Original photo by Quanwen Xin/Shutterstock
Three decades ago, Texas was facing an enormous problem: trash, as far as the eye could see, piled up along its scenic and city roadways. The cleanup was arduous and costly — by the mid-1980s, the Texas Department of Transportation (aka TxDOT) was spending nearly $20 million each year in rubbish removal along highways alone. To save money (and the environment), leaders of the Lone Star State knew they had to get trash under control, which they decided to do with a series of public service announcements. But little did TxDOT know that its cleanliness campaign would become larger than life.
Oops, incorrect!
It's a fibWhile the number of U.S. smokers has reached an all-time low, cigarette butts remain the most common type of litter, making up about 20% of all trash. Because they’re made from plastic fibers, not paper, the filters can take 10 years to decompose — but can also be recycled.
The iconic line, dreamed up by an Austin-based ad agency, initially launched on bumper stickers deposited at truck stops and fast-food restaurants. The first “Don’t Mess With Texas” commercial, which aired at the 1986 Cotton Bowl, honed in on Texans’ love for their land, telling viewers that littering was not only a crime but “an insult” to the state’s landscape. The phrase — spoken in that first commercial by Dallas-born guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan amid a bluesy version of “The Eyes of Texas” — soon became a rallying cry for Texans. The spot was so popular that TV stations around the state received calls asking for it to be aired again. Within a year, TxDOT estimated that roadside litter had dropped by 29%. The ad campaign continued — featuring celebrities such as Willie Nelson, George Foreman, and LeAnn Rimes — and is credited with reducing highway trash by 72% in its first four years. The slogan has become only more popular over time, used at protests, declared by presidential candidates, and chanted at football games — all proof that state pride is held deep in the hearts of Texans.
Numbers Don't Lie
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Texas’ official anti-littering mascot is a striped trash can named ______.
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Texas’ official anti-littering mascot is a striped trash can named Darrel the Barrel.
A spot that was once the world’s largest landfill is now a park.
Humans have always generated trash, but how we’ve dealt with it has changed over time. Communities of the past often tossed their refuse out into the streets or in designated dumping sites. In fact, the sanitary landfills used today — where trash is compacted, then covered with dirt — didn’t emerge until 1937. About a decade later, New York supersized its sanitation system by creating the Fresh Kills Landfill, which covered 2,200 acres on Staten Island (about three times the size of the city’s famed Central Park). By 1955, the site was considered the world’s largest landfill, with barges delivering 28,000 tons of trash per day by the 1970s. The former dump site has since been redeveloped into Freshkills Park, partially opening to visitors in 2012 amid ongoing work that will continue through approximately 2036. It has also become home to wildlife, including more than 100 bird species.
Nicole Garner Meeker is a writer and editor based in St. Louis. Her history, nature, and food stories have also appeared at Mental Floss and Better Report.
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