Clean and Green: Getting the Trash out of Buffalo Bayou

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.