CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than 150 groups are signed up to be part of the annual Adopt-A-Highway fall cleanup this Saturday on the highways and by-ways of West Virginia. The volunteer effort happens twice a year in an attempt to make West Virginia’s roadways look nicer, but due to the Coronavirus, the spring event was cancelled.
Coordinator Kim Smith at the Department of Environmental Protection said missing the event in May has left a lot more trash out there than usual.
“It was cancelled due to Covid and we had a lot of groups call and ask if we were going to do it this year. We missed one and people were calling in saying the roads were looking terrible,” she said.
The number of signups this year is down some from a normal year, but all participants have to follow a series of rules put into place because of the pandemic.
“We’re asking that people wear masks and social distance, which is pretty easy to do when you’re outside. We also ask people to call ahead to their garages for supplies and get a curbside pickup rather than go to the garage in person and ask for supplies,” she said.
Smith hopes for good weather for the event. Motorists will notice individuals on roads large and small filling up bright orange trash bags with roadside litter. The bags are placed alongside the road to be picked up later for transport to the landfill.
Anyone wanting to participate who is not already affiliated with a cleanup team can call Smith at 1-800-322-5530.
“You can do a one time cleanup with a group of people you get together. We’ll be doing the cleanups all through October, but Saturday is the day we try to get as many people out there as possible,” she said.