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TrashFest is the nation's oldest underwater cleanup campaign bringing together scuba divers, businesses, government agencies, schools, civic and youth groups, scout troops and local citizens to improve the quality of the Comal River in New Braunfels, Texas. The Comal River became famous when Ripley's Believe It or Not featured it as the shortest river in the world. The 2.5-mile Comal River is one of the largest springs in Texas with 8 million gallons of water flowing through every hour. The water is pure, clear, about 73°F year round, and attracts thousands of tubers and tourists each year. After the tubing season winds down, divers from all over Texas and beyond gather to pull cans, shoes, sunglasses and other assorted trash and debris out of the river.
Since the first clean up in 1974*, more than 9,500 volunteers have removed:
- 188,000 pounds of trash
- 300,000 cans and bottles
- 370,000 pop-tops and bottle caps
- 6,900 sunglasses and shoes
*The above numbers include data from 1980-2007.
No records available prior to 1980
While cleaning up the Comal is the events top priority, TrashFest also:
This year, TrashFest will be held on Saturday on October 4, 2008. Registration will be held at the Comal County Fairgrounds, and the trash weigh-in and collection will be at Prince Solms Park in New Braunfels, TX.
Here are some of the fantastic door prizes to be awarded.
7 nights/8 days at Laguna Beach Resort in Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, 3 meals daily, 3 boat dives daily, 2 night boat dives, unlimited shore dives, and R/T transfers (Laguna Beach Resort / Utila Tours)
3 pairs of XS Scuba Fusion 2 Gauge Reader Masks, 8 Aqualung Impulse 2 snorkels, and 7 pairs of Technisub Kea Masks (Scuba Brothers)
1 week stay at Plantation Beach Resort in Honduras (Plantation Beach Resort)
4-days/3-nights in an Ocean View room, 2 days of boat diving (Casa del Mar Cozumel / Del Mar Aquatics)
3-days of 2-tank dives in Cozumel, marine park fees/taxes, equipment rental (Blue XT-Sea Diving)
Flower Gardens trip voucher (Spree Expeditions)
Backpack, travel mug, 300 window decals (Diver Alert Network)
"Marine Life" DVD's (Azure Computer & Photography)
T-shirts, baseball caps, U-352 DVD, stickers, patches (Olympus Dive Center)
Hats, polos, t-shirts, flip flops (Aggressor Fleet)
Texas Clipper trip voucher (American Diving)
Club memberships (HUC)
Copies of Steve Gerrard's "The Cenotes of the Riviera Maya" (Steve Gerrard)
Club memberships, t-shirts, stickers, and tattoos (CHUM)
Gift certificate for dinner for 4 (Gristmill River Restaurant)
Autographed copy of Sea Salt and Blue Water DVD (Stan Waterman)
Gift certificate (Huisache Grill)
Gift certificate for 2 Gruene Hall t-shirts (Cotton Eyed Joe's)
Tickets (Houston Aeros)
   
Aggregate Weight - 1st place Cans, Bottles, Cups - 1st place
Maximum Scuba II Gulf Coast Scuba II
The beer Line The Dinner Line
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