(AUSTIN, Texas) — Winter Texans showed their love for Texas beaches Friday, with 106 volunteers pitching in to haul off nearly four tons of trash at the Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Winter Texan Cleanup Friday. 

While cigarette butts, soda cans and even dirty diapers continue to top the list of items found on Texas beaches, some unusual items found included a light bulb, metal tent stakes, metal cable wire, a plastic toy car, a flask and a pocket knife. 

One found item -- a plastic drinking bottle with bite marks on it from a sea turtle -- shows the dangers of marine debris, particularly plastics. Many sea creatures, such as turtles, mistake plastics for food and fill their bellies with the debris. This makes them unable to digest food. 

The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program is one of the most successful volunteer efforts in the nation. Since 1986, more than 476,000 volunteers have removed more than 9,000 tons of trash from Texas beaches. 

The Winter Texan Cleanup is one of three all-volunteer seasonal cleanups coordinated by the Adopt-A-Beach program. The goal of General Land Office’s Adopt-A-Beach program is to not only remove trash from Texas beaches and waterways but to also increase public awareness of the problems of marine debris and beach litter. 

For additional information on the Winter Texan Beach Cleanup and the Adopt-A-Beach program, or to participate in the next cleanup visit www.texasadoptabeach.org. You may also call the Texas General Land Office toll free at 1-877-TXCOAST. 

Follow the Texas General Land Office on Facebook at http://www.txglo.org/facebook, or Twitter at www.txglo.org/twitter, or YouTube at www.txglo.org/youtube.

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