The Corpus Christi Yacht Club and volunteer on a Green Team recently won an award for their environmental-friendly efforts taken at the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championships. Now, members of the Yacht Club are hoping Corpus Christi will take similar initiatives.
During the Youth Sailing World Championships held this summer, 90% of the event’s waste was recycled or composted. The use of plastics was also limited.
Craig Henderson, the Corpus Christi Yacht Club Commodore, says the event was a learning lesson on how to put on an event with a focus on ocean conservation and sustainability.
“We learned a lot of valuable lessons on how to minimize our impact when you put on these large events,” Henderson said.
Now, the Corpus Christi Yacht Club, or CCYC, along with volunteers known as the Green Team, are putting together a report to present to City Council. They hope the city and organizers of other large events will copy their green initiatives.
“Their [CCYC and the Green Team volunteers] sole purpose was to put together a plan, so we could minimize our impact on our city and really most importantly our bay,” Henderson said.
Initially, the CCYC and Green Team volunteers thought putting on a large sustainable event would come with a cost.
“Beforehand we thought this may be too expensive. It may be too difficult to pull off,” Henderson said.
However, Henderson says the CCYC made decisions early on to promote a sustainable regatta.
“It wasn’t nearly as expensive as we thought it was going to be,” Henderson said.
Henderson says where the event would typically spend money on single-use plastics, they saved money. For example, instead of giving away water bottles, competitors brought their own.
Henderson also offered a few more tips for other large events or festival organizers, like having recycling stations throughout the event, and making sure paper products are being recycled and/or composted.
The Corpus Christi Yacht Club and members of the green team plan to present their report to City Council on Tuesday.
Click here for more information about the sustainability report and award.
