New Look for Don’t Mess With Texas

Two hundred thousand 25th anniversary Don’t Mess with Texas litterbags will feature a new design — red, white and blue litter in the shape of Texas designed by McKinney resident Jenifer Ostler.

Texans across the state submitted original art for the chance for their design to appear on the special-edition litterbags as part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Don’t Mess with Texas Design A Litterbag contest. Nearly 300,000 combined votes were made by Texans for the top 10 designs, with the opportunity to rank each design a one through five. Judges then scored the top 10 designs based on contest criteria, making Ostler the winner with her “Not in Our State” design.

“I’m really excited,” said Ostler. “I had all my friends and family voting. Being good to the environment is important, and I wanted to encourage people to do that.”

Litterbags help keep trash off Texas roadways and are available for free to Texans at DontMessWithTexas.org. The 200,000 special-edition litterbags will be printed later this month courtesy of A Bag’s Life, a partner for the Design A Litterbag contest.

“Don’t Mess with Texas litterbags serve an important purpose, and we look forward to printing this new design on the anniversary litterbags,” said Texas Retailers Association president and CEO, Ronnie Volkening, who represents over 2,000 Texas retail locations participating in the Texas A Bag's Life plastic bag recycling campaign. “We extend a big congratulations to the winner.”

“It’s rewarding to see creativity coupled with something that benefits our state — keeping litter off Texas roads,” said Brenda Flores-Dollar, program administrator for TxDOT’s Travel Information Division. “We appreciate all of the entrants who took time to create a litterbag design.”

About Don’t Mess with Texas

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, a corporate partner program, and a photo album where Texans can share their iconic Texas images. For more information, visit www.DontMessWithTexas.org. Don’t Mess with Texas is a registered trademark of the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT’s goals are to prepare for the future, enhance safety, maintain the transportation system, relieve congestion, enhance connectivity, and work with partners to identify funding strategies. For more information, visit www.txdot.gov.