6,700+ volunteers pick up 78+ tons of trash from 146 miles of Texas beaches

The results for Saturday's 31st annual Spring Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup by the Texas General Land Office are in. Commissioner George P. Bush and his family participated in the cleanup at Mustang Island State Park where they were joined by 200+ volunteers in picking up more than 10,000 pounds of trash along 5 miles at that site alone. Coastwide 6,772 volunteers showed up at 28 locations to remove 156,699 pounds of trash from 146 miles of Texas coastline.

"Many Texas industries rely on a healthy coast to thrive," said Commissioner Bush. "Keeping beaches clean is not just an environmental issue-it's an economic one as well. The Adopt-A-Beach program has been instrumental in keeping beaches clean throughout the last three decades, aiding tourism and commercial fishing industries while maintaining the coast for Texas families."

Since 1986, more than 512,000 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have cleaned more than 9,495 tons of trash from Texas beaches. Cigarette butts, beer cans and plastic bags are among the most common items found. But with each cleanup, plenty of odd and unusual items inevitably are reported. On Saturday, the list of weird stuff found on Texas beaches included:

The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program is an all-volunteer effort to remove trash from Texas' shores. Coastal cleanups are held three times each year and the program's success is due to the hard work of volunteers, including local coordinators who work many unpaid hours publicizing the cleanups in coastal communities. The next cleanup will be the Coastwide Adopt-A-Beach effort scheduled for Saturday, September 23, 2017. Adopt-A-Beach volunteers record data on the trash they find to learn more about the causes of marine debris and to help mitigate pollution along Texas' 367 miles of coastline.

The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program is an all-volunteer effort to remove trash from Texas' shores. Coastal cleanups are held three times each year and the program's success is due to the hard work of volunteers, including local coordinators who work many unpaid hours publicizing the cleanups in coastal communities. The next cleanup will be the Coastwide Adopt-A-Beach effort scheduled for Saturday, September 23, 2017. Adopt-A-Beach volunteers record data on the trash they find to learn more about the causes of marine debris and to help mitigate pollution along Texas' 367 miles of coastline.

The 2017 Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup was sponsored by Apache Corporation, Schlumberger, Flint Hills Resources, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Murphy Oil and Exploration Company, and in-kind donor, Keep Texas Beautiful.

To learn more about the Adopt-A-Beach program, visit www.TexasAdoptABeach.org or contact the GLO at 1-877-TX COAST. Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/TexasAdoptABeach and follow us on Twitter @TXAdoptABeach. 

###