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REAF aims to create a true win-win story. Most of us enjoy being out on the sea for a days fishing, or maybe taking a luxury cruise, but in doing so we can leave a negative environmental 'footprint'
Consider these:
Boats use ten times more petrol or diesel per kilometer traveled than cars.
The noise from our outboards travels much further underwater than in air, and can disrupt marine mammal navigation.
Our anchors and chains tear and disturb the seabed habitat.
In New Zealand we have taken lead out of petrol but still not out of our sinkers.
Sonar technology allows us to find and target marine life as never before.
Leaching antifoul paints are designed to be toxic to marine life.
There is now a sea of plastic waste resident in the Pacific Ocean.
Dumping sewage closer than 500m to any marine farm is illegal.
Land waste, fertilisers and toxic sprays eventually end up in the sea.
After considering the above you may decide that you have created a negative marine 'footprint'.
REAF now offers a way for you to offset some of this footprint in a directly related and practical way.
- Marine reef modules are designed to help grow and enhance marine life. Some of the carbon sequestered by fish growth eventually sinks to the ocean floor.
- Micro algae that attach to the concrete surface are 20 times more efficient in the fixation of carbon dioxide than their unattached counterparts.
- A one metre hemisphere of concrete reef can sequester one ton of concrete a year.
With every Green Gift purchase you receive a personalised Certificate showing your total Marine Life Credits and the GPS location of the module(s) that you have purchased. You can enter the coordinates into Google Earth and share it with friends.
All prices quoted are in New Zealand dollars and include
NZ taxes, all materials,
module construction, concrete curing, module deployment and compliance costs.
Currently REAF does not try and quantify your marine activity and the offsetting Marine Life Credits you might require. This is left entirely to you, your personal situation and inner prompting's.
If you are an International traveler you can check out 'Trees for Travellers' flight Carbon Dioxide emissions calculator which might give you food for thought.
You are welcome to display the REAF Green Gift Certificate we issue and we trust it will help serve as a feel good item and discussion piece for you.
If you are a commercial operation we hope the REAF Certificate will convey a positive message to your clients.
In New Zealand we are now paying carbon tax on many items like petrol, household gas and electricity.
REAF believes that carbon sequestion in the sea is going to be a huge part of managing our planets global warming. Both concrete made from seawater and carbon fixation by attached microalgae are seen as two key players in this field, with the added bonus of more excellent seafood protein being available.
For the first time a financial return from reef building and deployment work could become available. Watch this space.
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