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
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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