Tubers and tourists had their right to litter protected by a district judge in Texas. What they got as a result was…a lot more litter.
Back in March, District Judge Don Burgess issued a permanent injunction against a "can ban" on disposable containers and coolers on the Comal and Guadalupe rivers between San Antonio and Austin.
"Following a lawsuit by local tubing and tourism firms, the prohibition was set aside in March by a judge who decided the ban was unconstitutional and ordered the city [of New Braunfels] to stop enforcing it," reports Molly Block.
Now the litter reports are in for Memorial Day, and the results are ugly, to say the least. Compared to 2012 and 2013, when the "can ban" was in place, litter in the river increased by 438 percent, according to numbers from the city’s River Services Update.
Adds Block: "According to the River Services Update, New Braunfels contract scuba divers extracted 242 pounds of river trash during this year’s Memorial Day weekend. Compared to the 45 pounds collected during the same weekend in 2013, the second summer of the can ban, many people are concerned."
FULL STORY: Keep it clean: Weekend tubers weigh in on river garbage increase
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions