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Don't Mess with Texas Superheroes Help Educate About Litter Prevention Area school children are getting a jump-start on learning about litter prevention thanks to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The agency has launched Litter Force!—a Don’t Mess with Texas campaign that made its way to 50 Texas schools with a litter prevention message during its three-month tour that ends in December.
The campaign includes television public service announcements and visits to school lunchrooms by the Litter Force - superheroes Hawk, Bolt, Ultra and K-900 - and their trash adversaries, called Evil Trash, who help children understand what litter is and learn about litter prevention.
“The Litter Force is designed to keep kids from ever starting a littering habit,” said Doris Howdeshell, TxDOT’s Travel Information Division director. “TxDOT wants the next generation of Texans to be non-litterers and we know it’s easier to prevent a behavior than to change one.”
In 2008, a new research study comparing five pilot school districts reveals what those kids have learned about littering since the Litter Force's debut:
- 94 percent have heard of Don’t Mess with Texas (compared to 52 percent before the Litter Force)
- 91 percent know the correct meaning of Don’t Mess with Texas, which is “don’t litter” (compared to 50 percent previously)
- 88 percent know what litter is (compared to 78 percent previously)
- 68 percent have told someone in their family not to litter (compared to 55 percent previously)
- 81 percent would tell their parents to use a litterbag (compared to 67 percent previously)
- 65 percent have a litterbag in their cars (compared to 50 percent previously)
The mascots appeared at new schools for the first time this fall, which included visits to Corpus Christi, Bryan/College Station, DeSoto, McAllen/Harlingen/Rio Hondo, Tyler/Longview/Atlanta/Sabine, Victoria and Wimberley/Leander/Round Rock/San Marcos/Cedar Park.
There will be television ads throughout the state and kids can log on to an interactive Web site, www.dontmesswithtexas.org/litterforce, which features games, downloadable coloring pages and desktop wallpapers. The Web site also includes a section for parents and teachers.
“These children will become our best ambassadors to convey a litter prevention message to their parents and their classmates,” Howdeshell said. “If they get in the mindset now that littering isn’t right, they’ll carry this message with them as they get older.”
Don't Mess with Texas has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986. TxDOT’s litter prevention program includes Adopt-a-Highway and a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful. Don’t Mess with Texas activities also include a spring “Trash-Off,” community outreach, a scholarship and a corporate partner program. For more information, visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
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