Trash Isn’t Seasonal Along FM 306
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Don’t blame the tourists.
There’s as much trash lying around Canyon Lake roadways during the winter off-season as there is during peak summer months.
Which is why volunteers with Keep Canyon Lake Beautiful (KCLB) — members of Comal County Conservation Alliance, employees of Water Oriented Recreation District of Comal County, and residents of Horseshoe Falls Estates — spent a good part of Dec. 1 trudging up and down FM 306. spearing trash. They started at Whitewater Sports and headed north towards the Dollar General some two miles down the road.
Their efforts yielded, 34 mesh bags of trash.
“It’s not good, and as you’re driving by it doesn’t appear to be that bad,” Jennifer Bretzke, KCLB’s secretary, said. “But once you get out there and start walking, it does not look nearly as clean.”
There are more cigarette butts than it would ever be possible to pick up. Plastic grocery bags are the worst. They get tangled up in everything, and as they begin to disentegrate, the bags break into hundreds of pieces. Styrofoam is the enemy, clogging drainage ditches and creeks leading to the lake, where it affect the fish in Canyon Lake.
People dump larger items like tires and televisions along trailheads and more-obscure locations where they can’t be caught-in-the-act, she said.
KCLB’s work never ends, which is why quarterly clean-ups are scheduled througout the year and volunteers are greatly appreciated.
The organization was founded in 2013 as part of Keep Texas Beautiful. It’s mission is litter prevention, beautification and waste reduction.
Bretzke, who owns KL Ranch Campground on River Road, said she’s looking for a new board member. She promises that tromping up and down roadways is actually a great way to meet new people while giving back to the community.
Keep Canyon Lake Beautiful’s next event is scheduled for April 13, 2019. It’s “The Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off”, the single largest one-day cleanup event in the state. It’s Texas’s signature event for the Great American Cleanup, the nation’s largest community improvement program.
The Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off is part of TxDOT’s litter prevention program, which includes Don’t mess with Texas, Adopt-a-Highway, and a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful.
