Bayou Preservation Group Offers a Surprisingly Simple Way to Reduce Landfill, Waterway Waste

HOUSTON’S BAYOUS ARE finally being treated like the nature-filled gems that they are, and one local organization wants to ensure that future generations get to enjoy the waterways.

The Bayou Preservation Association celebrated the opening of its first permanent collection bin for its Pots for Plots program, which encourages the recycling of single-use plastic plant pots and helps ensure that they don’t end up in landfills and bayous. Houstonians can drop off their pots at Quality Feed & Garden on Luzon Street.

Community partners like Greater Northside Management District, City of Houston Solid Waste Management, Coastal Prairie Conservancy and Urban Harvest sent representatives to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and applauded the year-old effort for its speedy growth and success: In 2023, more than 15,000 plastic containers were dropped off at temporary bins, and then provided to two-dozen local nurseries and farms, reducing their new-plastic consumption.

The Pots for Plots initiative received the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s 2023 Parks and Natural Areas Award for Best Programming.

BPA's Brittani Flowers and Morgan Sager

Sarah Taylor, BPA's Clean Bayous Program chair