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:
|
Back seat of a van |
Fishing pole |
Plastic Easter grass |
|
Bean bag chair |
Furniture |
Plunger |
|
Can of mace |
Glow sticks |
Pregnancy test |
|
Car fender |
Goggles |
Propane tank |
|
Car key with remote |
Hard hat |
Radio |
|
Car seat |
HDMI cable |
Rusty hammer |
|
Carpet |
High pressure oxygen tank |
Sheetrock |
|
Cascarones |
Mattress |
Shotgun shells |
|
Commode |
Metal shelving |
Silly string |
|
Computer motherboard |
Mouth guard |
Synthetic marijuana |
|
Crop dusting bag |
Old life jackets |
Tires |
|
Easter candy wrappers |
Ping pong ball |
US Coast Guard buoy |
|
Entertainment center |
Pizza delivery sign |
Wagon |
|
False eyelash |
Plastic bottle of urine |
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.
|
COUNTY |
CLEANUP SITE |
MILES CLEANED |
VOLUNTEERS |
POUNDS |
|
Brazoria |
Surfside Beach |
14 |
1,030 |
45,720 |
|
|
Quintana, Bryan Beach |
2.5 |
137 |
2,000 |
|
|
County Total |
16.5 |
1167 |
47,720 |
|
Calhoun |
Port Lavaca, Magnolia Beach (Bay) |
6 |
134 |
1,820 |
|
|
Boggy Nature Park (Bay) |
1 |
42 |
750 |
|
|
Port O' Connor, King Fisher Beach (Bay) |
1 |
19 |
400 |
|
|
County Total |
8 |
195 |
2,970 |
|
Cameron |
South Padre Island - County Beaches |
5 |
1,265 |
5,064 |
|
|
South Padre Island - City Beaches |
5 |
504 |
2,825 |
|
|
Boca Chica |
7.5 |
92 |
3,902 |
|
|
County Total |
17.5 |
1861 |
11,791 |
|
Chambers |
Chambers County |
1 |
39 |
2,000 |
|
|
County Total |
1 |
39 |
2,000 |
|
Galveston |
Bolivar Peninsula |
27 |
223 |
5,125 |
|
|
Galveston Island |
19 |
1,062 |
29,000 |
|
|
Texas City Prairie Preserve - (Bay) |
2.5 |
130 |
6,500 |
|
|
County Total |
48.5 |
1415 |
40,625 |
|
Jefferson |
McFaddin Beach |
2 |
200 |
7,680 |
|
|
Sea Rim State Park |
5 |
132 |
1,992 |
|
|
County Total |
7 |
332 |
9,672 |
|
Kleberg and Nueces |
Baffin Bay (Bay) |
1 |
24 |
192 |
|
|
Padre Island National Seashore |
4 |
110 |
2,050 |
|
|
Mustang Island State Park |
5 |
209 |
10,450 |
|
|
North Corpus Christi Beach (Bay) |
9 |
283 |
5,500 |
|
|
Cole Park (Bay) |
4 |
72 |
420 |
|
|
Packery Flats (Bay) |
3 |
19 |
480 |
|
|
North Padre Island |
8.9 |
289 |
4,200 |
|
|
Aransas Pass (Bay) |
1 |
36 |
2,200 |
|
|
County Total |
35.9 |
1042 |
25,492 |
|
Matagorda |
Sargent Beach |
2 |
266 |
5,790 |
|
|
Matagorda Beach |
5 |
171 |
8,550 |
|
|
Palacios (Bay) |
1.5 |
50 |
575 |
|
|
County Total |
8.5 |
487 |
14,915 |
|
Refugio |
Austwell Pier (Bay) |
1 |
23 |
325 |
|
|
County Total |
1 |
23 |
325 |
|
San Patricio |
Sunset Lake Park, Portland (Bay) |
2 |
211 |
1,189 |
|
|
County Total |
2 |
211 |
1,189 |
|
TOTAL |
Spring 2017 |
146 |
6,772 |
156,699 |
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.
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