Remember that less is more. Cut back on your consumption of fuel and battery power by keeping your hull and propeller blades clean and in good condition for maximum efficiency. Modern engines reduce far less emissions than those built even five years ago, but there is much you can do to be less reliant on engines and generators – and therefore produce less exhaust. Solar panels and wind generators are two good ways to keep batteries charged without running an engine.

Also, avoid idling your engine unnecessarily. Engines need a proper warm-up, but once they are warm, they are likely to start quickly for many hours. That means there is no need to keep yours running when you're resting in an anchorage or sitting alongside a pier.

Fish sensibly. Don't throw fish waste into the waters around your marina. Discard it over deeper water or save it and use it as chum or bait. Keep only those fish that you will eat and, for the rest, use catch-and-release techniques that will ensure that those you toss back survive. When it comes to fishing, many small things add up. Use circle hooks. Take used monofilament fishing line back to recycling bins ashore. Empty bait buckets on land, not into the water. Never dump live fish or other organisms from one body of water into another.

COMMON SENSE

Spread the word. Keep up-to-date on products and practices that are safe for the environment and share the information with other boaters. Prod your marina's owners to provide pumpout stations, trash cans and recycling bins. If your state has a Clean Marina program, support it and let your marina's management know you care.

Of course, it isn't always easy to be a "green" boater. Miller said he often has to look far and wide during a sailing trip to find a marina that has a pumpout station. "There just aren't enough of them," he said. "Many smaller marinas just don;t have any at all. And even when you do find a spot that has one, it isn't always working, so you have to go somewhere else." As a result, he says, some boaters just give up and pump their sewage overboard – often in violation of federal and state laws.

Occasionally, there are regulatory excesses that end up discouraging boaters from environmental practices. In 2006, a federal court, seeking to crack down on ballast-water discharge from large oceangoing ships, which can transfer invasive aquatic species from one body of water to another, ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to require all vessels in U.S. waters to obtain discharge permits. That would eliminate the longstanding exemption for recreational boats, most of which don't even use ballast-water.

Boat industry lobbyists say that unless Congress acts to counter that ruling, pleasure-boat owners may have to buy expensive permits and retrofit their vessels to meet new requirements. They also may be required to submit written reports to the EPA or state authorities, quantifying any discharges from their boats.

There are several bills in Congress designed to limit the new EPA regulations. Still, boaters who have taken steps to green their vessels say most items involve plain old common sense and very little money.

"I figure that if I'm going to worry about the runoff from hog farms and industrial areas, I should do what I can myself as well," Miller said. "If you don't, you become part of the problem."

GLEN JUSTICEOne easy step toward green boating is to adhere to a simple rule: nothing goes overboard.