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Trash Free Texas
News & Updates

July 2022
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This Month's Spotlight
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Program Updates
Trash Free Texas Adopt-A-Spot Overview Featured at KTB Conference
The annual Keep Texas Beautiful conference is an opportunity for participants to share, learn, and celebrate local, regional, and state accomplishments and programs and includes networking, field trips, educational sessions, awards presentations, and exhibits. This year's 55th Annual Conference was held in Austin June 27-29, and Trash Free Texas project partners from H-GAC and the North Central Texas Council of Governments were excited to participate! As speakers for the "Tackling Litter in Texas" session, partners shared the Trash Free Texas project goals, the Adopt-A-Spot program and resources, and the new toolkits available on the Trash Free Texas website. It was especially great to see so many Keep Texas Beautiful affiliates from the greater Houston area represented at the conference! If you are interested in learning more about any of the Trash Free Texas program or resources, contact Kendall Guidroz.
Volunteers Needed for Plogging, Plalking, and Pladdling Pilot Group
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We are looking for volunteers to help pilot and provide feedback on newly created resources designed to engage residents and recreationists in the activities of plogging, plalking, pliking and pladdling (picking up trash while doing recreational activities like jogging, walking, biking, or paddling). 

The project team is looking for local governments, Keep Texas Beautiful affiliates, and recreation groups willing to pilot all or specific portions of the resources and provide their feedback upon completion. The pilot period is open through September with feedback collected via a survey. Participants will be asked how the provided resources helped with the promotion, planning, or implementation of recreational cleanup activities.

If you are interested in participating, contact Crysta Guzman or Kendall Guidroz at any time during the pilot period. 
Litter Cleanup and Education Toolkits
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The Trash Free Texas project offers resources to assist communities and organizations in planning and implementing successful litter cleanup and education efforts. If you plan to hold cleanup events or implement litter outreach in 2022, be sure to check out these new toolkits. 
 
The Community Cleanup Challenge Toolkit provides resources to assist local and regional governments, nonprofit organizations, and other entities interested in hosting litter cleanup events. While the resources are designed for a competition-style cleanup, many are helpful for planning and implementing standard litter cleanup activities as well.  
 
The Local Government Trash Reduction and Education Toolkit is a consolidation of resources developed to assist local and regional governments, nonprofit organizations, and other entities who are seeking to engage and educate their communities on the topics of watersheds, litter, aquatic debris, and cleanup initiatives. The toolkit includes videos, reports, infographics, links to existing campaigns, and more.  
Partner Updates
Litter Database Update and Take 2 For Texas
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Take 2 for Texas is a campaign to encourage individuals to help track and reduce litter in Texas. It features a short time frame and a single item, plastic bottles. Take 2 data entry can be easily accessed on a mobile device and encourages people to participate in important data collection for the Texas Litter Database.

How individuals can take action​ in 2 minutes
Find a spot outside… by a waterway, in a park, along a road. Count every plastic bottle you pickup for two minutes. Only one person should count or pick up bottles during the two minutes. Go to www.txlitter.org, click the Take2 icon, and report the number of bottles you collected.

Tips: 
  • Feel free to separate and recycle any empty, clean bottles. 
  • Bottles that are not clean and empty should be disposed of in a trash bin.   
  • Feel free to pick up all other litter in the area after your 2 minute bottle count.
Reduce or Eliminate Your Plastic Use During Plastic-Free July
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Commit to going plastic free in July by refusing single-use plastic items from July 1-July 31. For some, Plastic Free July is a great way to try out plastic free alternatives for a month that can then turn into permanent changes. Learn more about the campaign and take the pledge to join the movement!
Save the Date for Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanups
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Save the date for the Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program’s Coastwide Fall Cleanup on Saturday, September 17. Registration is now open for clean ups from 9 a.m. to noon at 26 locations along the Texas coast. Individuals, groups, community organizations, and school groups are encouraged to participate. Groups and organizations are also encouraged to consider adopting a section of beach through the Adopt-A-Beach program.
Make Plans to Participate in KTB's Annual Fall Sweep - September 11 through November 20
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Each year, Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) sponsors a Fall Sweep program to support the efforts of KTB Affiliates, nonprofits, volunteers, corporations, scout groups, and other community groups to organize fall cleanups and beautification projects.

To participate, you can find a clean up in your community by searching the events calendar, contact a KTB affiliate, or organize your own community clean up. More information about starting your own clean up (or finding one near you) is available on the KTB Fall Sweep web page.

If you are looking for new ways to engage volunteers in your litter cleanups, check out the Trash Free Texas toolkits for tips and resources to plan and implement different types of cleanup elements like community challenges or recreation.
Communities Make a Difference with Clean Up, Collection Events
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Communities across the Houston-Galveston region are making a difference by hosting clean ups or collection events focusing on hard to dispose of items that could easily find their way into local waterways.

Way to go Eagle Lake for hosting your semi-annual community collection event for residents only in early August. Eagle Lake residents (with proof of residency) can bring furniture, mattresses, household trash, freon-free appliances, and scrap tires to be properly disposed of or recycled.
Do you have a trash clean-up or litter reduction project that’s coming up, ongoing, or recently completed? Ask for help or share your success with the Trash Free Texas Community by sharing in our monthly update.