Tangle & Travel Village Group: A Partnership We Are Proud Of

Posted on: Tuesday 31st January 2023 by Lily Hall

Travel Village Group and Tangle have partnered together to spread more awareness about sustainability within the cruise industry and what we can do to protect our beautiful oceans. 

Who are Tangle? 

Tangle’s mission is to turn discarded fishing nets that would otherwise entangle and kill marine life, into premium dog products such as dog leads, dog collars, toys and bowl.This in turn, saves marine life. Tangle was born from a desire to save the ocean, we started Tangle to raise awareness of ghost nets and the damage they cause.

From a young age we both loved nature, wildlife and the water. You’d always find us in a rockpool or glued to a David Attenborough documentary. We kept seeing shocking scenes of trapped turtles and wounded whales and yet the focus was always on plastic bottles and straws – which felt silly, as the ghost nets directly entangle and kill marine life.

We decided it was time to do something about it.

Our process:

Gather

We incentivise fishers to exchange their old nets through our partnerships at ports. This reduces the likelihood of dumping overboard out at sea. We sort and collect these end of life nets before making their way to our selected recycling facility.

Recycle

Once these nets arrive, we deconstruct them and sorted into different types of plastics and colours. We wash, shred and separate the material before turning it into 110% recycled green pellets ready to make new products.

Design

For too long sustainability has often meant compromise when it comes to practicality, longevity, and aesthetics. With Tangle, you don’t need to compromise. We design all of our products with the environment top of mind. And (if we can say so ourselves) look half decent too.

Produce

At Tangle we produce the best sustainable dog products. We do this by putting quality and the environment first, with low-impact moulds and green energy used as much as possible. Every product differs slightly in colour & size due to our craft production process and the nets that go into them.

The Future With Tangle 

At Tangle, we prevented 7 tennis courts (1800 sqm) worth of fishing nets becoming ghost nets in 2022. By the end of 2023 we want to stop 526 tennis courts (137,800 sqm) worth of fishing nets becoming ghost nets. In the future, we want to create a real impact in all areas of the world by actively removing ghost net material from the oceans. We recycle these into products, as well as educating communities about the ghost net problem and how they can help.

Why this is a perfect partnership:

For the Travel Village Group, and for the cruise industry as a whole, sustainability is a core focus. In recent years there have been numerous changes to the way ships have been built, and onboard practices; keeping the impact on the environment firmly at the forefront of everything they develop. In fact, you could say that the Cruise Industry is leading the way in the fight to be the most sustainable way to holiday.

There has been a heavy investment into the development of new fuels and technologies to create more sustainable vessels. Multiple newer ships are powered by LNG. This is one of the cleanest burning, non-electric marine fuels, which reportedly reduces sulphur emissions by as much as 99%. Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas is one of the most sustainable cruise ships on the seas. This was showcased on the Channel 4 TV show “Billion Pound Cruise”. It is a zero-landfill ship suggesting all waste onboard gets recycled.

Onboard the ship is a vast recycling centre. The crew bring waste 24 hours a day, every day, and is manned by the ship’s very own environmental officer. It houses an industrial sized bottle and tin crusher and handles food waste which gets composted on shore. Even the water on board this vessel gets recycled in the purification plant. Bacteria in used water is neutralised with UV light to then be used for operational purposes.

The President and CEO of CLIA, Kelly Craighead said, “Innovation and engineering are at the heart of the industry’s vision for net zero carbon cruising. The cruise industry continues to lead the way by investing billions to incorporate new technologies, accelerate development of sustainable marine fuels—in particular, engines capable of using sustainable marine fuels—and enable shoreside electricity connectivity on existing and new ships. These are the fundamental building blocks for the decarbonisation of global shipping, and we are acting now for the future.”

Onboard changes

There have also been significant onboard changes such as the removal of single-use plastics, such as plastic straws, and the elimination of balloon drop parties. Both are big steps towards reducing plastic marine waste. Alongside underlining the efforts the cruise lines are making, it encourages an education of the guest onboard too. If they see how beautiful the ocean can be, they will be more conscious about protecting it and enjoying it in a sustainable way.

Similarly, Virgin Voyages introduced ‘The Band’, a sleek wearable technology that is made with recycled ocean plastics. It is their version of a ship pass, a hands and wallet-free way to access cabins, make onboard purchases and lots more. This continues their commitment to Epic Sea Change For All and contains 6 grams of marine and coastal plastic in each keepsake.

The cruise industry directly impacts the marine environment. Together, Travel Village Group and Tangle are working together to shine a light on what we can do to become more sustainable.

Read more about Tangle and their Mission online! Plus, for an exclusive saving on selected products, use code:

TRAVELVILLAGE20

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