CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The state Department of Environmental Protection is accepting registrations for the Saturday, April 25 Adopt-A-Highway Spring Statewide Cleanup. Volunteers have until Friday, April 10 to register.
Co-sponsored by the DEP and the state Division of Highways, the Adopt-A-Highway program is administered by the DEP’s Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP). The program’s goal is to improve the quality of our environment by encouraging public involvement in the elimination of highway litter.
Individuals, families, churches, businesses, schools, civic organizations, government agencies and communities can register to pick up trash on almost any state-maintained road, back road, or main route. Private roads and interstate highways cannot be adopted.
The Adopt-A-Highway program provides garbage bags, work gloves and safety vests to volunteers. The state also takes care of disposing of collected trash. Volunteers must be at least 12 years old to participate.
More than 4,800 volunteers turned out for the spring 2014 Adopt-A-Highway spring cleanup and cleared over 1,500 miles of West Virginia roadways. Since the program’s inception in 1988, state citizens have cleaned up almost 70,000 miles of state highways and roads during annual spring and fall Adopt-A-Highway events.
To register, call 1-800-322-5530 or send an email to dep.aah@wv.gov. If you reach the REAP voicemail, please leave your name, phone number, group name, date of cleanup, number of participants, and the county where your adopted road is located.
For more DEP news and information, go to www.dep.wv.gov. Also, be sure to connect with the agency on all social media platforms. Follow @DEPWV on Twitter and find us on YouTube by searching “Environment Matters.” For specific information about the Adopt-A-Highway, West Virginia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), West Virginia NonPoint Source and Youth Environmental programs, connect on Facebook.