Bill Liles has been a Skipper volunteer since the program’s inception in 2020, and an advocate for Clean Regattas even longer. As a longtime sailor and member of the Corpus Christi Yacht Club in Corpus Christi, Texas, he knows the power that sailors have to make a difference in their communities. Now the Commodore of the CCYC, Bill is making sustainable strides for the club, working to protect the Gulf for the next generation of sailors. We caught up with him about his efforts to eradicate one of his biggest pet peeves from CCYC: plastic foam.
Tell us about yourself.
I am a lifelong sailor and boater. I learned to sail young on Corpus Christi Bay, and I have raced for many years on a Santa Cruz 50. I’m the current Commodore of the Corpus Christi Yacht Club and just became a certified US Sailing instructor. Living on the water, I have seen the amount of pollution grow on the waterways and in marinas over my lifetime. I want to do what I can to reduce this scourge.
I got started with Sailors for the Sea through the Clean Regattas program, with the Youth Sailing World Championships we hosted in 2018. Elizabeth Kratzig [Green Team co-chair] worked hard to get that event certified as a Platinum Level Clean Regatta. And then 2019, I was the race chair, and I was able to get most of our regattas certified at the Silver Level.
Corpus Christi Yacht Club in Corpus Christi, Texas Youth World Sailing Championships, July 2018, Corpus Christi, Texas – photo from Jen Edney World Sailing
What is it about plastic foam that bothers you so much?
All of the fast-food places around town, all of the gas stations and convenience stores sell their fountain drinks in Styrofoam cups, and inevitably they end up in the stormwater system. When we have a rain event, all those cups get washed out into the bay or marina. It makes this big swirl and trash pile in the corner of the marina – it’s just this cesspool of Styrofoam cups. That’s one of my pet peeves – I don’t like seeing trash in our beautiful bay.
Our yacht club is right on the marina. When our club was using the Styrofoam cups, if the leftover cups from the lunch crowd sat on the tables outside, they would blow off into the water. So not only were we using Styrofoam, but now we’re also contributing to the pile of waste that I hate so much.
Plastic foam pollutes the shoreline and ocean environment.
What are the changes you are working on implementing at CCYC?
Any drinks outside by the pool used to be served either in a Styrofoam cup or a “compostable” cup. However, since there are no composting facilities here in Corpus Christi or anywhere close by, at the end of the day, those compostable cups went in the same waste stream as everything else did. We also used to have a stack of Styrofoam cups that waiters would fill at a station in the kitchen for water. I stressed with the staff to make sure we bus any Styrofoam promptly and, more importantly, let’s get rid of the Styrofoam all together.
Excitingly, we’ve switched to reusable plastic cups inside and outside our club. Another frustration of mine was plastic cups for the kids because they needed a lid so the drinks didn’t spill. My former general manager was able to find some that have a screw top lid and a reusable silicon straw. Those are what we use now for the kids’ drinks outside. For the general population, we’ve set up a system where the bartenders have Styrofoam cups behind the bar and only provide them to people who ask for them.
After about two or three months of switching to reusables, the general manager came back to me and said, “You know what – we’re saving money because we’re no longer buying all the Styrofoam that we were in the past.” We’ve also eliminated Styrofoam takeout containers at our club and are using compressed paper ones when needed.
Are you encountering resistance and how are you dealing with it?
I discovered early on that I was not going to be able to eliminate 100% of the Styrofoam products at our club because some of our past Commodores really love their Styrofoam cups, even when I scold them about using them. It’s funny because the bartenders would tell me that “so-and-so came in and wanted a drink; he asked for Styrofoam, but he looked over his shoulder to see if I was in the room.” At least maybe they’re not using Styrofoam cups when I’m in the dining room! And I’m finally getting them to think about the problem.
What advice would you give someone else embarking on this journey?
I have spoken with people who had a desire to reduce Styrofoam at their Club and encouraged them to speak with Sailors for the Sea. I try to be a role model by carrying around my Sailors for the Sea bag and my reusable water bottle with a Sailors for the Sea sticker. I would encourage others to keep the conversation going and see where you can take steps for change at your club.
