The company In the Jaich , operator of nine ports in Germany, was recently honoured with the German Demography Award for its sustainability concept. What exactly does the company do differently and how does the customer notice it? Are there perhaps lessons that would allow club harbours or other operators to follow suit? Interview with Till and Hans Jaich, both Managing Directors.
How difficult is it to make a harbour sustainable? And how do you even measure that?
Till Jaich: This is a path of many small steps. There are no two or three big measures that will suddenly bring about a turnaround. Of course, energy consumption is a hot topic at the moment. We started twelve years ago at our harbour and holiday resort in Lauterbach on the island of Rügen, for example, and installed solar thermal energy and our own block heating plant with a heating network throughout the resort. That was completely new territory at the time. We are now one step further in Gustow. The roofs of our boat sheds are completely covered with photovoltaics, plus heat pumps and our own battery storage systems. On good days, we produce more energy than we consume. We can't put a precise figure on this for the harbour, but we have had our hotel, which is part of Bremerhaven harbour, classified: instead of the German average of 20 kg CO2 per guest per day, we are now at 9 kg.
Hans Jaich: But the details play a role when it comes to energy. We also operate hotels and holiday flats in Bremerhaven, Gustow and Lauterbach. For example, it makes a big difference whether the commercial coffee machines or dishwashers run on standby all day, the heat exchangers of the refrigerators are regularly cleaned of dust or the pumps in the heating system are regularly calibrated. As I said, it's the sum of the little things.
What role do the owners and guests play in the harbours with their electricity consumption?
Hans Jaich: That's an interesting story. When we abolished flat-rate electricity charges in most of our harbours a few years ago, some customers were initially angry. Some felt they were being controlled. Owners of smaller ships thought it was overdue justice. Many owners were surprised when they realised how much electricity they were actually consuming. We have been upgrading the power grids at the jetties for years to counteract this, because consumption and fuse protection - 16 amps in our case - have been increasing for years. For some owners, this led to a rethink: they then tried to identify their power guzzlers with measuring devices on board for the first time and in some cases also replaced them. The switch to LED lighting on board was the first step for some of them.
Are electric drives for boats actually getting stronger?
Till Jaich: For outboard solutions in the 5 hp range, yes, we also have the first fully electrically powered motorboats in the harbour. However, this is still very rare for larger yachts.
Would a charging infrastructure for boats work like that for electric cars in harbours?
Till Jaich: At the moment, fast-charging stations like Tesla's are illusory. The cable infrastructure of the local authority or electricity supplier would not be sufficient for this. Massively thicker, new cables would have to be laid first. We have a few charging points for cars in the car park, and something similar is certainly possible for the port, but more is simply not realistic at the moment.
The prize for sustainability was also awarded for many other projects in your facilities. Which ones are most important to you?
Till Jaich:I am very proud of the fact that we have successfully cooperated with the nature conservation organisations in Lauterbach through many discussions and voluntary commitments. Twenty years ago, the fronts were very hardened: On the one side were the conservationists, who wanted to categorically ban any use, and on the other side were the water sports enthusiasts, who were not prepared to make any concessions. However, in some discussions it turned out that the two were not necessarily mutually exclusive, at least if the reasons for the protection were properly explained to the users. The problem is often not the behaviour in the harbour, but simply the approach to it. Studies carried out with the WWF have shown that particularly valuable areas are often relatively small and really need strict protection. Or that they only need to be protected temporarily because migratory birds are resting there. The exact behaviour of the water sports enthusiasts causing the disturbance also had to be investigated first. This resulted in good, respectful co-operation.
Of course, there are also completely closed areas that are particularly valuable, such as Vilm Island, but what is important to me is that this can actually be beneficial for both sides. Let me give you an example: After we built our pile-dwelling village with holiday homes over the water, one of the largest barn swallow colonies in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern settled there, over 200 breeding pairs. Or the Having: In summer, we can now use the skipper, in the winter months, when the migratory birds arrive, we voluntarily keep to the fairways. We explain all of this to our customers in flyers that every guest receives, and the status of the development is reviewed every year by the nature conservation organisation. They also explain that we are located in an EU bird sanctuary and that feeding all animals is prohibited and counterproductive. Our experience clearly shows that when customers understand the context, they stick to it!
Do customers go along with this, or are there also negative reactions?
Till Jaich: Many people think this is very good and stick to it. We also avoid using any kind of poison on our paths and walkways, have created 1,500 square metres of insect-friendly flowering meadows and planted over 5,000 perennials. Many guests even put their children in there and take photos of them among the flowers and butterflies! But you also notice how some people have become somewhat alienated from nature and complain about the many insects on the grounds. They confuse a lively, species-rich environment with a lack of hygiene and think we don't clean enough.
What else can be optimised in terms of the environment when operating a port and hotels?
Hans Jaich: The keywords reduction and substitution are important here. One example: In our hotels, like all hotels, we ask our guests to let us know whether they really need daily cleaning and new towels. After all, they don't clean and use new towels every day at home either. But so that the customer doesn't think that we just want to save money, we have committed to planting a tree for every day without cleaning and towel change in cooperation with the renowned reforestation NGO "Prima Klima". Customers simply hang a sign prepared by us on their door. Over 1,000 new trees have already been planted in this way. Further reductions are the avoidance of to-go products and plastic packaging wherever possible. Milk, for example, comes directly from the farm in returnable bottles. Every harbour operator with a catering business can influence this.
The other side is substitution, i.e. replacing what already exists: In catering, we source many products from organic or regional farms. This is sometimes relatively complicated. There aren't always suppliers nearby. Or the price is a problem. In our restaurant in Bremerhaven, for example, the use of organic chicken would have been so expensive that customers would not have taken the step. As a result, we simply took chicken off the menu and replaced it with other organic meat. And of course there are attractive vegetarian alternatives.
Till Jaich:As I said, it's the sum of many small parts. We also have 30 green roofs, green façades and our own bee colonies.
The controversy surrounding the Baltic Sea National Park in Schleswig-Holstein is currently raging. You also have marinas there in Flensburg, Eckernförde, Arnis and Kopperby. Many skippers fear bans and are against it, and there is also a citizens' initiative against it. How do you see it?
Hans Jaich: This is very difficult for me, there are two hearts beating in my chest. Of course, many people rightly say that agriculture, as one of the biggest causes of eutrophication in water bodies, should be tackled first. Or the fishermen. But if everyone is always pointing the finger at everyone else, that doesn't help either. And we all know that the Baltic Sea is not in a good position, that has been researched and proven.
Till Jaich: It would be nice if water sports could also make their contribution, maybe then it would work like on Rügen without a disproportionate number of bans.
What could that look like?
Till Jaich:For example, we have noticed for years that the faeces disposal stations at our marina in Waren an der Müritz are very popular. People on inland waterways have become accustomed to using them, and this is perhaps more obvious in a closed body of water. On the coast, on the other hand, most of the extraction systems are not in use. Many new ships have the tanks as standard. So why not use them more often?
Hans Jaich: What strikes us again and again is how many ports there are where the wash water still somehow ends up in the environment when cranes are used in autumn. We have had collection, filter and separation systems for this for many years. That doesn't have to be the case. If necessary, small harbours can also be given a helping hand with subsidies. That would be a sustainably invested subsidy! Of course, the toxic antifouling on boats is also an issue in general. But we realise that there is currently no simple, universal, functioning alternative for all areas without intermediate cleaning during the season. But less toxic colours can certainly be considered in many locations.
What can owners and day guests actually do to make our hobby and the harbours more CO2-neutral?
To be honest, the biggest problem is the owner's journey. All studies show that this is where the greatest savings potential lies. So, if possible, choose a harbour as close to home as possible and make the journey as environmentally friendly as possible. However, as operators, we have little influence here.
You not only operate harbours, you also run a harbour and hydraulic engineering company on the Baltic Sea together with your cousin Nils Jaich, Ostsee-Dienst. Is it possible to make a harbour greener during construction and later operation?
Hans Jaich: In any case! For example, we have been using used hardwood piles for the jetty substructures for many years. These piles are usually only above water, weathered and damaged over a length of about two metres. However, the longest length of the piles is often stuck in the bottom or, if the water is deeper, under water. We can then pull out the piles, process them and reuse them in shallower harbours where the very long piles are not needed, or as construction timber for jetties. Or the metal stern piles, which are standard everywhere because of the drilling worm: These are recycled pipes from the oil industry. And last but not least, there is the choice of harbour location: it always hurts my soul when you have to dredge frequently to maintain the water depths. This is the case with our harbour in Langballigau, for example, because a river flows into it and brings in sediment. This has to be dredged regularly. You can then consider whether a diversion in the estuary might help. And last but not least: New harbours should really only be built where there has already been interference with nature. Old industrial plants, old piers, military sites. But that is usually the rule on the Baltic Sea.
What is it like, does sustainability actually pay off as an operator?
(Laugh both) This is actually the question we were asked the most after the award ceremony! The answer is: no. But: It's simply great fun for us to see when we make progress and our employees and customers perhaps even register, support and spread the word. When we achieve something new, we really celebrate it! Customers can also make suggestions directly to us, they always end up on both our desks. And you can look at it this way: In Lauterbach, the diversity of species on our site has increased significantly since it was built in the 90s and is now better in some cases than in the more strictly protected surrounding area! In Lauterbach, we regularly have seals on the jetties in winter, otters and much more. That didn't exist when we built the harbour in the 90s! We are a little proud of that. Nevertheless, there is still a lot for us to do in terms of sustainability!
