Working with Shell Oil Company and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Port Houston helped create the Buffalo Bayou “Clean and Green” Program in 2007 – and this month, the partnership is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the program. Port Houston is proud of its success, which was spearheaded in large part by the efforts of former Port Commissioner Elyse Lanier.

The “Clean and Green” year-round program was designed to eliminate trash from Houston's historic Buffalo Bayou, including where it meets the Port of Houston, one of the world's most dynamic seaports. Trash in Buffalo Bayou is a recurring dynamic due to the city’s unique storm water drainage system and the waterway current. This environmental beautification project used supervised community service workers to help clear the banks and surface of litter and trash.

The program start was celebrated on September 4, 2007, in a packed-house ceremony at Port Houston’s Sam Houston Boat Tour Pavilion at the Turning Basin.

Over the last decade, the partnership's field crew and community service workers have collected over 20,000 cubic yards of trash and debris, a milestone of environmental stewardship. This figure equates to more than 800 garbage truckloads of trash – enough trash to fill a football field more than 12 feet high.

The project has also been made possible by the cooperation of other public agency partners, including the Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Constable Precinct 6 and the Greater East End Management District.