Texans for Clean Water Praises Volunteers Following Major San Jose Island Cleanup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PORT ARANSAS, Texas — Texans for Clean Water is applauding volunteers who participated in a major cleanup effort on San Jose Island near Port Aransas after thousands of plastic bottles and other beverage containers washed onto the remote Gulf Coast shoreline.

The privately owned island, accessible only by boat, has become an alarming example of the

scale of beverage container litter affecting Texas waterways and coastal environments. Organizers estimate volunteers removed thousands of discarded plastic bottles during this year’s cleanup effort alone.

“These volunteers are doing extraordinary work for the Texas coast,” said Maia Corbitt, President of Texans for Clean Water. “But the reality that thousands of bottles can accumulate on a remote island accessible only by boat shows just how serious this problem has become. Texans care deeply about clean water, healthy beaches, and protecting the places that make our state special.”

Texans for Clean Water said the cleanup also highlights the need for practical, market-driven strategies that reduce litter while strengthening domestic recycling supply chains.

“We should not accept a system where valuable aluminum, plastic, and glass end up floating through waterways or washing onto Texas beaches,” said Joe Trotter, Deputy Executive Director of Texans for Clean Water. “Creating consumer incentives to return bottles before they become litter is a commonsense approach that both reduces pollution and helps recover materials that can be reused in American manufacturing instead of being lost to the environment.”

Trotter added that deposit recycling systems and other beverage container recovery policies have been and will continue to be part of the policy discussion in Texas as lawmakers and stakeholders evaluate ways to reduce litter and improve recycling outcomes statewide.

Texans for Clean Water is a Texas-based organization focused on advancing practical solutions to reduce litter, protect waterways, and strengthen recycling systems through market-driven policy approaches.