Clean and Green: Getting the Trash out of Buffalo Bayou

Name: Clean and Green: Getting the Trash out of Buffalo Bayou
SKU: 1015771
Price: 35.00 USD
Availability: InStock

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 10:00–11:30 A.M.

SUNSET COFFEE BUILDING, 1019 COMMERCE, 77002. LIMITED ENROLLMENT.

If you have ever walked through Buffalo Bayou Park or visited Allen’s Landing, you have probably seen plastic bottles floating downstream or plastic bags waving from trees as the bayou meanders toward Galveston Bay. These items roll out of cars and blow out of pickup trucks throughout the city. Because of our storm water drainage system, many wind up in our bayous, becoming an eyesore as well as a danger to water quality and the surrounding ecosystem.

Since 2002, Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) has been on a mission to get as much trash out of Buffalo Bayou as possible. In 2021, that meant removing over 2,000 cubic yards of debris from the waterway—equal to a staggering 167 commercial dump truck loads. With a newly minted custom built, industrial strength Bayou Vac, which vacuums floatable trash out of the water, and a devoted team, BBP is making our bayous and bays cleaner and healthier.

Join us at the Sunset Coffee Building to hear from BBP’s Field Operations Manager Robby Robinson and captain of the Bayou Vac, David Rivers, a.k.a. Bayou Dave, as they give a presentation on the work they are doing and its impact on our ecosystem. We will then take the short walk to Allen’s Landing to watch the Bayou Vac in action.

Robby Robinson found a career on the water early in life. He was co-owner of a boat dealership for 20 years and has over 40 years of experience in the marine industry. Mr. Robinson has been with BBP for 14 years and was instrumental in the design and build of BBP’s new Bayou Vac, a second-generation custom built vacuum boat used to clean the waterway. He also serves as captain of BBP’s tour boat, The Osprey II.

David Rivers, a native Houstonian, has been in the environmental field for over 20 years. He has been with BBP for 12 years, serving as the captain of BBP’s custom vacuum boats, the first-generation Bio Vac and the second-generation Bayou Vac. Previously, Mr. Rivers worked in the oil spill recovery and remediation field along the Gulf Coast. He also goes by the moniker “Bayou Dave” and has been featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show and Good Morning America and in the New York Times and the Houston Chronicle.