12 Ways for kids to be GREEN!

By: Jenilee Rivera

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Examine what you buy and decide if it is really needed. Then, think about ways to use things over and over again. If they can’t be reused, they may be able to be recycled. Bring a lunch box instead of a paper bag to school. Use washable plastic containers to pack food, instead of plastic baggies that are thrown away. Trade toys that you no longer use with friends. Use both sides of a piece of paper before putting it in the recycle bin.
2. Walk or take your bike. Think about walking or taking your bike, instead of getting a ride in a car, the next time you travel to school or a friend’s house. Make sure you have a safe route to travel, and get your parents’ permission first.
3. Save water. We use a lot of water every day, water that wildlife also needs. You can conserve water by turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth or washing dishes. You can also take shorter showers. Try washing dishes with water in the sink, instead of letting the water run.
4. Turn off the lights. If you are not using something, turn it off. Lights, CD players, computers, TV sets, and other electronics use a lot of energy. Make sure you are conserving by shutting off lights and turning off stuff that needs electricity when you are not in the room.
5. Put trash in garbage cans. Litter makes parks and roads look bad, and it can be harmful to wildlife. Animals may eat plastic or paper that smells like food, and get sick as a result. Trash can also end up in rivers and streams, which is bad for fish and other animals that live in the water.
6. Attract native wildlife to your backyard. Many animals need specific plants for habitat – food to eat or a place to live. You could work with your parents to plant native plants in your backyard to attract birds, butterflies, and even toads! Another way to help is by hanging a bird feeder to provide food for native birds. And you get to watch the wildlife show from your home!
7. Recharge those batteries. Most of us use toys and games that have batteries. Ask your parents to buy rechargeable batteries so that the same batteries can be used to power the toys again and again.
8. Green up your school. Talk to classmates and teachers at school about putting recycling bins for paper in every classroom. See if your cafeteria serves organic or locally grown food items. You can even start an Eco-Club to work with other students who care about the environment.
9. Use cloth napkins and washable plates. When eating at home or on vacation, bring reusable plates and napkins. Check to see if there is a way to wash plates and napkins when you get back home, instead of buying paper and plastic that gets thrown away after one use.
10. Start a composting bin. Some of the foods that we throw away could be composted instead, enriching the soil in our gardens. Ask your parents if you can keep a compost bin or worm bin (with a lid) to compost grass clippings, leaves, and fruit and vegetable peels. Over time, this organic mix turns into great fertilizer.
11. Share what you know about animals and habitats with others. One of the best ways to make a difference is to tell someone else how they can help. Ask family members and friends to think about being “green” when they make choices. Together we can make a big difference!
12. Visit and learn about places where wildlife live. Zoos, aquariums, national parks, wildlife refuges and nature centers are all homes to wild animals. You can learn about these animals and how people can help them by visiting these places with your family or with your school.

How to Recycle Christmas Cards

By: Terry Shannon

     Now that the holiday season is here, and almost over, it’s time to start pondering what to do with all those holiday greeting cards that are displayed throughout your house.  Besides throwing them away, here’s a really neat idea how to recycle them for next year’s holiday.

     Why not make beautiful, decorative holiday coasters out of them?  Not only will you be reminded of the senders next year, they’ll brighten up your house as well.  And, it’s easy to do.

     Cut out a 4 ½-inch circles from the Christmas cards.  Cut the same number of circles from the gift boxes.  Cover one side of the gift-box circle with the duct tape* and then apply a thin coat of the glue mixture to the opposite side of the gift-box circle with the craft brush. 

     Place your Christmas-card circle on the glue side of the gift-box circle. Make sure your Christmas image is facing up and the ends of circles match.  Use your hands to apply pressure to the circles to make sure there is a good connection between the two circles.

     Wash and dry the craft brush.  Use the same brush to apply a thin coat of the Aleene's® Paper Glaze™ over the Christmas image and let the glaze dry.  Apply two more coats in the same way.  The thinner the coat, the faster it will dry. Applying a thick coat can cause crackling, so it’s better to stick with thin coats.

     Once the glaze is finished, your coaster is ready for use.  Duct tape now comes in many fun colors, even Christmas patterns!  So, coordinate your tape with the images you use for the coasters.

ECO- FRIENDLY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR 2012

By: Diane Garza

Every step you take toward going green for the new year always helps a family household. Gathering ideas of going green for the new year may save your family money and on your way to becoming organized.

Top 10 Tips are as followed:

     1.     Try to avoid toys or gadgets that require batteries and don’t add much value to your lives.

     2.     Use Re-usable grocery bags every time you shop.

     3.     Paying Bills online or upfront- this will avoid “paper and mailing “paper back again.

     4.     Buying in Bulk is always eco-friendly too. This method if used can also save money.

     5.     Composting is another great method of going green. It is typically used in gardens and    landscaping and rich in nutrients and it’s a key ingredient in organic farming.

     6.     Using less paper for school or homework. Tips to share with your teachers or your kids teachers to be considered would be turning over poster boards, reusable paper for writing spelling words as an example.

     7.     Planning greener birthdays or holiday parties - Saving jelly jars and serving drinks in jars with initials on top. Making birthdays with signs with fabric and sewing words in yarn.

     8.     Do less laundry - Reuse a bath towel a few times before placing in laundry basket. Along with pj’s and this will definitely save on detergent or doing more laundry in the future.

     9.     Buy and use less “cleaners” and use more natural cleaners - Discovering that good old baking soda and vinegar will do many household cleaning jobs very well and are better for the earth too.

    10.  Be more organized and plan ahead – One may have greener options that escape us because we ran out of time. For example, handmade Mother’s Day gifts or cards. Planning ahead and being more organized can save money and help do our part to save the earth.

For more information www.getgreenliving.com

Dreaming of a Green Christmas!

By Sylvia Hay

Yes, the holidays draw out the best in most of us each year. But they also bring what seems like an environmentalist's worst nightmare and taking away much of the joy of Christmas: tons of extra garbage, millions of chopped-down trees, and megawatts of flashing lights. With a little tweaking, however, everything from holiday gift-giving to light-stringing can celebrate the environment, too and turn you from a Grinch to a Happy Elf!!! Here's how:

Recycle holiday gift wrap!

If every family reused just 2 feet [0.6 meter] of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles [61,000 kilometers] of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet.

And not all gifts need wrapping.

Think back to your three favorite holiday memories. Some of the greatest moments involve time you spent with your family and friends. By giving gifts that can be experienced, like tickets to a baseball game or a homemade dinner, you can minimize wrapping and still win points with the receiver.

Fake Fir

For many, Christmas wouldn't be the same without a live, fragrant Christmas tree in their home. Today nearly all of the trees sold at seasonal Christmas-tree lots are grown on tree farms. So forests aren't hurt by choosing a cut tree!

Tree Recycling

Recycling fresh trees after Christmas can make a huge difference in reducing holiday waste. Instead of taking up space in the landfill, trees can be ground into wood chips, which can be used to mulch gardens or parks or to prevent erosion at a local watershed.

Low-Energy Lights

The newest energy-saving stars on the holiday scene are Christmas lights made with light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. First introduced in 2001, LEDs incorporate the same computer-chip technology used to light calculators and watches. The lights, which use semiconducting material rather than incandescent filaments, are 90 percent more efficient than traditional Christmas lights.

The Green Team Wishes You a Very Merry and Green Christmas!

Few items of daily use that you can recycle

By: Rene Hernandez

Everything we recycle adds up and helps in saving our natural resources. It is important that everyone starts reusing the existing and waste products to reproduce into new goods. Go searching your household, you will find numerous objects which are waste, but can be recycled. Not only the old papers, waste bottles, plastic bags, aluminum cans, used batteries, car tires, and textiles but even your computers, washing machines and mobiles can also be recycled into new products.

Here’s a list of items, which are of regular use by most of us, and can be recycled and reproduced.

Batteries:

All kinds of batteries can be recycled. The list includes:

Rechargeable batteries

Alkaline batteries

Lithium Ion (Used in watches and hearing aids)

Nickel Cadmium batteries

Lead Acid batteries

Laptop batteries.

The only precaution to be taken is to tape the batteries to prevent fire while in their collection and transportation.

E waste:

If you plan to upgrade the electronic items of your daily use, do not dump them, rather put them in a recyclable bin around you. These include:

Televisions and VCRs

Copiers, CRTs, CPUs

Stereos and DVD players

Laptops and Fax machines

Microwaves

Before sending e-waste for recycling, it is important to ensure that you have deactivated the property office stickers and erased the hard disk.

Textiles and clothing:

All the textiles and clothing used at home can be recycled.

Plastic bags and products:

Plastics are cheap and easy to produce, but it is non bio-degradable. Plastics can be melted, reshaped and reused. The easily recyclable home use plastics are;

Bubble wraps

Deflated air packets

Journal or magazine wraps

Plastic bags

Electronic appliances:

Recycling electronic items is not only cumbersome but also labor intensive process. It includes separating many components from the equipment as well as dealing with toxic materials like Lead, Mercury and chemical refrigerants. Though, the specialist companies do this at nominal rates. Some of these are:

Refrigerators

Washing machines

Mobile phones

Incubators and other large metal appliances

Aluminum cans:

The best reason why aluminum can recycle is advisable because they save almost 95 percent of the energy used for producing new cans. Mining and refining Bauxite, the ore for Aluminum, not only takes huge effort but causes great deal of pollution too.

Automobile waste:

Automobile waste is toxic for soil and can also cause fire hazards. Tires are recycled into crumbs to give fake soil effect which are further produced into artificial turfs for Football ground. The tires are being widely used for landscaping as well.

These recyclable daily use products are first collected and sorted. There are a few materials which are salvaged from the complex products like: Gold from computer components, Lead from the car batteries. Recyclable bins, Buy-back centers and curb side collection methods are used to collect the recyclable items.

Since the realization has set the mood to save the world from pollution and conserve natural resources, every individual should contribute towards it. This we can begin by recycling our daily use products.

15 Green Tips for the Lazy

By Marisa Belger

TODAY.com contributor

1. Use a remote-control power strip.
The Belkin Conserve is an eight-outlet power strip that comes with a remote control device to help you easily turn off electronics — and completely kill the power (no vampire power drain) — without having to bend over or reach behind your desk to unplug them from the wall. Save energy, save money, save your back.

2. Use natural cleaning products.
Safe cleaning products don’t have to be a luxury. Green Works natural cleaning products are made of plant-based, biodegradable ingredients like corn, coconut and lemon (which leave no harsh chemical fumes or residue) and are affordable and accessible — you can find them at supermarkets, drugstores and mass-market retailers.

3. Get your magazines digitally.
Zinio.com offers digital versions of more than 500 magazine titles like BusinessWeek, Cosmopolitan, Car & Driver, Men’s Health, Dwell, Outside and Yoga Journal. Download the Zinio Reader and read the magazines on your personal computer or access your subscriptions online from any computer at Zinio.com. Owners of iPhones can even access entire magazines through their phones. And in the spirit of budget consciousness, Zinio is offering a free one-year trial subscription to a wide selection of magazines so people can try the service.

4. Choose filtered water over bottled.
Save money as you wean yourself off your disposable water bottle habit — a practice that collectively results in more than 38 billion disposable plastic bottles deposited in the landfill each year in the United States. Brita pitchers are easy to use, and when it’s time for a new replaceable filter, you can easily recycle the old one. Early in 2009, Brita launched a new program with eco-products maker Preserve to recycle the plastic from used filters into a sleek line of personal care, tableware and kitchenware products. You can drop off filters at participating Whole Foods Markets or mail them directly to Preserve.

5. Use a reusable water bottle.
You’ve filtered your water, now you need a reusable bottle to transport it. There are numerous safe and eco-friendly options from Sigg to Klean Kanteen to BPA-free Nalgene bottles. Check out Filter for Good for more information about the impact of bottled-water waste and to purchase a BPA-free reusable water bottle with the Filterforgood.com logo.

6. Get paid to recycle your electronics and keep them out of landfills.
Instead of tossing your gadgets in a landfill when you’re finished with them, get paid to recycle them. Services like www.buymytronics.com, www.myboneyard.com and www.greenphone.com will recycle or refurbish your electronics, which keeps them out of landfills. Simply mail them in and wait for your check.

7. Turn to eco-friendly materials for affordable fashion.
Stores you know and love are focusing on greener fashion. H&M has an extensive line of products made of organic cotton, recycled polyester and natural wool, American Apparel offers colorful, affordable organic basics and Payless recently introduced Zoe & Zac, an affordable, eco-friendly footwear and accessories line. And this spring, look for Loomstate’s eco-friendly collection at Target.

8. Update your wardrobe by connecting with fashionistas with garb to barter.
Swapstyle.com lets you swap accessories, cosmetics and shoes with fashionistas all over the globe for free (you only pay for shipping). You can also combine barter with cash to trade up while avoiding the full cost — both monetary and environmental — of consuming a new product.

9. Use a car-share service to drive without owning.
Enjoy the freedom of being in the driver’s seat while eliminating the expense of owning (or leasing) and maintaining a car by joining a car-share service. Zipcar lets members locate cars conveniently parked at designated spots around a city and reserve them for an hourly fee (typically between $10.50 and $16.50). The company estimates that each of its cars removes the equivalent of about 15 privately owned vehicles from the road.

10. Ride share to get where you want to go.
Another alternative to owning a car is to catch a ride with somebody else. Ride sharing not only saves you the cost of car ownership and maintenance, but also keeps additional cars off the road — a positive eco step.Zimride is a ride-share service built on the Facebook social networking platform that enables members to create personal profiles and select ride mates who share similar music tastes, favorite sports teams, or who just seem “normal.” Zimmers can also evaluate things like driving speed, music volume and smoking preferences before agreeing to hop in. Find rides at Zimride.com or by using Zimride’s Facebook application.

11. CDs, DVDs and books: Swap, don’t buy.
Now you can avoid buying new products (good for your wallet, great for the environment) without sacrificing your need for entertainment. Check out the following swapping sites for access to thousands of CDs, books and DVDs:

• Swapacd.com — Fans can access more than 130,000 available titles. Load in your own CD titles and join the community to starting earning credits. It costs 49 cents plus one credit and shipping to score a CD from another member.
  
• Swapadvd.com — Movie collectors can trade both new and classic DVD titles. More than 58,000 titles are available, and the number is growing as more people discover the cost benefits of swapping DVDs.
  
• Paperbackswap.com — Bookworms can browse more than 2 million titles available for trade. Upload your own titles and send them to community members to earn credits. Use the credits to obtain books that you want. And it’s not just paperbacks; hardcover books are being swapped as well.

12. Video games: Trade, don’t buy.
Whether you’re partial to Xbox, Wii, Nintendo or other gaming platforms, the Goozex online trading community has got you covered with 2,400 games to choose from. Instead of spending big money on new games, Goozex charges you just $1 each time you receive a game from another community member. Save money while avoiding the material waste and greenhouse gas emissions created from consumption.

13. Purchase refurbished electronics.
Refurbished electronics are often products that were returned to stores within 30 days of purchase, had damaged packaging or a slight cosmetic defect, were used as in-store display items or were simply overstocked. Many are still covered by their original warranties and before they can be resold in the marketplace they go through rigorous defect testing. Refurbished products also frequently sell for less than 50 percent of the retail price. Buying refurbished is a clear win-win, saving you money and reducing e-waste heading to landfills. Check out www.dyscern.com and www.refurbdepot.com for a solid selection of refurbished electronics.

14. Conserve water and energy with low-flow showerheads. Evolve has designed a series of water-saving showerheads that let the cold water run until the water temperature reaches 95 degrees and then slow water flow to a trickle. This way hot water doesn’t release until you actually step in the shower and turn the showerhead’s valve to release the flow. Multiple showerhead styles are available, including the Roadrunner low-flow showerhead, which delivers strong water pressure using just 1.59 gallons per minute.

15. Shave with just seven drops.
You’ll live a life free from shaving cream with just seven drops of Pacific Shaving Oil. The natural oil (enhanced with essential oils) will give you the closest shave of your life, and a half-ounce bottle ($6.95) provides up to 100 shaves. The tiny bottle is ideal for air travel, too — perfect for stashing in your carry-on bag.

Texas Renewables 2011 Conference

Be sure to check out the Texas Renewables 2011 Conference and Exhibit on Nov 7 - 9 at the American Bank Center!  The focus of the event is on renewable energy business growth and they will have many speakers and exhibit booths talking about all things green and how this shift in the energy industry effects us all.  The exhibit hall is free to the public and tickets to the conference will be available onsite or at http://www.texasrenewables.org/. 

40 Easy Ways to Go Greener at Home – Besides Recycling

by TSH oXENREIDER on APRIL 21, 2010

in GREEN & FRUGAL LIVING

1.  Plant an herb garden.  It’s good to have a reminder around of where our food originates.

2.  Switch all your lightbulbs to CFLs (or at least switch a few).

3.  Create a homemade compost bin for $15.

4.  Switch one appliance to an energy efficient model (look for the “energy star” label).

5.  Stop using disposable bags – order some reusable bags, or make your own. 

6.  Buy an inexpensive reusable water bottle, and stop buying plastic disposable bottles. 

7.  Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot.

8.  Turn off lights when you leave the room.

9.  Don’t turn on lights at all for as long as you can — open your curtains and enjoy natural light.

10.  Drive the speed limit, and combine all your errands for the week in one trip.

11.  Better yet, walk or ride a bike to your errands that are two miles or closer.

12.  Support your local economy and shop at your farmer’s market.

13.  Turn off your computer completely at night.

14.  Research whether you can sign up for green power from your utility company.

15.  Pay as many bills as possible online.

16.  Put a stop to unsolicited mail — sign up to opt out of pre-screened credit card offers.  While you’re at it, go ahead and make sure you’re on the “do not call” list, just to make your life more peaceful.

17.  Reuse scrap paper.  Print on two sides, or let your kids color on the back side of used paper.

18.  Conduct a quick energy audit of your home.

19.  Subscribe to good eco-friendly blogs (The Daily Green, TreeHugger, and Keeper of the Home).

20.  Before buying anything new, first check your local Craigslist or Freecycle.

21.  Support local restaurants that use food derived less than 100 miles away, and learn more about the benefits of eating locally.

22.  Fix leaky faucets.

23.  Make your own household cleaners. 

24.  Line dry your laundry.

25.  Watch The Story of Stuff with your kids, and talk about the impact your household trash has on our landfills.

26.  Learn with your kids about another country or culture, expanding your knowledge to other sides of the world.

28.  Lower the temperature on your hot water heater.

29.  Unplug unused chargers and appliances.

30.  Repurpose something – turn one of your well-worn t-shirts into basic play pants for your baby.  Or save egg cartons for paint wells, seed starters, treasure boxes, or a myriad of other crafts.

31.  Collect rainwater, and use it to water your houseplants and garden.

32.  Switch to cloth diapers – or at least do a combination with disposables.

33.  Switch to shade-grown coffee with the “Fair Trade” label.

34.  Use a Diva Cup for your monthly cycles.

35.  Use cloth instead of paper to clean your kitchen. Be frugal, and make these rags out of old towels and t-shirts.

36.  Use cloth napkins daily instead of paper.

37.  Read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and open your eyes to the way conventional food is processed. Watch Food, Inc. while you’re at it.

38.  Repurpose glass jars as leftover containers and bulk storage, especially in the kitchen.

39.  Five-minute showers – make it a goal for yourself.

40.  Donate to – and shop at – thrift stores such as Goodwill.  You’ll be recycling perfectly usable items, and you’ll be supporting your local economy.

“Eating Green”

By Jonathan Hiatt

Food is pretty awesome stuff.  I love it.  You love it.  Our dogs and cats enjoy it, as well.  Food is an important part of our daily lives – we have to eat it to stay alive, but it’s also a major source of pleasure.   From salads and sandwiches to hamburgers and hotdogs to duck foie gras or Italian truffles… who doesn’t savor the thought of digging into a plate of hot (or cold), delicious goodness?

Of course, we don’t grow our food in our backyards for the most part – not anymore at least.  These days, food production and transportation doesn’t happen without a lot of energy and a cost to the environment.   Not as simple as it used to be.

In the past, the food we eat would have been cultivated just outside of town.  It would have been harvested by hand and grown organically…at no extra cost…at the peak of freshness! Today, the average food item travels over 1,500 miles before it gets to our mouths, and that is only the last leg of foods fuel-powered journey.  Take a moment to consider the relationship – the “love affair” - between food and the fuel and energy that is used in the production and transportation process:

1. Tilling
   Turning over the soil to prepare for planting, weed disruption, etc.  Typically done with a tractor.
   
   
2. Planting
   A massive machine is used to drop seeds into fields, burning five gallons of fuel for every acre planted.
   
   
3. Spraying Pesticide or Herbicide (also the work of huge machines or airplanes)
   
   
4. Harvesting
   Once again, the massive machine makes its way up and down the rows of the growing fields to collect the matured produce
    
5. Processing
   Includes everything from sorting, washing and packaging produce, to converting it from a whole food to a “food like substance” - this is a highly material and energy intensive process on both the food and packaging side of the equation.
   
   
6. Shipping
   Two to three separate journeys mostly semi trucks but also planes, boats, or trains
7. Retail
   Finally, the food has arrived and you can eat it.

Wow.  That’s a lot of energy.  On the upside, there’s a better way.  Here are a few tips to start eating green:

1. Farmers markets are an excellent place to get your hands on delicious, natural foods, and to get connected with local farmers.
   
   
2. Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSA) are available in many cities.  CSAs allow you to invest in/buy a share of local farms’ harvests in the spring, so you can then receive a weekly box overflowing with seasonal bounty once the goods are ready to be eaten.
   
   
3. Support small farms however you can.  They frequently use people instead of machines, and that can help keep the food footprint incredibly low
   
   
4. Processed foods – avoid them.
   
   
5. Avoid packaging whenever possible; check for items in the bulk isle before going to the packaged products. 

Are You Ready For A Green Fall?

By: Sylvia Hay

Fall means back to school, cooler weather and the dreaded fall clean-up. This year, go green instead of bright yellows, rich reds and russet that the season brings…with more environmentally friendly methods. Here are some tips from Thrifty & Green.

Fall Leaves

If you live in an area that is prone to plenty of leaves falling in your yard, you want to be sure you are handling the clean-up in an eco-friendly manner. Instead of using a leaf blower, use a rake. It does require more time and muscle, but what's better than helping the environment and getting a workout in at the same time? Leaf blowers create noise pollution and if they are diesel powered (bio-diesel is an exception), they also create air pollution as well. Another practice you want to avoid is burning the leaves. This creates a great deal of smoke and more so when leaves are damp, resulting in the release of toxic compounds and particulate matter. I think fall leaves are beautiful, so take the time to admire them and be kind when cleaning them up. If you have kids, you may even be able to do some fun art projects with some of the leaves, we used to do this in elementary school and it was great!

Eating In Season

Don’t forget the importance of eating local and in-season produce. Be sure to purchase all of the wonderful produce that is local and in season for the fall. If you have a Farmer's Market near you, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of it and get your produce there. It not only helps the environment, but your wallet as well! Some of the produce that is in season for the fall are, artichokes, arugula, beets, broccoli, carrots, cranberries, eggplant, kale, leeks and zucchini. There are several more options than these listed for the fall, but this list gives you an idea. One source I use frequently for information and tips is fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. They have helpful lists and recipe ideas to use as well!

Football Parties

Another activity that goes hand in hand with fall is football! This is the time of year where many gather for football parties. So, what does being green have to do with football other than the field? Well, making sure to throw an eco-friendly football shindig is how! One thing to do is make sure you recycle any bottles used up during the game, have a place clearly designated for guests to drop their bottles. You will be making a statement and lessening your time spent gathering bottles after the party. Also, serve locally grown and organic snacks for guests to fill up on during the game! Instead of sending out invitations, send out an evite or be even more casual and pick up the phone to spread the word. Utilize tableware that can be used again. Buy some matching plates and silverware to be used specifically for parties to break out whenever you have one. This will cut out the use of paper plates, plastic forks and styrofoam! This may add a few minutes more to clean-up after the party, but every little bit we do counts in the long run.

It's so interesting to learn about all the ways we can be kind to the environment. Remember, with each season brings new opportunities to take advantage of.

Adopt-A-Beach volunteers find the coast is pretty clear

25^th Annual Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup draws 9,133 volunteers

        

AUSTIN — More volunteers picked up less trash at the 25^th Annual Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup Saturday, prompting speculation that — after 25 years — Texans are starting to get the message.

“Despite an amazing turnout, we picked up 20-percent less trash than last fall,” said Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson. “From Sabine Pass to Boca Chica, there was just less trash to be picked up. I think people get it: Trashing Texas Beaches isn’t Cool.”

A total of 9,133 volunteers picked up 136 tons of trash from 28 sites along 180 miles of the Texas coast Saturday.

Volunteers this year even reported finding fewer unusual items. Aside from a jock strap on South Padre Island, some Vietnamese toothpaste on Galveston Island, a pornographic video tape at Surfside and some Costa Rican coins in Calhoun County, volunteers mostly picked up a pedestrian mixture of cigarette butts and beer cans and other common items left by careless beachgoers.

The success of the Adopt-A-Beach program is due to the hard work and support of thousands of volunteers, including local coordinators who work many unpaid hours publicizing the cleanups in coastal communities. Since the beginning, 25 years ago, Shell Oil Company has supported the effort.  

Since 1986, more than 422,000 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have picked up more than 8,100 tons of trash from Texas beaches, some of it originating from as far away as Asia. Volunteers record data on the trash to learn more about the causes of marine debris and to help mitigate pollution along Texas’ 367 miles of coastline.

The next coastwide cleanup will be the Spring Adopt-A-Beach effort scheduled for Saturday, April 28, 2012.

To learn more about items collected at the cleanup, and for information on the health of the Texas coast, visit the Adopt-A-Beach program Web site at www.texasadoptabeach.org, or contact the Texas General Land Office at 1-877-TXCOAST (1-877-892-6278). Keep up with all Adopt-A-Beach activities by joining us on Facebook, just search “Texas Adopt-A-Beach” to find our page on Facebook and click “like.”

— more —

County	Cleanup Site	Miles Cleaned	Volunteers	Tons Collected (lbs)
Aransas	Rockport Beach (Bay)	5.85	35	1.3	2,625
	County Total	5.85	35	1.3	2,625
Brazoria	Surfside	14	610	12	23,850
	Quintana, Bryan Beach	3	189	1.7	3,350
	County Total	17	799	13.7	27,200
Calhoun	Port Lavaca, Magnolia Beach (Bay)	6	173	1.49	2,975
	Port O' Connor, King Fisher Beach (Bay)	1.5	21	0.75	1,500
	County Total	7.5	194	2.24	4,475
Cameron	South Padre Island Cameron County Parks	6	1,114	23.25	46,500
	South Padre Island City Beaches	5	86	0.94	1,875
	Boca Chica	6	699	1.94	3,890
	County Total	17	1,899	26.13	52,265
Chambers	Chambers County	1	66	1.5	3,000
	County Total	1	66	1.5	3,000
Galveston	Bolivar Peninsula	20	500	18.8	37,500
	Galveston Island	32	2,764	16.9	33,750
	Hwy 146 - Dickinson Bayou Boat Ramp (Bay)	1	58	2.9	5,780
	John M. O' Quinn 1-45 Estuarial Corridor (Bay)	9.4	80	8	16,000
	County Total	62.4	3,402	46.6	93,030
Harris	Horsepen Bayou (Bay)	8	182	0.67	1,348
	County Total	8	182	0.67	1,348
Jefferson	McFaddin Beach	2.5	325	0.9	1,800
	Sea Rim State Park	2.5	54	2.7	5,400
	County Total	5	379	3.6	7,200
Kleberg and Nueces	Baffin Bay (Bay)	5	65	0.84	1,680
	Padre Island National Seashore	5	284	2.95	5,900
	Port Aransas & St. Jo Island	7.2	256	4	7,975
	Mustang Island State Park	3.5	100	3.75	7,500
	Corpus Christi Beach (Bay)	9	380	5.25	10,500
	North Padre Island	6	499	2.15	4,300
	Aransas Pass (Bay)	2	40	1	2,000
	County Total	37.7	1,624	19.94	39,855
Matagorda	Sargent Beach	6	109	5.8	11,589
	Matagorda Beach	5	265	12.5	25,000
	Palacios (Bay)	3	75	0.61	1,225
	County Total	14	449	18.91	37,814
Refugio	Austwell Pier (Bay)	1	52	0.3	600
	County Total	1	52	0.3	600
San Patricio	Portland, Sunset Lake Park (Bay)	3.5	52	1.4	2,800
	County Total	3.5	52	1.4	2,800
Total	Fall 2011	179.95	9,133	136.3	272,212
	Total Bay Miles	55.25
	Total Beach Miles	124.7