Volunteers Keep Texas Beautiful During Massive Spring Cleaning Effort
- 04.02.05
Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off April 2
(AUSTIN)—Thousands of Texans from across the state will come together on Saturday, April 2, for the Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off, one of the largest cleanup events of its kind in the nation.
The Trash-Off, co-sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), attracts more than 1,500 Adopt-a-Highway groups and more than 100 KTB communities, but the event is open to anyone interested in making Texas litter-free.
"Every year more than 1 billion pieces of litter accumulate on Texas highways, and it costs $35.5 million to clean it up," said TxDOT Travel Division Director Doris Howdeshell. "People don't realize that each individual's litter not only affects our environment, but it also drains precious tax dollars."
One billion pieces of litter on Texas highways each year equals approximately 1,417 pounds of trash for every man, woman and child in Texas. That amount of trash is enough to keep the thousands of volunteers from Adopt-a-Highway and KTB working year-round to keep Texas' communities and roadsides clean.
"Volunteers give their time because they love Texas and want to give back to their communities," said Joanne Weik, President of Keep Texas Beautiful. "For 20 years, organizations and communities have come together to clean up our state on Trash-Off day. It sends a strong message for litter prevention and volunteerism when people see other citizens giving up their free time to improve blighted areas."
Research has shown that people are less likely to litter when roadsides are kept clean. You wouldn't expect to find winning lottery tickets, a microwave and an envelope containing a significant amount of cash along Texas roadways, but all of these things and more have been removed from highways during Trash-Off.
TxDOT's Don't Mess With Texas campaign began in 1986 and has helped decrease the state's roadside litter by 52 percent since 1995.
For more information about the Don't Mess With Texas Trash-Off or how to adopt a section of highway through the Adopt-a-Highway program, visit www.texasaah.org or www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
For a complete list of community events or volunteer information, contact KTB at 1-800-CLEAN-TX or visit www.ktb.org.
