A video posted online of trash flying out of the back of a truck as it drives down Padre Island is getting a lot of attention, but there’s more to the story.
The video actually stems from a science project.
Saw this over on the island. #CorpusChristi
Posted by SOFA COUCH MEDIA on Monday, January 21, 2019
Local environmentalist Jace Tunnell and his son Jack wanted to conduct an experiment to see how fast a truck would have to travel for trash to fly out of the bed.
Don't put #trash in the back of your truck!Share this far and #wide! Why is so much trash on the side of the highways? It's now scientifically proven that the majority of trash will be out of the back of your truck by 55 mph. We will have a series of short videos explaining this research project, completed by a 10 year old. And don't worry, all trash from these videos was picked up along the side of the roads by kids, used for the videos, and picked up by adults after these clips were shot. If we wouldn't have picked up the cups, they would have been on the side of the road until it rained, then washed into our waterways and ended up on our beaches, then subject to being eaten by birds, fish, sea turtles, etc. Thanks to SOFA COUCH MEDIA and the many community members for their time in making this simple, but effective #trashy #science known. #CupsTrucks
Posted by Mission-Aransas Reserve on Sunday, January 13, 2019
Their answer? 55 miles per hour.
Tunnell says the whole video was staged, adding that it’s about much more than his son’s science project. He wants people to be aware of the harm even a single piece of litter can do.
#Funny, but not so funny video.55 miles per hour = #trash flying out of the truck bed, according to 10 year old Jack.Let's share this video so that cups are the last thing we see on the side of the road.Thanks to many folks for creating this educational video about trash flying out of the back of trucks! Special thanks to SOFA COUCH MEDIA, Nikki and Casen Viersen, Sam Sugarek, Alex Nunez, Kelly Dunning, Miguel Diaz, Kathryn Tunnell, and of course, Jack.
Posted by Mission-Aransas Reserve on Thursday, January 17, 2019
“Trash ends up on the road, it rains, it ends up in the bay and then sea turtles fish shrimp crabs — all the things we like to catch and eat, they eat that stuff,” Tunnell said. “And we’re eating that, so it’s this chain reaction.”
Tunnell assures us every cup was accounted for and picked up.
Last science project complete for this school year. Jack worked hard on this one…one cup at a time. lol
Posted by Jace Tunnell on Wednesday, January 16, 2019
