Trash Free Texas

Trash Free Texas, funded by an Environmental Protection Agency contract, ends on September 30, 2023. Despite this, we're dedicated to finding new funding to sustain our mission. While Adopt-A-Spot updates and partner form processing pause temporarily, the Trash Free Texas website and map will stay active, offering valuable resources. Stay tuned for updates as we transition, and thank you for supporting our Texas waterways' cleanliness.

Adopt-A-Spot Explore the Adopt-A-Spot Map Texas Litter Database

Protecting our waters by connecting volunteers
to litter cleanup opportunities in texas

In Texas, over 362 million pieces of visible litter accumulate on roadways each year, according to TxDOT’s 2019 Visible Litter Study. It is in our community, the sides of our roads, in our rivers, and along our beaches. Litter control efforts cost the American taxpayers over $11 billion each year.

The Trash Free Texas “Adopt-a-Spot” site and Online Mapping Tool was created to foster a litter-free environment in Texas watersheds and track trash removal activities. Adopt a site to do your part to keep litter out of our waterways.

Be a Part of the Solution, Become a...

Supporter

Grow the Reach and Value of Trash Free Texas

Coordinator

Provide Data and Sites from Your Community

Partner

Share Information in Your Local Community

Volunteer

Adopt-A-Spot to Keep Litter from Our Waterways

RESOURCE HIGHLIGHT

Check out the latest resources for Trash Free Texas Coordinators, Local Governments, future Coordinators, and other individuals who are leading trash mitigation efforts in their region.

TOOLKIT Resources

Trash is a big problem in Texas - in fact, it is ‘the size of Texas’.

what is the problem?

Litter is widespread – parks, rivers, roads, and beaches. It harms businesses, tourism, and community pride, endangering health, wildlife, and the environment. Around 80% of stream, lake, and river trash originates from land, reaching the Gulf of Mexico and oceans. We must stop this by removing litter from our communities.

Challenges to Overcome.

Less than 1% of public lands are adopted by volunteers for cleanups.
Volunteers often lack information on areas needing adoption and whom to contact.
Adoptions are managed by various entities in each Texas community.
No internet technology or mobile device application system has been developed to unify ‘Adopt-A-” programs - until now...

Trash Free Texas addresses these challenges by uniting communities for routine litter cleanups.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Trash Free Texas?

In Texas and across America, we must be able to connect people to places in need of routine cleanup activity. Volunteer efforts to remove litter, aquatic trash, and debris are critical to our communities. When we connect people to places, we give our volunteers a sense of ownership and a stewardship ethos. This reduces littering and illegal dumping, which results in cleaner lands, healthier aquatic ecosystems, and lower costs to governments.

Our comprehensive data collection will make it easy for Coordinators to strategically identify and adopt out high need areas, labeled as adopt-a-spot sites. Volunteers have an easy ‘point-and-click’ interface to select sites that meet their interests.

After a cleanup event, Coordinators can report thier data to Keep Texas Beautiful's Texas Litter Database.

Click around the Adopt-A-Spot Map to search for available sites in Texas. For optimal viewing, please use Google Chrome or Firefox.

*This map is interactive

adopt-a-spot Map

Report Cleanup Data