Posted on May 8, 2024
Because of its location along the Gulf of Mexico, Texas receives 10 times more trash on its beaches than most other Gulf states.
The Galveston Island Park Board of Trustees is responsible for keeping this litter off the local beaches.
This mission requires a lot of effort, and a lot of waste containers, 4,000 to be exact.
According to Elizabeth Schneider, Galveston Island Park Board environmental coordinator, their team manages these thousands of trash barrels placed strategically along 32 miles of beach.
Every barrel is checked and emptied if needed at least once a day in summer. Thirty-six Park Board employees collect an average of 3.6 million pounds of waste annually.
To help spruce up the trash receptacles, the Park Board sponsors a “Beautify the Bucket” contest, where community members can decorate barrels with their own art creations.
This year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Galveston District (SWG), Real Estate Division wanted to join the beach beautification effort.
“We decided to do it as a (in-house) real estate competition, as well as entering it there,” said Britney M. Nealon, SWG realty specialist.
The Real Estate Division was split into four teams; the Jellyfish, Work Smart Not Hard, Team Cutthroat and Art and the Perception of Real(i)ty.
Participants in the competition paint a blue trash barrel with one of the following themes: Ocean and Bay Organisms, Marine and Aquatic Debris, Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, Galveston Beach and Bay Recreational Activities, and the Houston Ship Channel.
Nealon’s team, Art and the Perception of Real(i)ty, decorated their barrel with the recreational activities theme.
Tim J. Nelson, Chief of the SWG Real Estate Division, said he was impressed by the quality of the decorations.
“We have a lot of hidden artistic talent here,” Nelson said.
While art is fun for art’s sake, there’s another product of this type of collaboration, Nelson said. “We have two sides of the house,” Nelson continued. “So, we mix the teams up and have them all work together, and they get to know each other a little better.”
After observing the teams working well together and the high-quality painting on the barrels, Nelson said, “I think we’ll probably continue this next year.”
Team members seemed to be having fun as they worked.
“We always look for fun things to do as a team but also benefit the island and the environment,” said Brittany A. Gilbert, SWG administrative specialist.
The Real Estate Division is going to have an in house judging of the finished barrels and will then enter their barrels into the Island-wide showdown June 8.
For more information about “Beautify the Bucket” visit https://www.artistboat.org/beautify-the-bucket/.
For more information about the Galveston District Real Estate Division, visit https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/Missions/Real-Estate-Division/.
From left to right, Scott Tackett, Vinh X. Nguyen, Jesse. T Warren III, Christopher J. Honza, and Susana K. Finkel, Team Work Smart Not Hard, paint their barrel in the Ocean and Bay Organisms theme, during the “Beautify the Bucket” challenge in Bldg. 24 next to the Jadwin Building in Galveston, Texas, May 2, 2024.
Brittany A. Gilbert, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, administrative support assistant, Team Jellyfish, paints her team’s namesake on her team’s barrel during the “Beautify the Bucket” challenge in Bldg. 24 next to the Jadwin Building in Galveston, Texas, May 2, 2024.
