West Marine Awards Honor ‘Green’ Products

Byline: The Log Staff

WATSONVILLE — West Marine selected three innovative and environmentally friendly products in its annual “Green Product of the Year” awards competition. Epoxy made from biodiesel waste, as well as electric and propane outboard engines, took home the honors.

This year’s winners include Entropy’s Super Sap epoxy, Torqeedo’s Travel 1003 Electric outboard engine and Lehr propane-powered outboard engines. All three share the product of the year honor and the $10,000 prize.

The products were picked by a panel of judges from various companies, including Stan Honey, ocean racing navigator and founder of Etak and SportVision; Dr. Randy Kochevar of Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station; Mike Sutton, vice president of Monterey Bay Aquarium; Bill Lee, owner of Wizard Yacht Sales; Jim Leishman, owner/vice-president of Nordhavn Yachts; Margaret Podlich, president of BoatU.S.; Dr. Laura Strohm, president of Strohm Sustainability Consulting; Randy Repass, chairman and founder of West Marine; Ron Japinga, executive vice president of merchandising at West Marine; and Chuck Hawley, vice president of product information at West Marine.

The panel made its selections based on the effectiveness, cost-competitiveness, environmental impact, degree of innovation and verification of claims of each of the products.

“Super Sap epoxy has the same properties that have made other epoxy resins popular with boaters, but about a third of the ingredients come from waste streams from paper and biodiesel production, which reduces the amount of petroleum needed for manufacturing,”  Hawley said, in a statement. “We like the combination of product performance and reduced use of nonrenewable resources.”

The Torqeedo Travel 1003 Electric outboard was selected because it provides hours of quiet power, can be used on lakes that prohibit internal combustion engines and because of the motor’s built-in GPS and power monitoring. The built-in GPS and power monitoring tells boaters exactly how much power and range remain, helping to eliminate “range anxiety.”

Lehr’s propane outboards were picked because of the many environmental and other benefits that propane offers.

“They produce far fewer pollutants for the air and water, and they allow cruisers to cast off without the need to carry gasoline on board for dinghies,” Hawley said. “Propane is produced domestically and doesn’t deteriorate when stored like gasoline can. It’s a clean and relatively inexpensive fuel.”

For more information, visit westmarine.com.