A Walk In The Park

Texas favorite H-E-B donates $1 million for 100 years of Texas State Parks

H-E-B donates $1 million to Texas Parks & Wildlife

H-E-B is celebrating 100 years of Texas State Parks with a $1 million gift.

Photo courtesy of H-E-B

Texas State Parks is turning 100, and H-E-B, one of its proven biggest fans, is honoring it with a $1 million gift. This gift makes the grocery store the presenting sponsor for the centennial celebration, a multi-event affair that begins late on December 31, 2022, in collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

Our Texas, Our Future is H-E-B’s amorphous ecological mission, summed up as “a promise to you, our customers, that we will help preserve Texas' natural resources.” It encapsulates a mission in awareness and environmental stewardship, specifically committing to “coastal conservation along the Texas Gulf Coast, Black Bear restoration in West Texas, and the establishment of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park.”

More visible to consumers, it presents the brand Field & Future, which sells items like 100 percent recycled toilet tissue and biodegradable dish soap. In April, the grocer announced that a portion of sales from the Field & Future brand would be donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

“In a state rich with majestic landscapes, our support of this effort aims to provide access to our parks and the beauty of our great state for all Texans to enjoy,” said Winell Herron, H-E-B Group vice president of public affairs, diversity and environmental affairs, in a press release. “Only a fraction of land in Texas is public land, and it’s our commitment to work with our longtime partner Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation and many other dedicated organizations to protect these precious resources, so Texans can use them for generations to come.”

H-E-B also plans other event sponsorships to help spread the eco-friendly word, including Field & Future giveaways during park ranger-guided First Day Hikes, a traveling art exhibit featuring retrospective work by 30 artists about the state parks, in-store visits by Texas Park Rangers to share tips, and commemorative merchandise.

This donation makes $13 million total donated by H-E-B to more than 500 environmental organizations since 2012, according to the release. Its efforts with Keep Texas Recycling have had tangible impacts on store shelves, adding informative labels to more than 2,300 products. It recycled at least 636 million pounds of assorted materials including food and tires just in 2021, and donated 34 million pounds of food to food-insecure families.

More information on the Centennial Celebration, including a complete list of events and instructions to sign up, is available at texasstateparks.org.

share the road

Texas races to the bottom in new list of best states for cyclists

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Austin, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Austin, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling-friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."