Congrats, Texas Tech Grads! Get a Picture, But Please Don’t Make a Huge Mess

Spring is finally starting to seem like a real thing this year, and many high school and college students are preparing for graduation. It's an exciting time; students and their families should be thrilled, and of course you want pictures.

However, please don't let your celebration turn into a huge mess or an environmental hazard for someone else to pick up. Glitter and confetti not only make an unsightly mess, but wildlife can mistake them for food and end up injured or dying.

#LitterfreeTXST has some confetti toss alternatives:

• Flower petals (real or dried)
• Wild seed
• Bubbles
• Leaves
• Photoshop filters

When you know better, hopefully you do better. One thing I didn't know is that champagne stains concrete. Take it from the TTU Greenhouse & Horticultural Gardens:

Ah, here we are again. Graduation picture season, where the confetti and champagne fly. Here's your first friendly reminder for 2019 that things like confetti, champagne, and other litter should not be used in the garden or anywhere on campus. Shiny little pieces of foil and plastic get eaten by wildlife, don't biodegrade, and have to be cleaned up. Champagne, believe it or not, stains concrete and makes, say, the TTU seal and main entryway to campus a big unsightly mess. Just don't do it. It's silly and unnecessary.

That doesn't mean you can't have the graduation pictures of your dreams. Just be clean and courteous about it. And a professional photographer should be clever enough to get great shots without doing the same basic things everyone else is doing.

If you're looking for that photographer, I recommend NeverEnding Memories Photography.