by Ashley Adams

In West Virginia, Adopt-A-Highway is co-sponsored by the Division of Highways and the Department of Environmental Protection, Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP).  Adopt-A-Highway was developed in the 1980’s to promote community participation and awareness of the state’s environment by actively removing highway litter.  American Public University System (APUS) joined this program in 2004 and since has picked up trash along a two mile stretch of a local highway three times a year.  An email goes out to staff asking for volunteers to participate in the roadside cleanup. Usually between 15 and 20 employees take an afternoon to gather 20 plus bags of trash. Signs, on either end of the assigned roadside, indicate APUS has volunteered to be responsible for keeping the area free of trash. The Adopt-A-Highway program is in 49 states and available to all organizations.