Sustainability: Preserving Our Oceans

Sustainability: using a resource so that
the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged

Single-use plastics are polluting the ocean.

Sail Salem is committed to providing environmental stewardship. We have a leave no trace policy both at sea and ashore. We ask instructors, campers, families and all involved with Sail Salem to reduce waste, avoid using single-use plastics (such as bottled water), and prevent toxins from entering our marine habitats.

Sail Salem Has joined the race to restore ocean health and is
a proud member and advocate for Sailors for the Sea.

Please protect our waterways.


An estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enters the marine environment from land-based sources every year — this is roughly equivalent to dumping two garbage trucks full of plastic into the oceans every minute. Tens of thousands of individual marine animals have been observed suffering from entanglement or ingestion of plastics permeating the ocean environment. Plastics are impacting everything from zooplankton and fish to sea turtles, marine mammals and seabirds.

Plastics never go away. Instead, they break into smaller and smaller pieces. Recycling is often presented as a solution to our plastics crisis, but it falls short. Only 9% of all the plastic waste ever created has been recycled.

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.

Boaters see firsthand many of the issues that our oceans face, from pollution which fouls their playground, to overfishing and habitat destruction, which threaten marine life and the source of food for billions of people around the world. Through our solution-oriented programs, we unite a core constituency of sailors and boaters, nearly 12 million strong, whose support helps to win victories to save the world’s oceans.