impacts of a CAN BAN

The fight for single-use container ban pays off

Single-use containers are one of the main contributors to litter in the San Marcos River, and local river watchdogs have been fighting for a city ordinance to ban them for years now. As of Feb. 20, the long battle was rewarded when the San Marcos City Council voted six to one to approve a single use container ban with cooler size restrictions.

'I’m really happy about this development,” said Former Exec Director of the San Marcos River Foundation Dianne Wassenich. “It may not be the ultimate solution, but it's a step in the right direction.”

Tom Goynes, owner of San Marcos River Retreat, has been pushing for a single-use container ban in the area for over a decade and has arranged an extensive San Marcos River cleanup annually for the past 53 years. He said it would be preferable to keep the cans out of the river in the first place.

“New Braunfels passed its can ban in 2011, and we were on the sidelines for them and doing anything we could,” Goynes said, adding that shortly after the ordinance was declared unconstitutional. “Texas River Protection Association, which I was president of at the time, we actually hired … an environmental lawyer in Austin to write a friend of the court for New Braunfels. So we helped them appeal that judge's decision, and they actually won that appeal. And then it went on all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, and in 2018 the court upheld the can Goynes said the impacts of the single-use container ban in New Braunfels has been exponential.

'We’ve been in favor of this for quite a while. We’re just thrilled that the council was finally willing to discuss it.'

Virginia Parker

Executive Director San Marcos River Foundation ban.”

“In New Braunfels, they say they have 20 tons less aluminum cans in the river than they used to have,” Goynes said. “That’s a lot of aluminum cans.”

Goynes added that members of the TRPA also ran for Martindale City Council specifically to pass the single-use container ban there.

“We were kind of instrumental in Martindale, and of course we’ve been trying to get San Marcos to pass the ban since 2011,” Goynes said. “We started early and kept saying we need the same ordinance here. We’re really excited to see it in San Marcos [city limits] at least.”

San Marcos River Foundation Executive Director Virginia Parker said there have been many in her organization and other partners who have wanted the single-use container ban for quite a while.

“With New Braunfels having enacted it years ago and Martindale recently within the past few years enacting their ban, we felt that this would be a good time to support such an ordinance, especially since council was so willing to have the conversation,” Parker said. “We’ve been in favor of this for quite a while. We’re just thrilled that the council was finally willing to discuss it.”

Goynes said the single- use container ban will definitely help with litter on the San Marcos River within city limits.

“I am kind of bummed that the city didn’t include their extraterritorial jurisdiction, which would protect the section of the river that I operate on. I have my campgrounds just downstream of the city limits but within their ETJ. We have a lot of tubing that goes on; Don’s Fish Camp and Texas State Tubes both operate here. And the number of cans that end up in the river [in the San Marcos ETJ] is almost appalling,” Goynes said. “We asked them to [include the ETJ in the ordinance]. They say they’re considering it and might add it later. It is interesting though that there is a little stretch of land that’s within the city limits where FM 110 crosses the river, which is downstream of me. So in one sense I’m within the city limits.”

Parker said with local swimming destinations like Jacob’s Well having been rendered inert last summer due to drought, there has been an influx of visitors to the San Marcos River.

“We’re seeing a lot more visitors and a lot more trash,” Parker said. “Last summer we received more complaints than we ever have about trash in and around the San Marcos River parks. So this ordinance will mean not only an immediate shift in the amount of trash in the river and next to the river in the parks, but it will mean an educational opportunity to shift the thinking into more reusable containers — not just for beverages but food containers, and hopefully we can get the mindset shift toward a more sustainable future in regards to trash.”

Parker said she thinks the single-use container ban is a good first step, but she’d like to see more enforcement.

“We’re hoping that the city will be able to allocate funding for the Marshal's Department and the Parks Department in the future to be able to add staff members to support the ordinance,” Parker said. “I really do think that most people, once they realize that the ban is in effect, they will abide by it willingly. I think education is key. And with the program with the [Park] Ambassadors that started last year, I think education will be a huge focus for this ordinance. The Ambassadors are a great way to help educate the public.”

Parker said the first year that the ordinance is in effect will reveal a lot of information on the public response to the ordinance and any ways that it can be improved.

“I would encourage people that love and visit the river to do their best to abide by the ordinance and help educate others about the ordinance,” Parker said. “And if they’re seeing issues still occurring on the river, we would love for them to reach out to us and let us know. If there’s any feedback about the ordinance, obviously we’d love to hear that feedback because it takes a village. And this is a community effort.”

For more specific information about the ordinance itself and the stipulations on cooler size, go to sanmarcosrecord.com/ news/council-moves-plansingle- use-container-banforward.