Red Goes Green’ is the name given to ferry firm Red Funnel’s new long-term environmental strategy launched this week.

The company iseeking to reduce emissions, increase recycling rates, cut waste and packaging and encouraging sustainable travel.

Many of the ideas will require testing and MV Red Falcon will be used for this purpose.

To raise public awareness, the ship has been rebranded with a green funnel and logo and the main passenger thoroughfare on B Deck will shortly display information about the measures being taken and how the public can get involved.

Fran Collins, Red Funnel’s CEO commented: “Environmental protection and sustainability has been part of our brand ethos for many years. In the mid-90’s, we voluntarily switched to using less-polluting low-Sulphur fuel which recently became mandatory in UK waters and in 2011 we were also one of first ferry companies to achieve ISO 14001 accreditation in recognition of our processes and systems to protect the environment.”

The Red goes Green strategy includes:

Discounts for electric vehicles

Red Funnel will be one of the first ferry companies in the world to offer a discount for pure electric vehicles. Up to March 31, 2019, the owners of pure electric cars/small vans can receive a 25 per cent discount when pre-booking online.

Biofuel

From early October, the main engines and generators on Red Falcon will operate exclusively on Green-D Bio-Fuel. Red Funnel expects to see a significant reduction in the amount of Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide and soot particles in the exhaust gases which is good news for the environment. The long-term trial, one of the first in the marine sector, will help determine the impact on reliability and fuel consumption.

Anti-idling campaign

Red Funnel is up-weighting its anti-idling campaign to politely encourage more private and commercial customers not to idle their engines when waiting to board or disembark from the ferries.

Single use plastics and coffee cups

Red Funnel is striving to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of single-use plastics in unison with the IW Council’s plastic-free Island campaign. Plastic straws, cutlery and plates have already been replaced and a reusable hot drinks mug made from recycled material will be retailed shortly.

Isle of Wight Beach Clean

As part of this year’s Isle of Wight Day, Red Funnel is donating £15,000 to support the clean-up of the Island’s entire coastline this weekend.