Earlier this week, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality recognized ADOT for measurable improvements to the environment through the actions of volunteers participating in our Adopt a Highway volunteer program. This Copper Level award reflects the importance of the more than 6,000 Adopt a Highway volunteers who keep Arizona grand by removing litter along state highways. 

As ADOT’s Adopt a Highway program coordinator,  my experiences interacting with volunteer groups show the best of humankind. Here are just a few examples of volunteer groups making a difference.

The first is gratitude memorial group adopters express for the opportunity to give back to the community while honoring loved ones. These real-life stories always make the top of my list. Gathering with family and friends for a planned litter cleanup is a way to connect with each other and nature.

Then there are the groups that have been volunteering for a very long time and really are the foundation for Adopt a Highway. The Prescott Litter Lifters in northern Arizona dates back to 1981 and continues to thrive, conducting twice-weekly highway cleanups. Another, located in a picturesque southern Arizona community, grew a volunteer cleanup from two people to a 120-volunteer event requiring a microphone and a borrowed parking lot to conduct safety briefings each year. Friends, neighbors and middle school students gather to bag litter along the 45-mile stretch that spans their Sonoran desert community. 

A third example lies close to home. Among ADOT public servants are volunteers who are behind-the-scenes: my colleagues who have adopted segments as a way to connect with co-workers outside of the workplace, gather with family and friends or a faith-based group. The reasons for stepping up to adopt a  highway and bag trash differ among groups, but the focus is always to help erase the continued flow of litter onto Arizona’s roadsides, something that we work on collectively to maintain daily.  

Hundreds of miles of Arizona roadsides are waiting patiently for kind humans to adopt them. Please explore the Adopt a Highway Volunteer program webpages to begin your volunteering journey.

It lies between mileposts 180 and 181 of State Route 87, a few minutes north of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway. Its endpoints are a little north of Mesa Drive and right at Stapley Drive. There’s a deep wash with a culvert about one-third of the mile north of milepost 180, a helpful landmark when dividing both directions for an Adopt a Highway litter pickup. And it’s a little nicer today because of a visit from Elliott Family and Friends, our group that recently adopted this mile.

In a way that surprises me as I reflect on our group’s first Adopt a Highway pickup, this mile is now a friend. We want it to be as clean as possible. We want others to help keep it clean (we picked up way too many losing lottery scratch-offs, soft drink cups, water bottles and beer cans). We’re already discussing strategy for our next pickup, which I know will be sooner than originally planned because of this connection.

I’m proud that 12 of us filled 22 large bags in less than two hours early on a Saturday. We left those bags at intervals just off the shoulder for ADOT staff to pick up, along with a twin mattress, a large dog carrier, a window screen and several large cardboard boxes.

During my years with ADOT Communications, I’ve written quite a few news releases and blogs about the importance of Adopt a Highway volunteers. But I’d participated in just one cleanup. I’d like to say the reason for finally adopting was 100% altruism, but it also had to do with my son and his friends having service requirements at their high schools. And it stemmed from a desire to see what volunteers experience, from identifying a potential mile to requesting a two-year Adopt a Highway permit to scheduling and carrying out a pickup.

Whatever the reasons for finally adopting a mile, today I’m grateful for them.

I guess I sound a little like the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer adopts a mile of the fictional Arthur Burghardt Expressway. Rest assured I won’t be running into traffic to collect a flattened soda can or reconfiguring the lanes, but I do feel an unexpected connection with and responsibility for this mile.

It isn’t all sunshine and light: Our mile is on the way to a landfill, so some of what we bagged and dragged is household garbage that likely escaped from trucks and trailers, including a couple of burst bags of trash. I’m guessing that’s how the mattress, dog carrier, large boxes and screen got there as well. While mile 180-181 comes with this added challenge, we’re on board to care for it. 

If you’d like to bond with your own highway mile, I encourage you to visit azdot.gov/adoptahighway and see what’s involved. Like me, I think you’ll get more than you expect from the experience. 

The Arizona Department of Transportation welcomes 18 of the newest volunteer groups helping keep Arizona highways clean!

These families, groups and organizations recently made a choice to adopt or renew adopted miles and  to reduce litter along highways in their communities:

• Oxford House Arizona Chapter 12
• Sons of the American Legion Post 133
• Family and Friends of Lost Loved Ones
• Jeff and Helen Hernandez Papa Bear
• In Memory of Matt Kenney
• Gone Fishin Marco Minjarez We Love You
• Come on Down in Memory of Papa Sal
• Arrowhead Hog 5104 Memory of Bob & Deb
• In Loving Memory of Jeffrey Quintrall
• Elliott Family and Friends
• In Loving Memory of Jack and Irma Barter
• Like it here? Don't litter!
• In Memory of Wayne and Lil Harris
• Edward Alvah Noble Family
• The Zane, Baker Mile Est. 1912
• In Memory of Dale and Norma Goodman
• In Loving Memory of Alan C Svoboda
• In Loving Memory of Roy and Yuli Magana

Thank you to the 1,000-plus Adopt a Highway Volunteer groups who organize and donate time to pick up litter along Arizona highways. Want to adopt a stretch of highway? Contact Adopt a Highway about volunteer opportunities in your area. 

With National CleanUp Day approaching on Sept. 16, I want to express my thanks to our volunteers who consistently pick up trash along our state highways. 

We hope that existing volunteers and those wanting to participate in a one-day cleanup will register to participate on this day set aside for individuals and organizations to work together in reducing litter in their communities.

Last year, volunteers cleaned up 1,672 miles of Arizona highways statewide and 5,902 individual volunteers were responsible for collecting 13,828 bags of trash equivalent to 85 tons. 

If we calculate the number of volunteer labor hours in 2022, it translates to $600,000 in savings. Taxpayers have certainly benefited from our Adopt A Highway program. 

I encourage everyone to do their part in keeping Arizona roads litter-free. Please think twice before you decide to throw cigarette butts or any type of trash out of a car window.

Remove trash from truck beds before traveling or secure trash to prevent it from blowing away. Besides making our roads look dirty, these items can clog our drainage systems and create problems during rain storms.

Thanks to all of the dedicated individuals who participate in Adopt a Highway volunteer programs throughout Arizona and perform such a valuable service for everyone in this state. Beyond the obvious benefits, keeping roadsides attractive creates a positive impression when visitors travel our highways. I appreciate the work you do in fulfilling our motto:  Arizona, Keep It Grand!

ADOT has many highway segments available for adoption. Visit azdot.gov/AdoptaHighway to learn more about our program and how to become a volunteer.

Registration begins here for the Sept. 16 annual cleanup event to help reduce litter along Arizona’s state highways.

Welcome back seasoned volunteer groups and all new permit holders. Dust off those litter picker-uppers and head out with friends and family for the 6th annual Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) litter clean up held on National CleanUp Day, Saturday, Sept.16.

ADOT grants one-day permits on a first-come, first-served basis, too. We’ll do our best to find an adoptable section near your desired location. One-day permit holders have an option to extend their permit for two years at the adopted location or another adoptable site where available.

After the event, volunteer group leaders report the number of trash bags filled and how many volunteers participated. Your report helps us measure the success of the annual cleanup and all reporting groups are recognized with a printable certificate of appreciation. 

The Adopt a Highway team plans to make site visits to as many volunteer groups as logistics allow on Sept. 16. If your registered group is located on our route we will contact you to coordinate a visit prior to event day.

We'd love to see and share your National CleanUp Day photos on social media! Please tag us on social media and use the hashtag #NationalCleanUpDay.

Thank you for considering ADOT as an opportunity to unite and reduce litter in Arizona. Visit azdot.gov/adoptahighway for more information.

Arizona, Keep It Grand!

Every cleanup day is a new experience for the Prescott Litter Lifters, an Adopt a Highway volunteer group whose beginning dates back to 1981, according to group leader and co-manager Farrish Sharon.

Seven miles of state highway along state routes 69 and 89A are permitted to the group. Recently volunteers responded to a heavily littered site along State Route 69 where 15 bags were filled with personal wipes, water bottles and other trash that had been strewn along the roadway for nearly a mile.

Fortunately, Prescott Litter Lifters take action by removing litter that would eventually make its way from alongside roadways to culverts and waterways. So far this year the group has reported 327 bags of litter removed from adopted segments. That’s about 5,000 pounds of unsightly litter, not including large
or bulky items.

Once in a while volunteers find cash and loose change among the trash. Sharon told us in a previous interview that a traveler once left a note of appreciation with a $20 bill tucked inside. The most interesting find was a credible looking $100 dollar bill that was determined by the bank to be a counterfeit. Donations, along with cash found by volunteers, are used to purchase monogrammed safety vests and supplies.

Prescott Litter Lifters welcomes volunteers to participate in cleanups that happen twice weekly. That link will take you to the group’s website for contact information.

If you’d like to adopt your own 2-mile stretch of state highway in the Prescott area or another location in Arizona, please contact us or get more information at azdot.gov/adoptahighway. ADOT always needs more volunteers, but you can be a hero at home too. Take a bag with you on walks in your community to help keep the neighborhood clean. Bagging trash is great exercise and a good deed that may be contagious.

The nation's birthday is a great time to reflect on Arizonans serving the community. Last year, more than 5,900 volunteers assembled to bag litter along adopted miles of state highways. 

These families, groups and organizations made a choice to help reduce litter in their communities while in the pursuit of their own life, liberty and happiness. It’s gesture reflective of the American way. 

This Independence Day, ADOT celebrates all volunteers who provide travelers, wildlife and waterways freedom from trash. 

Join us in celebrating some of Arizona’s newest volunteer groups that are helping keep Arizona grand:

• In Memory of Slim and Lillian Curtis: Interstate 40, mileposts 224-225
• In Memory of Mary and Joseph Tamasy: State Route 64, mileposts 192-194
• Adventure Squad: US 89, mileposts 500-502
• Grand Canyon Rotary Club: State Route 64, mileposts 233-234

Whatever traditions you celebrate this holiday, please dispose of trash properly. Enjoy Fourth of July celebrations, travel safely and think of freedom from trashed highways.

Thank you to the 1,006 Adopt a Highway Volunteer groups that donate time and resources to pick up litter along Arizona highways. Want to get involved? Contact Adopt a Highway about volunteer opportunities in your area. 

ADOT Kids is a website created to spark children’s curiosity in how things work and what makes things go, tapping into their interest in science, technology, engineering and math in a fun way!  ADOT Kids has lots of free, downloadable activity sheets, links to videos and more!   

Topics include bridges, freeway design, litter, safety, snowplows, road signs and engineering. ADOT Kids provides many activities that teachers can use in their classrooms and kids can do on their own! Children can learn about engineering (maybe as a career?), bicycle safety, what drivers should do if their car comes across a dust storm and why it’s important for drivers to secure their loads. We’re adding new activities to engage, educate and entertain them while they learn about Arizona’s transportation system.  

This summer, we will be rolling out a new activity every two weeks, so check back often! Here is a new crossword puzzle about ADOT Kids to rev up your brain! Check out all there is on azdot.gov/ADOTKids!