Water and yachting have always been an important part of Marja’s life from childhood on. After a 13 years career in marketing and management of several author’s rights societies, she decided to follow her dream to go sailing for ‘a while’ when she turned 35 years old. This while turned out to become a nautical career developing from charter skipper and liveaboard in Med and Caribbean to operating superyachts.
Marja has a natural concern for nature and the environment. During her live-aboard period, this concern became even stronger.
Not spilling any drinking water, electricity, or food and trying to produce as less garbage as possible, became a natural habit living on a boat often in remote, pristine areas with few garbage disposal areas and no recycling facilities. Life on a boat can be a circular economy on its own and is a great lesson for life. The constant newsfeeds about plastic pollution in the oceans and her own experience on superyachts made her willing to make a difference in the awareness and behaviour of the superyacht industry. In 2018 she founded the company Water without Waste, a Dutch ecopreneurship to reduce the usage of plastic bottled drinking water on superyachts. Water without Waste supplies high-quality drinking water purification combined with chilling and sparkling equipment, thus providing convenience and healthy drinking water and reducing the plastic footprint on yachts.
Marja is motivated to join the 2023 Crew Awards judging panel and especially looks forward to crew initiatives that help to raise awareness and sustainable behaviour on superyachts
