April 10 , 2006

CONTACT: Josh Spradling
1-800-CLEAN-TX

Giant “Trash Fish” Emerges on Shores of Colorado River
Keep Texas Beautiful Launches Campaign to Clean State’s Waterways

AUSTIN, TX – A giant fish emerged on the shores of the Colorado River in the state’s capital this weekend. But this was no ordinary fish! The bizarre creature that appeared to have made its way up onto land was a giant fish made from the litter pulled from Central Texas waterways by thousands of volunteers on Saturday.

Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) joined with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Austin Green Art and Keep Austin Beautiful to create the enormous visual reminder of the problem of litter in Texas rivers, lakes and creeks and the threats posed to human health and safety, wildlife and our ability to enjoy the outdoors.

“Many Texas rivers and lakes are brimming with litter – everything from cigarette butts to burger wrappers and old tires,” explained KTB Communications Coordinator Josh Spradling, “and most Texans don’t realize the harmful impact this has on our waterways.”

The Lake and River Cleanup Program provides communities and organizations across Texas with free cleanup materials, promotional items and more. In 2005, the Program supported 184 different events, 29,000 volunteers, and more than 1,000 miles of cleaned waterways and 990,000 pounds of collected debris and recyclable materials.

KTB recently kicked off a statewide outreach campaign entitled “Trash Fish” to help raise awareness of litter problems in local waterways and to inform Texans about ways to improve them. The campaign features print public service announcements, flyers and posters featuring comical images of fish made from the kind of trash commonly found in Texas waterways.

The giant “Trash Fish” from this weekend’s cleanup effort is part of KTB’s statewide campaign for 2006. KTB is encouraging local governments, concerned citizens, community and nonprofit groups, schools, scout and youth groups and businesses to get involved and support its efforts by:
• Planning a cleanup of a nearby lake, river or creek
• Creating a water-related educational activity for groups within their community
• Marking storm drains with messages to prevent water pollution

For more information about obtaining free planning guides, publicity assistance, trash bags or other materials needed for cleanup events, visit www.ktb.org or call Keep Texas Beautiful at 1-800-CLEAN-TX.