"Litter Force" Superheroes Encourage Younger Texans to "Blast the Trash" in Nine Cities
- 07.15.05
Don't Mess with Texas introduces new initiative to teach children about littering
(AUSTIN)—The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is now targeting even younger Texans with its litter-prevention campaign. With the help of the new "Litter Force," Don't Mess with Texas will teach elementary-age children about the perils of littering and how they can pledge to help "Blast the Trash" and protect Texas roadways from litter.
Starting on July 18, the educational outreach campaign will take special "Litter Force" vans to nine cities in two weeks, making stops at local YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs in each market. Events will feature cartoon illustrated superheroes and trash villains who will educate children about the consequences of littering and encourage them to join the Litter Force to help eliminate littering in Texas.
"Research shows that Texans ages 16 to 24—also known as 'Generation Litterer' or 'Gen L'—are the state's worst offenders, so we need to educate our children about the long-term effects of this bad habit before they start littering," said TxDOT Travel Division Director Doris Howdeshell. "This innovative prevention program will influence children's mindset long before they become the next Gen L."
The Litter Force, a group of four superheroes, aims to excite and inspire younger children to become litter-savvy and join their team. Each character uses special powers to "Blast the Trash:"
- "Hawk" sees litter that may be hidden or is miles away
- "Ultra" shoots a beam from her magic bracelets to prevent littering by catching trash
- "Bolt" hears litter as soon as it is dropped and races with amazing speed to catch it
- "K-900" the team's half-bulldog, half-robot canine, uses his expert sense of smell to detect litter and can teleport himself anywhere to pick it up
The Litter Force's mission is to protect the environment against a gang of trash villains. The villains are representative of the most common types of litter found on Texas highways as recorded by TxDOT in the 2000 Visible Litter Study:
- "Master Packet" is a gooey, squirting ketchup packet
- "Madam Gum" is a chewy, sticky wad of bubble gum
- "The Chipinator" is a crinkled snack bag that hurls its uneaten potato chips
- "Sloppy Straw" is a spitwad-shooting beverage straw
- "Pop-Top" is a soda can that flings its metal tabs at the Litter Force
"This is the first time Don't Mess with Texas has created an educational campaign on this scale targeted to elementary age students in our nearly 20-year history," said Howdeshell. "We're very excited about these planned events, and we are confident that children will respond positively to the Litter Force and its message."
Activities will include a litter hunt and a game that familiarizes children with the different forms of litter—large, small and "accidental" (litter that accidentally flies out of cars and pickup trucks). They will have the opportunity to join the Litter Force by reciting a pledge promising not to litter and to encourage friends and family to do the same. Children will also receive a Report a Litterer note pad to keep in their parents' cars so they can report littering to TxDOT. Children can help their parents record the car's description, license plate number and details about the incident and submit the information to www.dontmesswithtexas.org. Offenders will receive a letter informing them they were spotted littering and they will be given a Don't Mess with Texas litterbag for their car to prevent future littering.
Most important, kids will learn that even the smallest pieces of trash count as litter, especially cigarette butts, food wrappers and bottle caps. These items and other trash add up to 1 billion pieces of litter on Texas roads every year, according to TxDOT's 2000 Visible Litter Study.
Litter Force Schedule
The Don't Mess with Texas Litter Force is making scheduled stops in each of the following cities:
July 18 Austin & San Antonio
July 19 Austin & Corpus Christi
July 20 Tyler & Corpus Christi
July 21 Beaumont & San Antonio
July 22 Austin & San Antonio
July 26 Abilene & McAllen
July 27 Abilene & Laredo
July 28 Amarillo & San Antonio
July 29 San Antonio
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TxDOT's Don't Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. For more information, visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
