Decorations on trees along 360 harmful to wildlife, environment, says Bull Creek Foundation
AUSTIN, Texas - If you take a drive along 360, you will see some of the trees still decked with garlands and ornaments for the holidays.
"I think they are things people are just buying cheaply or maybe about to get rid of and say maybe we will put them on the trees instead,” said Jim Ross, with the Bull Creek Foundation.
Ross hopes he does not see these decorations next year. It’s not to be a grinch but he says he wants to protect the environment.
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“It's basically litter. It's an ongoing thing for wildlife to eat plastics or get tangled up in plastics. But I think it's more of the pollution and broken glass," he said.
Over the month-long course of the trees being donned in decor, weather can blow the ornaments off the trees and potentially into the creek, which is Ross's concern. He attended a cleanup earlier in December with the Coalition of Anti-litterers who controversially removed decorations, but he says it's all worth the effort.
"There were 20 or more large bags full of trash," he said.
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The next cleanup will be put on by Keep Austin Beautiful in January. Ross hopes Austinites can understand the foundation's intentions.
"We understand it's been a tradition for some people for a long time. We are not trying to prevent it, but we are trying to discourage. Just think of something that might be more meaningful and helpful to the community,” said Ross.
To volunteer for the upcoming cleanup, visit the Keep Austin Beautiful website.