Port Houston strives to be an active steward in the community.

About 30 port team members joined thousands of other volunteers at the annual River, Lakes, Bays N’ Bayous Trash Bash in Pasadena March 30. This annual event is the largest single-day waterway clean up in the state of Texas.

Since 1994, over 100,000 community volunteers have collected more than 2,000 tons of trash and 17,000 tons of recyclables at Trash Bash events.  The program was founded in 1994 by the Houston-Galveston Area Council and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and has grown to 14 sites across the Galveston Bay region.

Port employees also recently showcased their creativity during the Beautify the Bucket Challenge, hosted by the Galveston Parks Board and Artist Boat organization.  This program allows participants the opportunity to take an active role in beautifying the Texas coastline by painting or decorating trash barrels with certain marine or nautical themes.

As part of the program, these barrels were placed along Galveston’s beaches where they will be enjoyed by visitors and help promote environmental stewardship and encourage proper disposal of trash to reduce marine debris.