HOUSTON, June 26, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Judges from the Harris County Drug Treatment STAR (Success Through Addiction Recovery) program got "down and dirty" on Saturday. They traded their robes and gavels for work clothes, gloves and "grabbers" and joined 100 volunteers, in a two-hour successful clean-up on and along the banks of Buffalo Bayou. Approximately 25 cubic yards of trash, enough to fill a typical commercial construction dumpster, was collected. This clean-up effort was part of the Clean & Green Port of Houston Program.
Photos accompanying this release are available at http://media.primezone.com/poha/pages/environment.html
Called "Clean & Green Judges Day," the effort enlisted judges, who worked under a blistering summer morning sun alongside 19 non-violent drug offenders from the STAR program as they performed community service work. They were joined by volunteers from the Clean & Green program partners: Shell Oil Company, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Greater East End Management District, the Ogg Law Firm and the Port of Houston Authority. The volunteers, working the top of the port's Turning Basin, collected litter and separated plastics for recycling.
More than 1,500 cubic yards of trash has been collected since the program started last September. That equates to more than 60 garbage truckloads of trash; enough to fill a basketball court more than nine feet high.
The Clean & Green program was conceived by Houston Port Authority Commissioner Elyse Lanier and is supervised by Harris County Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino's office under a contract with the Greater East End Management District for security patrol services. It is an ongoing environmental initiative that utilizes community service workers from the Harris County Community Supervision and Corrections Department five days a week to collect litter on land and in the water, via a skimmer boat.
The program is managed by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership with lead sponsorship from Shell Oil Company.
"We have a dynamic public/private partnership going for Clean & Green," says Lanier. "It's gratifying that the STAR judges wanted to see up close and personal what Clean & Green is all about. It has been a huge success as a community service component for Harris County probationers. Now, the judges have seen exactly what goes into the work they will be asking their clients to do."
The commissioner also emphasized that people's attitudes and behaviors about how much trash we generate, how it is disposed of and what can be recycled, can be changed only by working together.
The goal of Clean & Green is to restore Buffalo Bayou to a cleaner, safer, pristine waterway through removal of trash and debris. Trash in the bayou ultimately floats into the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay. Aiming to collect more than 10 cubic yards of trash a day over the next year -- enough to fill 83 garbage trucks -- the program focuses on a seven-mile stretch of Buffalo Bayou.
"The Clean & Green program has allowed Buffalo Bayou Partnership to expand our clean-up efforts and create a recycling program," says Mike Garver, chairman of the Partnership. "We have been able to collect twice as much trash since the inception of the program 10 months ago. This demonstrates the effectiveness and necessity of all the Clean & Green partners."
"The thrust of the STAR program is about changing attitudes and behaviors," says The Hon. Judge Mike Wilkinson, 179th District Court. "Our clients come to realize that it is all about making good choices and taking responsibility for one's actions. This is the same philosophy that the Clean & Green program is using for residents of Harris County."
The port authority and its partners want consumers to realize that any trash in the streets will go down storm drains and end up in our bayous and finally, the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay.
In addition to Judge Wilkinson, the STAR judges who participated along with STAR clients and alumni, included The Hon. Judge Devon Anderson, 177th District Court; The Hon. Judge Caprice Cosper, 339th District Court and The Hon. Judge Brock Thomas, 388th District Court.
STAR is a tri-phase, highly-structured, minimum 12-month program in which clients receive innovative and intensive individualized supervision by the court team and drug treatment providers. In addition to substance abuse counseling, STAR addresses issues beyond sobriety that often lead to relapse, such as housing, education, employment, life skills, parenting classes, family counseling and anger management. STAR is a creative, yet efficient, alternative to incarceration for these non-violent drug offenders.
All volunteers who participated in "Clean & Green Judges Day" were briefed on the project, including clean-up instructions, safety precautions and environmental tips. Beginning at 8 a.m., they received work gloves, trash bags and trash "grabbers," as well as plenty of water, insect repellent and sunscreen, before a morning of tackling trash in and along the bayou.
After the clean-up effort, volunteers were recognized at a celebration luncheon at the PHA's Sam Houston Pavilion, followed by an optional boat tour of the Houston Ship Channel.
For more information about Clean & Green, please contact the Port of Houston Authority public affairs office at 713-670-2630. You can also learn more by visiting its Web site at www.portofhouston.com or by logging on to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership Web site at www.buffalobayou.org.
The Clean & Green Port of Houston program logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5204
The Port of Houston Authority logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=720
Cutlines:
#6: Left to right: Debbie Breazeale with Shell Oil Company, PHA Commissioner Elyse Lanier, Judge Mike Wilkinson (in back), Anne Olson with Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Hedy Wolpa with Greater East End Management District and Wade Battles, Port of Houston Authority Managing Director, were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges' Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#4827: Kim Ogg, (zip 77008) lifting her trash find, was among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#2 PHA Community Relations Manager Grace Moolchan is surrounded by STAR volunteers (left to right) Steve Jasso, Gayla Vallie and Alex Parades. In back from left to right are Kenneth Gilbert and Freddie Johnson. They were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#16 "New bench for judges." STAR judges (left to right) Judge Mike Wilkinson, Judge Caprice Cosper, Judge Brock Thomas and Judge Devon Anderson uncover a broken chair in Buffalo Bayou. They were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#12: Volunteers from Shell Oil Company and the STAR program collect trash and recyclables along Buffalo Bayou. They were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#4: PHA Commissioner Elyse Lanier welcomes 100 volunteers to the Clean & Green Judges Day at the Port of Houston. Behind her is PHA Public Affairs Director Argentina James. They were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#157: Left to right volunteer Marcia Strauss and PHA Commissioner Elyse Lanier (both zip code 77019) lend a hand by boat. They were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#4829: Left to right Claire Davis, age 12, (zip 77019) and Amanda Pope, age 12, (zip 77005) do some heavy lifting. They were among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#108: Ajay Chaney, son of PHA employee Chaney Singh, captures a recyclable plastic bottle. He was among the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
#21: These are some of the 100 volunteers who turned out for last Saturday's Clean & Green Judges Day to clean up trash along Buffalo Bayou where it enters the Houston Ship Channel. The group collected 25 cubic yards of trash in only two hours.
