Cargo ships transport goods all over the world, but they're also big contributors to climate change — as much as 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Yale Climate Connections.
As the planet comes to terms with climate change, some companies are stopping or limiting their use of fossil fuels and looking for a shipper that's more sustainable.
Enter Sail Freight, a New York company hauling cargo between the Hudson Valley and New York City by sailboat.
"The idea of moving stuff on the water with a sailboat is the oldest idea in the books. ... There's nothing new about the idea of Sail Freight," Sam Merrett, captain of the Sail Freight schooner Apollonia, told NBCLX. "Many of the things we do with energy use are just less bad. It's like, 'Oh, burn ethanol instead of gasoline, there's less emissions. But there still are emissions.'"
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But that's not Sail Freight's approach. The company even handles the first and last miles of deliveries with a bicycle and trailer to avoid inviting cars and trucks to the docks for pickup.
Sail Freight hauls a range of goods produced in the New York City and Hudson Valley area, from hot sauce to maple syrup, beer and even the malt used in making that beer. Interested in supporting businesses trying to ship in a more sustainable manner? These customers of Sail Freight also sell their goods online:
- Atina Foods for jam and pickled condiments
- Wild Hive Farm for grain, beans and more
- Greenpoint Cidery for bottled cider
- Poor Devil Pepper Co. for hot sauce and other merch
- Viking & Company for a range of maple syrup flavors
- Moisturize Me for creams, masks, soaps and more
- Gotham Coffee Roasters for bespoke blends
- Ninth Street Espresso for coffee and espresso
- Squidbath for quirky cards
- Enlightenment Wines for botanical meads
- Mill House Brewing for canned and bottled beers
- Hudson Valley Brewery for cider, hard seltzer and a variety of beers
- Hudson Valley Bee Supply for honey and bee-keeping needs
If you're in the New York City area, you can also support Sail Freight's mission by visiting one of these locations, which sell the products locally:
- Strong Rope Brewery, Brooklyn
- Van Brunt Stillhouse, Brooklyn
- Five Boroughs Brewing, Brooklyn
- Fort Defiance, Brooklyn
- RETI Center, Brooklyn
- Red Hook Farm, Brooklyn
- Big aLICe Brewing, Queens
- Rockaway Brewing, Queens
- Fifth Hammer Brewing, Queens
- plant baked, Manhattan
- Fulton Stall Market, Manhattan
- Classic Harbor Line, Manhattan
- Signal Fire Bread, Peekskill, New York
- Yonkers Brewing, Yonkers, New York
- Sing Sing Kill Brewery, Ossining, New York
- First Village Coffee, Ossining, New York
- Hudson Valley Brewery, Beacon, New York
- Mill House Brewing, Poughkeepsie, New York
- Esters, Kingston, New York
- Half Moon Rondout Cafe, Kingston, New York
- Quick Brown Fox Letterpress, Saugerties, New York