The Barclays Jersey Boat Show is moving towards becoming a more sustainable and environmentally conscious event.
With the Show promoting the marine leisure community and encompassing all things ocean related, it’s our responsibility to adopt greener practices and lead the way in working towards holding an event that is environmentally conscious and provides enjoyment for all, while ensuring that our coastline and waters remain intact for the future enjoyment of all mariners.
As part of our sustainability aims, we will be encouraging all visitors and exhibitors to travel to and from the Show by public transport where viable.
Information for visitors to the Show
Reusable cups
We were delighted to see the return of the Barclays Jersey Boat Show reusable cups in 2025. We are working on plans to make them available again in 2026 as we work hard to remove single-use plastic from the event.
Water hydration station
In partnership once again with Jersey Water, the Barclays Jersey Boat Show will see the addition of water refilling stations located throughout the arena, giving everyone the opportunity to use their own bottles and containers.
Within our plans to make the event free from single use plastics, we’ll be encouraging members of the public to bring their own bottles to the Show, or use the reusable cups at these free hydration stations.
Information for exhibitors
The following information is for exhibitors and outlines some best practices to help reduce the Show’s footprint.
Thank you to all our exhibitors for helping us with our efforts to becoming a more sustainable and environmentally conscious show.
Removing single-use plastic from the Barclays Jersey Boat Show
We’re proud to be working towards making the Barclays Jersey Boat Show a single-use plastic free event – one of the first of its kind in the Channel Islands.
To support this, all caterers will be required to use reusable cups, cutlery, plates, and bowls. We are working on plans to make our popular Boat Show-branded reusable cups available again at all catering outlets.
Here’s what that means in practice:
- No single-use plastic or polystyrene straws, food containers, cups, carrier bags, or cutlery
- All drinks must be supplied in cans, rather than bottles
- Food packaging should be reduced where possible
- Reusable alternatives only for all food and drink service
- Rinse and reuse cups where feasible
- BYO-friendly – we encourage visitors to bring their own containers, cups, and bags
We’d like to thank all our exhibitors who’ve already taken steps to reduce their plastic use. If you haven’t yet made the switch, speak with your suppliers or Plastic Free Jersey about sustainable alternatives.
Cable ties
We encourage all exhibitors to think about the smaller details, like cable ties.
Our beautiful harbour setting means that even small plastic items can easily end up in the water. We are reviewing the use of cable ties, so we’re asking exhibitors to:
- Reduce the number of cable ties used wherever possible
- Consider reusable alternatives such as Velcro straps or bungee cords
- Take responsibility for collecting and properly disposing of any cable ties used during setup or breakdown
We’re actively exploring stronger, eco-friendly alternatives for future events – and we appreciate your help in protecting our marine environment while we get there.
Waste management
As organisers, we’ve been working hard to ensure responsible waste management at the show. Exhibitors should actively minimise waste wherever possible.
Everyone is responsible for leaving their area in a clean, tidy, and respectable state every evening and at the end of the show.
Please remove and appropriately dispose of your own back of house waste. Waste should not be left on site after the show. Adequate waste bins will be placed throughout the show arena and wherever possible, waste should be separated and put into the relevant recycling sections.
Food waste
The Barclays Jersey Boat Show has approximately 20 catering and refreshment traders and welcomes on average 10,000 visitors a day.
Using statistics from Eighth Plate, a UK-based organisation to prevent food waste from live events, we’ve estimated that this year’s show will produce 1,714 meals worth of food waste, producing over 3 tonnes of CO2.
We encourage exhibitors to consider ways of distributing food waste at the end of the show. One way of achieving this could be using the food-donating app, ‘OLIO’. The app allows you to publish any food or items that are going to waste, and members of the public are then able to claim them from your specified location. This is not only great PR for you, but importantly it’s also an opportunity to help others who may benefit from such a worthwhile service.
Banners
Please think carefully about promotional banners produced for the show. Wherever possible, consider non-date specific banners so they can be reused in the future.
Anyone who has banners going to waste after the show are encouraged to contact Plastic Free Jersey who have a partnership agreement with Signtech to upcycle any banners.
Balloons and confetti
While balloons and confetti provide a festive feel to any event, they are not welcome at the Show. We ask exhibitors to consider alternative ways to showcase the stand and products.
Once a balloon bursts, it becomes litter, which can easily make its way into the sea and places where it can cause problems to marine life. Even environmentally-friendly balloons, which will eventually breakdown, do not do so within a timeframe that removes the risk to birds and marine creatures.
Confetti is usually made of small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material. Despite environmentally-friendly versions, we ask all exhibitors to refrain from using any at the show. With the show’s proximity to the marina and harbour, it’s inevitable that amounts will end up in the water and the mess made can be seen for some time afterwards.