On the Trail of Trash   

The first annual On the Trail of Trash was held in May.  The event encouraged Houstonians to Get Up, Get Out, and Get Cleaning the area parks and trails.  The Houston Parks & Recreation Department, The Park People, Keep Houston Beautiful, Halliburton, Shell Oil Company, Marathon Oil, and Lyondell united to make the inaugural park trail maintenance and cleanup event a success. 

Houston was one of twenty-five cities selected by the Texas Department of Transportation for the "Trash and Treasure Hunt" community clean-up event taking place around the state this spring and summer as part of the "Don't Mess with Texas" litter prevention campaign's 20th Anniversary celebration.  The "Trash and Treasure Hunt" was fused with On the Trail of Trash at Hermann Brown Park.  Volunteers had the chance to win prizes including a round-trip airfare on Southwest Airlines.  Other sponsors for the "Trash and Treasure Hunt" included La Quinta, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.  The Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Starbucks Coffee Company, and Chick-Fil-A were on hand as refreshment sponsors. 

Cullen Park, Hermann Brown Park, Hermann Park, Oyster Creek, Waugh Dr. at Allen Parkway, and Stude/ White Oak were targeted for this event.  Halliburton, Shell Oil, Marathon Oil, Lyondell, Keep Houston Beautiful, The Park People, and the Parks & Recreation Department employees donated their time to help make a difference.  They trimmed trees, raked trails, mowed, removed invasive species, and picked up debris with volunteers from all over the Houston area.  Joe Turner, Director of the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, said,"Our corporate sponsors ... have done more than just spoken about the need to increase and maintain environmental consciousness and accountability.  They are backing their words with action by helping us pick up the trash themselves." 

Over 600 volunteers persevered through the rains and worked over 2,000 hours to cleanup the parks and trails.  Marathon Oil employees were rained out on the day of the event and rescheduled for June 24th.  They removed four truck loads of invasive species from Hermann Park.  "On the Trail of Trash was an excellent and very successful campaign.  We finished ahead of schedule due to the deep commitment of the volunteers to doing an outstanding job with a sense of community and pride.  I can't thank the volunteers and Keep Houston Beautiful enough for all their support." remarked Walt Witham, City of Houston Parks and Recreation Superintendent.  More than 49,000 lbs. of debris was removed from Houston Parks during On the Trail of Trash.

Lyondell built a bat observation deck on Waugh Dr. at Allen Parkway that was donated to the City of Houston.  Many people are unaware that bats live in the city.  The Waugh Bat Colony observation deck will facilitate awareness and education about bats and their habitats.  Click here to see the video!