SPLASh Texas

06/07/2026

☕♻️ Something exciting is brewing this July...

SPLASh is preparing to launch our One Less Plastic July Coffee Cup Challenge for 2026, a community effort to reduce single-use plastic waste by rewarding people for bringing reusable coffee cups to participating coffee shops. 💧🌿

The challenge is simple: bring your own reusable cup, collect stamps, and earn rewards while helping keep plastic pollution out of our waterways, shorelines, and wildlife habitats.

🎁 And yes, there are prizes!
Participants will have the chance to earn an exclusive One Less Plastic reusable coffee cup and matching sticker while supplies last. What better way to show off your commitment to reducing plastic waste than with a cup you'll use again and again? ☕

📣 We need your help!

Coffee lovers: What local coffee shops already reward customers for bringing reusable cups? Drop your favorites in the comments so we can connect with them! 👇

Coffee shop owners & managers:Interested in participating? SPLASh will provide the promotional materials, challenge cards, reusable cup prizes, and marketing support. Your team simply stamps customer cards and helps encourage reusable cup use.

📧 Want to join as a business partner? Reach out to us at [email protected], and we'll send you the program details.

Together, we can make one less plastic cup at a time, and add up to a real reduction in pollution. 🌊🐦

06/05/2026

🏖️☀️ Beach season is here, and so are nesting shorebirds. 🐦

As you head out for summer vacations, beach trips, and weekends on the coast, remember that we're sharing these spaces with wildlife.

The birds in these photos remind us that our actions matter. While shorebirds can be incredibly adaptable, litter creates real challenges. Trash can attract predators to nesting areas, entangle wildlife, be mistaken for food, or alter the habitats birds rely on to nest and raise their young.

At SPLASh, this is why we spend so much time removing litter from beaches, shorelines, and waterways. Every piece of trash picked up is one less hazard for birds, wildlife, and the ecosystems we all enjoy. 💧🌿

You can help too:

🗑 Pack out everything you bring in
🚮 Secure trash so it doesn't blow away
🐦 Give nesting birds plenty of space
♻️ Pick up a few extra pieces of litter when you visit the beach

🙌 Want to make an even bigger impact? Join SPLASh at an upcoming cleanup in your community! Check out our calendar of events to get involved.

Small actions add up. Together, we can help keep our beaches cleaner and safer for both wildlife and people this summer.

🌊 Leave only footprints. Take only memories.

Least Tern Eggs Photos: Issac Boden/Houston Audubon
Gulls, Grackles, and Trash Photos: Sarah Belles/American Bird Conservancy

06/04/2026

⚽🌊 Help Us Track Litter During the World Cup! 🌊⚽

Join SPLASh and the FWC26 Houston Sustainability Committee for our next Monument Inn Cleanup as we continue the World Cup Bayou Cleanup Project!

This cleanup is at the same location as the last two, but starts one hour earlier than our previous Monument Inn events, so we can beat the summer heat.

📍 Monument Inn: 4406 Independence Pkwy, La Porte, TX 77571
🗓 June 27, 2026
⏰ 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

This cleanup takes place during the World Cup event period and is an important part of our effort to understand how large-scale events may impact litter and debris in our waterways and shorelines. Through cleanup efforts and litter data collection, we'll compare the amount and types of trash found to our previous Monument Inn cleanups and look for patterns that may help us better understand how debris enters the environment.

🗑 Help remove litter from the shoreline
📊 Participate in trash data collection
🐦 Protect bird habitats and local wildlife
🌊 Improve our waterways for everyone to enjoy

👉 Register Here: [Insert Registration Link]

Whether you're interested in conservation, community science, or simply making a positive impact, we'd love to have you join us!

06/04/2026

⚽SPLASH FWC26 Houston Sustainability Committee Partner Spotlight 💦

🚲🌿 Friends of Columbia Tap Trail 🌿🚲

The Columbia Tap Trail is a historic 4-mile trail through Houston's Third Ward that follows a former rail corridor built by enslaved Black laborers to transport goods from Brazoria County plantations to the Port of Houston. Today, the trail serves as both a community green space and a reminder of Houston's complex history.

We're proud to highlight our partners at Friends of Columbia Tap Trail, who work to improve and promote the trail through community engagement, beautification projects, stewardship, and education while helping make Third Ward a healthier and more connected community. 💚

Join them for their upcoming cleanup:

📅 June 20, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
📍 Third Ward Bike Shop
3616 Briley St, Houston, TX 77004

Help remove litter along the trail and surrounding areas while supporting one of Houston's most important historic and community spaces.

👉 Register through the FWC26 Houston Sustainability Committee calendar:
https://luma.com/q7326r3m

Together, we're creating cleaner neighborhoods, healthier waterways, and a more sustainable Houston. 🌎💧

06/03/2026

🌿💧 What an incredible day at Charles Milby Park!

A huge thank you to the Houston Zoo for organizing another fantastic Neighbors for Nature Cleanup. We are always proud to partner with an organization so dedicated to conservation and community engagement. 🦩💚

We also want to thank the 51 amazing volunteers who spent their morning cleaning along Sims Bayou and throughout the wooded areas of the park. Together, volunteers removed:

🛞 2 passenger vehicle tires
🚛 2 large 18-wheeler tires
🏗 A massive welding tank filled with concrete
🏠 Countless roofing shingles
🗑 Numerous bags of plastic litter and debris

The final total? An incredible 921 pounds of trash and debris removed! 🙌

Every pound removed helps create healthier habitats for wildlife, cleaner waterways, and a more beautiful community for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you again to all the volunteers and to the Houston Zoo for making this cleanup such a success! 💙

Want to join us for the next Neighbors for Nature cleanup? Register here:
Neighbors for Nature Registration

05/28/2026

🦩 Roseate Spoonbills are on the move, and in full breeding season on the Gulf Coast right now!🌸

These stunning pink wading birds are actively nesting and raising chicks across Gulf Coast wetlands, marshes, and coastal habitats. 🌊

🐦 Fun fact: Roseate Spoonbills aren’t born pink they start off white and gradually turn that iconic rosy color as their diet changes over time! Their bright color actually comes from the carotenoids in the shrimp and crustaceans they eat.

🌿At SPLASh, protecting wetlands and shorelines helps ensure species like spoonbills have clean and safe places to feed, nest, and raise their young. 💧

Roseate Spoonbill. Photos: by Larry Master/Mastersimages.org

05/27/2026

🦩Join SPLASh and the Houston Zoo for a Neighbors for Nature community shoreline cleanup at Charles Milby Park as part of our ongoing partnership! 🌊

Neighbors for Nature is all about project volunteers can spend a few hours working alongside Zoo staff and local wildlife-saving partners on projects both at the Zoo and in our community that help create wildlife-friendly spaces.

This time the focus will be litter from Sims bayous and surround green spaces at Charles Milby Park!

Where: Charles Milby Park 2001 Central St, Houston, TX 77017
(We will meet over by the soccer fields not the community center)

When: May 30, 2026 from 9 am to 11:30 am

Come spend the morning making a real impact alongside fellow community members, conservation partners, and wildlife advocates.

👉 Register here:
[Neighbors for Nature Cleanup Registration](https://www.houstonzoo.org/save-wildlife/neighbors-for-nature-houston/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

We hope to see you out there helping keep Houston’s nature spaces clean and thriving! 💙

Join Neighbors for Nature Houston at Houston Zoo. Take part in community conservation events and help restore local habitats in Houston.

05/25/2026

This Memorial Day, we pause to honor and remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Their sacrifice is the reason we are able to gather, live, and find connection in the communities and natural spaces we cherish today. Today we remember those who gave everything, as we continue the work of caring for what they helped protect.

05/22/2026

🌊 Your kitchen sponge might be creating microplastics. 🧽

Many common kitchen sponges and scrubbers, including the ever-popular Scrub Daddy and Magic Erasers, are designed to slowly break down with use. Every scrub, squeeze, and rinse can release tiny plastic particles straight down the drain. 💧

Those microplastics don’t just disappear. While municipal water treatment systems capture some, many still pass through and eventually return to waterways, shorelines, and bird habitats. 🐦🌿

Looking for an easy swap? 👇

🌱 Natural loofah sponges
🪵 Wooden dish brushes with replaceable heads
🌾 Cellulose or plant-fiber scrubbers
🧺 Cotton dish cloths for lighter cleaning

At SPLASh cleanups, we regularly find broken-down plastic fragments and microplastics across shorelines and waterways. Small changes at home may seem minor, but they add up over time. 💙

One less source of plastic pollution, right from your sink. 🌊