The results for Saturday’s 30 th annual coast-wide Fall Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup by the Texas General Land Office are in. Despite stormy weather and red tide conditions threatening turnout, more than 9,000 volunteers showed up at 30 locations to remove 172,853 pounds of trash from 169 miles of Texas coastline!
“For 30 years Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have come together along 367 miles of our Lone Star coastline to pick up trash and keep Texas clean and beautiful,” said Land Commissioner George P. Bush. “For the 2016 Fall Cleanup, volunteers braved rain and red tide in some areas in order to show their dedication to one of our state’s most treasured features – our beloved beaches. Thank you Adopt-A-Beach volunteers for thirty years of keeping Texas’ coastline clean!”
Since 1986, more than 504,000 volunteers have removed 9,300 tons of trash or 18,762,600 pounds 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:
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· Air mattresses |
· Dog bed |
· Pacifier |
|
· Bowling ball |
· Drive shaft |
· Plastic vampire teeth |
|
· Brick |
· Drug paraphernalia |
· Shoes |
|
· Broken TV |
· Electrocardiogram (EKG) pads |
· Shotgun shells |
|
· Bundle of wire |
· Fireworks |
· Small bag of Xanax pills |
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· Car battery |
· Folding chairs |
· Tire with rim |
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· Car seat |
· Four 55 gallon drums |
· Toilet |
|
· Car tire |
· Glass vial with cattle antibiotic still inside |
· Toothbrush |
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· Carpet |
· Large refrigerator |
· Two baby strollers |
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· Child’s car seat |
· Large rope |
· Water heater |
|
· Coconut |
· Money |
· Windshield wiper blades |
|
· Cuban cigar |
· Old PC monitor |
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 coast-wide cleanup will be the Spring Cleanup set for Saturday, April 22 nd. The South Padre Island Winter Texan Cleanup is set for Friday, February 10 th, and the Coastal Bend Winter Cleanup is set for Saturday, February 11 th. 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 |
Tons Collected (lbs) |
||
|
Brazoria |
Surfside |
14 |
1,151 |
19.53 |
(39,059) |
|
|
Quintana, Bryan Beach |
2.5 |
1,120 |
0.43 |
(869) |
||
|
County Total |
16.5 |
2,271 |
19.96 |
(39,928) |
||
|
Calhoun |
Port Lavaca, Magnolia Beach (Bay) |
6 |
121 |
1.19 |
(2,375) |
|
|
Boggy Nature Park (Bay) |
1 |
57 |
0.15 |
(300) |
||
|
Port O' Connor, King Fisher Beach (Bay) |
1 |
41 |
0.29 |
(581) |
||
|
County Total |
8 |
219 |
1.63 |
(3,256) |
||
|
Cameron |
South Padre Island Cameron Co. |
5 |
1,178 |
4.78 |
(9,566) |
|
|
South Padre Island City Beaches |
4 |
540 |
0.59 |
(1,183) |
||
|
Boca Chica |
6.5 |
430 |
2.76 |
(5,520) |
||
|
County Total |
15.5 |
2,148 |
8.13 |
(16,269) |
||
|
Chambers |
Chambers County |
1 |
75 |
2.3 |
(4,600) |
|
|
County Total |
1 |
75 |
2.3 |
(4,600) |
||
|
Galveston |
Bolivar Peninsula |
27 |
157 |
2.99 |
(5,975) |
|
|
Galveston Island |
32 |
2,127 |
13.84 |
(27,672) |
||
|
John M. O' Quinn 1-45 Estuarial Corridor (Bay) |
5.9 |
45 |
2.5 |
(5,000) |
||
|
County Total |
64.9 |
2,329 |
19.33 |
(38,647) |
||
|
Harris |
Morgan's Point |
1.3 |
84 |
1.44 |
(2,890) |
|
|
County Total |
1.3 |
84 |
1.44 |
(2,890) |
||
|
Jefferson |
McFaddin Beach |
2.5 |
418 |
7.68 |
(15,360) |
|
|
Sea Rim State Park |
2.5 |
100 |
1.9 |
(3,800) |
||
|
County Total |
5 |
518 |
9.58 |
(19,160) |
||
|
Kleberg and Nueces |
Baffin Bay (Bay) |
1 |
55 |
0.19 |
(384) |
|
|
Padre Island National Seashore |
8 |
260 |
7.2 |
(14,400) |
||
|
Port Aransas |
4.3 |
151 |
0.95 |
(1,900) |
||
|
St. Jo Island |
2 |
47 |
0.84 |
(1,675) |
||
|
Mustang Island State Park |
5 |
90 |
0.85 |
(1,700) |
||
|
North Corpus Christi Beach (Bay) |
9 |
295 |
1.29 |
(2,580) |
||
|
Cole Park (Bay) |
3 |
65 |
0.09 |
(180) |
||
|
Packery Flats (Bay) |
1 |
38 |
0.25 |
(500) |
||
|
North Padre Island |
8.79 |
102 |
1.81 |
(3,626) |
||
|
Aransas Pass (Bay) |
2 |
44 |
0.48 |
(960) |
||
|
County Total |
44.09 |
1,147 |
13.95 |
(27,905) |
||
|
Matagorda |
Sargent Beach |
5 |
135 |
3.64 |
(7,275) |
|
|
Matagorda Beach |
3 |
240 |
6 |
(12,000) |
||
|
Palacios (Bay) |
4 |
39 |
0.325 |
(650) |
||
|
County Total |
12 |
414 |
9.965 |
(19,925) |
||
|
Refugio |
Austwell Pier (Bay) |
1 |
26 |
0.14 |
(273) |
|
|
County Total |
1 |
26 |
0.14 |
(273) |
||
|
Total |
Fall 2016 |
169.29 |
9231 |
86.43 |
(172,853) |
|
|
Total Bay Miles |
34.9 |
|||||
|
Total Beach Miles |
134.39 |
|||||
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 www.facebook.com/texasadoptabeach or follow us on Twitter @TXAdoptABeach.
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