Aggies, Longhorns Join the Fight to Stash Trash

In a new promotional video posted to social media this week, Canyon Lake-area Aggies and Longhorns set aside their decades-long differences to form a new lineup, “Stash Your Trash,” aimed at tackling the growing problem of trash in Canyon Lake, the Guadalupe River and along area roadways, parks and trails.

Water Oriented Recreation District of Canyon Lake (WORDCC) Assistant Manager Beverly Lopez said good flow rates, steady tourism and a rising population in Comal County all bring more unwanted trash to the area. Last year, WORD picked up  2,000 60-gallon bags of trash out of the area and spends approximately 70-percent of its annual budget on law enforcement, safety, health and sanitation.

However, WORDCC might prevail in this year’s trash season. So far this summer,  their yellow-shirted  “street teamers” have greeted 5,000 people, handing out mesh trash bags to visitors at Overlook Park, Comal Park, and near the exit of the Horseshoe bend on the Guadalupe River.

“We’re excited to get people involved. We hope that locals participate, and we’re excited for tourists to participate,” she said. “Anytime someone picks up trash in the district it’s a great thing.”

“Stash Your Trash” campaign culminates in giveaways on Aug. 19, and there’s still time to join the fight.

To participate, residents and visitors should stash their trash in WORD’s yellow mesh bags, take a photo of themselves and/or family and friends with the stashed trash and share on Instagram, tagging WORDCOMAL COUNTY, and using #stashyourtrash. Photos must be posted by Aug. 18 to win.

Winners will be randomly selected to win prizes including a 50-inch LED flat-screen HDTV, an inflatable SUP board, and a 32G silver iPad.

Lopez said special thanks are due to New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, which helped with its new video, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for letting WORDCC set up staging areas for “Stash Your Trash.”

“It’s just been really great to have the community involved,” she said. “We’re getting a lot of positive feedback.”