6,700+ volunteers pick up 78+ tons of trash from 146 miles of Texas beaches

Spring Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup held at 28 sites coastwide

Contact: Brittany Eck
(512) 463-5708
brittany.eck@glo.texas.gov
PDF Version
PRESS RELEASE — Apr 25, 2017

AUSTIN — 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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