SPLASh

SPLASh is a conservation and education project in partnership with the American Bird Conservancy, Black Cat GIS, and GCBO. With the SPLASh project, we hope to decrease the amount of trash in and entering Gulf Coast waters on the upper Texas coast.

There is an enormous amount of trash in Texas waters and this affects the organisms living there as well as on the beach. Many of the shorebirds that we study have been negatively effected by this pollution. For example, the American Oystercatchers that we study have often been found wrapped up in fishing line, which causes damage to the bird and sometimes death.

This project has both cleanup and education components. We host monthly beach and bayou cleanups during which we also collect trash data. For a long-term effect, we educate the public about waste reduction and proper disposal. This includes engaging local communities, stakeholders, and natural resource managers whose coastal lands and areas are impacted by trash and plastic pollution. If you are interested in our education programs or volunteering at one of our cleanups, please contact csilling@gcbo.org.

Trash Free Pledges and voluntary Trash Management and Prevention Plans encourage citizens, visitors, agencies and municipalities to prevent and remove trash from our water and beaches.

To learn more about SPLASh, visit our full website here.

With our education programs, we teach the public about what happens to marine garbage, the negative effects it has, and how we can help. To learn more about our programming or implement it with your class, view our education page here.

Take our short online courses about Marine Debris, Galveston Bay Ecology, and Life vs. Litter here.

Sign our Trash Free Pledge here

If you'd like to bring SPLASh programming to your school or group, contact Celeste at csilling@gcbo.org

We host monthly cleanups on the beaches or bayous. We are always looking for volunteers to help us collect trash and data, so come join us!

See a schedule of Cleanup events here.

Email csilling@gcbo.org to sign up.

See our cleanup data so far here.

Take our after-cleanup survey here.

For more information contact:

Chloe Dannenfelser, ABC Texas Outreach Coordinator, (281) 832-4255, CDannenfelser@abcbirds.org

Elizabeth Virgl, ABC Texas Coastal Education Specialist, (815) 954-1038,  EVirgl@abcbirds.org

Celeste Silling, GCBO Education and Outreach Manager, 979-480-0999, csilling@gcbo.org

¹This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 01D07120 to American Bird Conservancy. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.