5,000+ volunteers pick up 40+ tons of trash from 55 miles of Texas beaches

Fall Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup held at 13 sites coastwide

Contact: Brittany Eck
(512) 463-5708
brittany.eck@glo.texas.gov
PDF Version
PRESS RELEASE — Sep 27, 2017

AUSTIN — AUSTIN - The results for Saturday's 31st annual Fall Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup by the Texas General Land Office are in. Despite fewer cleanup sites than usual due to damage from Hurricane Harvey, 5,046 volunteers showed up at 13 locations to remove 80,528 pounds of trash from 55 miles of Texas coastline.
 
"Over the past month we've seen Texans come together in the wake of Hurricane Harvey," said Commissioner George P. Bush. "I was proud to see that continue this past weekend with Texans from all across our great state helping clean the coast. As we continue to recover from Harvey, all of us need to volunteer and pitch in. This Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup was another great step in that direction."

Since 1986, more than 517,000 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have cleaned more than 9,500 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:
Wool blanket Buoy Glow sticks
Golf club head Toilet brush Toys
Makeup brush TV Nerf football
Tricycle seat Car bumper Hard hat
Toilet Patio furniture Mattress
Tires Shotgun shells Car battery
Boat battery Electrical wires Fence post
Rusted boat ladder  Pile of Styrofoam  Truck radiator 
Toilet seats Helmet Clothes hanger


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 coastwide cleanup will be the Spring Cleanup set for Saturday, April 21, 2018. The South Padre Island Winter Texan Cleanup is set for Friday, February 9th, and the Coastal Bend Winter Cleanup is set for Saturday, February 10th. 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 (canceled)      
Quintana, Bryan Beach (canceled due to Harvey)      
County Total      
Calhoun Port Lavaca, Magnolia Beach (Bay) - (canceled)      
Boggy Nature Park (Bay) 1 47 795
Port O' Connor, King Fisher Beach (Bay) 0.5 35 780
County Total 1.5 82 1,575
Cameron South Padre Island - County Beaches 5 1,838 15,325
South Padre Island - City Beaches 3 83 725
Boca Chica 7 521 13,160
County Total 15 2,442 29,210
Chambers Chambers County (canceled)      
County Total      
Galveston Bolivar Peninsula (canceled)      
Galveston Island 19 1,447 14,172
John M. O' Quinn 1-45 Estuarial Corridor (Bay) (canceled)      
Texas City Prairie Preserve - (Bay) 2.25 110 10,700
County Total 21 1,557 24,872
Harris Morgan's Point (Bay)  1.5 100 1,824
County Total 1.5 100 1,824
Jefferson McFaddin Beach (canceled)      
Sea Rim State Park 2.5 139 1,872
County Total 2.5 139 1,872
Kleberg and Nueces Baffin Bay (Bay) 1 42 425
Padre Island National Seashore  8 167 9,525
Port Aransas (canceled)      
St. Jo Island (canceled)      
Mustang Island State Park (canceled)      
North Corpus Christi Beach (Bay) 9.5 308 6,000
Cole Park (Bay) (canceled)      
Packery Flats (Bay) (canceled)      
North Padre Island  8.9 209 5,225
Aransas Pass (Bay) (canceled)      
County Total 27.4 726 21,175
Matagorda Sargent Beach (canceled)      
Matagorda Beach (canceled)      
Palacios (Bay) (canceled)      
County Total      
Refugio Austwell Pier (Bay) (canceled)      
  County Total      
San Patricio Sunset Lake Park, Portland (Bay) - (canceled)
  County Total      
TOTAL
FALL 2017
69
5,046
80,528


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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