious implications for the health and wellbeing of rowers (as well as our scaly, furry and feathery friends).
The West Boathouse project offered an opportunity to review and rethink environmental practices as clubs and tenants of a refurbished historic building. Beginning over the 2020 Covid lockdown, a small group of volunteers from Clydesdale ARC Juniors co-designed an in-depth survey of rowing club members from across Scotland to canvas appetites for a Green Policy and gather suggestions for ways to improve practice and encourage the rowing community to take a more active role in safeguarding the river.
This formed the basis of the West Boathouse Green Policy, which the clubs have now adopted. Since then, we have undertaken collaborative litter picks with the Marine Conservation Society, Keep Scotland Beautiful, and several corporate groups, as well as running our first major eco-friendly event, (the Up The Watter opening celebration) and beginning to implement recommendations from the policy.
