Sustainable Maritime Interiors - 2022 Report

6 There needs to be some leverage with government regulations to enable us to offload material and upcycle it. Right now, most regulations require us to offload furniture and ensure it can’t be stolen or end up in a restaurant or someone’s home – which means we must be sure it’s broken down as garbage. The current situation is heartbreaking and there must be a better way. We’ve found ways to do little things in the past and we will continue to search for new opportunities, but we need a big solution and this depends on persuading the decision makers to understand our problems and be engaged in helping us in this regard. This has been difficult to do because there hasn’t been a centralised organisation that is focused on setting industry-wide sustainable interiors best practices and that works towards solving our biggest challenges. As they return to business following the Covid-19 pandemic, brands are now more eager to retain perfectly good material that might have previously been discarded from their ships. We are more motivated to avoid spending cash on things if we can – and suppliers are similarly motivated. Some are now talking about finding temporary storage at the yard so they can take back their worn materials and ship them back to their factories for repair, reuse or recycling. But they need help to set up the logistical framework, with whatever legislative support it needs. There are numerous supplier-motivated initiatives underway and conversations are happening on a small scale. But we need to inspire more people to have these conversations and solve the problems that are preventing us from achieving really positive results for the environment. Everyone applauds what IMO does to protect lives and prevent pollution but it too can have a role in supporting our efforts to build more sustainable maritime interiors. If we can find a way to have dialogue with IMO about the unique circumstances of passenger ship interiors, the organisation will very likely have some important guidance about how we can find an easier path to both big and small sustainability wins. The built environment on land is supported by international building schemes like US Green Building Council, BREEAM and others. The cruise industry doesn’t have a consistent, standardised best practice framework to build sustainable ships and IMO would be an important partner in setting one up. Likewise, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has an important role to play as a cruise industry body as does Interferry for the ferry sector. We’re emerging from the pandemic with so much more in common with land-based and aviation design. Residential, commercial, hospitality and healthcare design are all merging now and we’re sharing principles and ideas, resources and materials, and much more. Good design is good design, wherever it is found. And good sustainable design is the same on land, at sea or in the air. The reality is that industry decisions, not just in shipping, are driven by regulation and money (cost or revenue). There are very few people now that would disagree with our efforts to become more sustainable, but a big response will only come if it’s supported by regulation and money. INTRODUCT ION

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