Don’t Mess With Texas Trash-Off Is Saturday

The "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign is one of the best things to ever happen in our beautiful state. It's one of the reasons our state remains beautiful. Now it's time to get involved for 2012.

The next Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off will be Saturday, says the Victoria advocate. Groups and individuals can register for the Texas Trash-Off now at ktb.org or by calling 1-800-CLEAN-TX. The Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off is the states' largest one-day litter cleanup event. It is a partnership between Keep Texas Beautiful and the Texas Department of Transportation.

In 2011, 75,872 volunteers participated in 848 Trash-Off events across the state, and more than 6,000 miles of highway were cleared of litter and debris, totaling nearly 6 million pounds of trash.

Trash-Off volunteers are ambassadors for the Don't Mess with Texas campaign. These volunteers, and many other Texans, will have a new tool to fight litter - a mobile app. For years, the "Report A Litterer" program has allowed Texans to notify TxDOT via dontmesswithtexas.org when they witness trash being tossed out of vehicles. Now, there's a new, free mobile app. For instance, with the single press of a button, the littering incident and type of trash are recorded via GPS. The new Don't Mess with Texas app allows Texans to identify the litter they see as one of four prevalent types of trash: fast food; cigarette butts; cups, cans and bottles; and miscellaneous trash. The data is then compiled into a map that illustrates what's being littered and where throughout Texas.

Don't Mess with Texas, a campaign by Texas Department of Transportation, has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. TxDOT's litter prevention program also includes Adopt-a-Highway and a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. For more information, visit dontmesswithtexas.org or on Facebook at Dont-Mess-with-Texas-Program.

KIXS 108 supports the "Don't Mess With Texas" program.