Wooden boat culture is founded on renewable resources, repair and maintenance, and long-term thinking—we want our oceans to be healthy places to play, learn, and live for us and the marine wildlife that depend on them for generations to come.

We know there's a lot to do and understand that sustainability goes well beyond caring for our environment, but we remain committed to improving our sustainability practices here at Wooden Boat Festival. We can't do it alone, which is why we want to invite the Wooden Boat Festival community to actively engage and participate in our journey towards a more sustainable Wooden Boat Festival.

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” – Anne Marie Bonneau, The Zero Waste Chef

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” – Anne Marie Bonneau, The Zero Waste Chef

Why it Matters

As people who live and work by the sea, we’re feeling the impacts of climate change and pollution on the places we call home.

  • Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into our oceans.
  • Plastics, toxins, and entanglements are just a few of the major threats to orca populations worldwide.
  • 1 in 3 fish caught for human consumption contains plastic.
  • More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year.
  • 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs.

Wooden boat culture is founded on renewable resources, repair and maintenance, and long-term thinking—we want our oceans to be healthy places to play, learn, and live for us and the marine wildlife that depend on them for generations to come.

Why it Matters

As people who live and work by the sea, we’re feeling the impacts of climate change and pollution on the places we call home.

  • Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into our oceans.
  • Plastics, toxins, and entanglements are just a few of the major threats to orca populations worldwide.
  • 1 in 3 fish caught for human consumption contains plastic.
  • More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year.
  • 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs.

Wooden boat culture is founded on renewable resources, repair and maintenance, and long-term thinking—we want our oceans to be healthy places to play, learn, and live for us and the marine wildlife that depend on them for generations to come.

Doing Our Part

Over the past 6 years, we have worked hard to eliminate single-use plastic from the Wooden Boat Festival; we’ve done away with plastic bottles, cups, straws, and utensils, and we’ve established a robust multi-stream recycling program. This year we are collaborating with Sailors for the Sea and seeking a Platinum Certification in their Clean Regattas program to help make our commitment to minimizing waste even stronger.

Students for Sustainability from the Port Townsend High School, Olympic Organics, Laura Tucker from Jefferson Landfill, and our dedicated Festival Grounds Team who have helped us develop a program that’s viable and scalable. 

Doing Our Part

Over the past 6 years, we have worked hard to eliminate single-use plastic from the Wooden Boat Festival; we’ve done away with plastic bottles, cups, straws, and utensils, and we’ve established a robust multi-stream recycling program. This year we are collaborating with Leave No Trace to help make our commitment to minimizing waste even stronger.

Students for Sustainability from the Port Townsend High School, Olympic Organics, Laura Tucker from Jefferson Landfill, and our dedicated Festival Grounds Team who have helped us develop a program that’s viable and scalable. 

Our Part

Wooden Boat Festival Over the past 5 years, we have worked hard to eliminate single-use plastic from the Wooden Boat Festival; we’ve done away with plastic bottles, cups, straws, and utensils, and we’ve established a robust multi-stream recycling program. This year we are taking the next step by standing up a Festival-wide composting program for all our food waste, service items, and more in close collaboration with our food vendors.

We are so grateful to Students for Sustainability from the Port Townsend High School, Olympic Organics, Laura Tucker from Jefferson Landfill, and our dedicated Festival Grounds Team who have helped us develop a program that’s viable and scalable. 

Doing Your Part—It's easy!

#1: Reduce CO2

Ride your bike—we have a bike barn! Carpool! Arrive by kayak!

#2: Reuse

Bring a reusable water bottle and use our water filling stations.

#3: Recycle

Use the recycling bins—put the right stuff in the right bin!

#4: Protect

Help us keep waste of any kind out of the water at Point Hudson and beyond!

#5: Learn

Visit the Green Boating Stage and Innovation Area to learn about ways to decrease your impact while enjoying the sea.

These partners are helping keep our waters clean.

Visit them at the Wooden Boat Festival!

Sailors for the Sea – sailorsforthesea.org
Sailors for the Sea Powered by Oceana is the world’s leading ocean conservation organization that engages, educates, and activates the sailing and boating community toward restoring ocean health.

WA State Sea Grant – wsg.washington.edu
Offering free pump outs, adapters, and pads for oil spills, they make environmentalism easy!

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance – pugetsoundkeeper.org
Clean-up days in kayaks are just one of the fun ways they are working to protect and preserve our waters!

Marine Resources Committee – jeffersonmrc.org
An organization committed to protecting and restoring our marine resources!

Marine Stewardship Council – msc.org
Supporting healthy oceans, food security, and preserving livelihoods for a better tomorrow.

WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife – wdfw.wa.gov
Keeping our fish and shellfish healthy and in abundance!