50 Acts of Green: Day Thirty One - Road Clean Up

Every church has different missions which bless and grace the surrounding communities. One of the outreach missions of St. John's Church in Franklin that I have been blessed to work with has been Adopt A Highway. This program comes through the umbrella of the United States government and specifically in this area by PennDOT. St. John's has a two mile stretch it has adopted and has cleaned up for more than ten years. 

While the program has very specific requirements about how many times a year you have to do a clean up to get a yearly recognition plaque, and St. John's hasn't met those requirements every year, we have tried to make sure that the area we have adopted does get cleaned up every year. Cleaning up entails walking the full length of the section, both sides, while picking up litter and bagging it for proper disposal. Usually plastic bottles and so forth can be divided out for recycling. 

I have been graced by this mission outreach for many reasons. I love the walk in a slightly different section of town than I normally am in, I am grateful that we are showing we care about the town and the environment by cleaning up, and there is an odd fascination with seeing some of the weird things people throw out of their cars, and seeing what the most prolific piece of trash is. Sadly it is usually a beer company can. 

Throughout the United States there are groups and projects to help clean up litter and trash around towns and roads. I highly suggest volunteering for a day to pick up litter. It will help you connect with your town, your environment, with others in the good work you are doing. Today, it could even be an appropriately social distanced activity! You'd want to wear covering clothing and gloves anyway, the mask will help with the smells... and you will have plenty of outdoor space to walk around. 

One small act of green, our roads and towns saved from litter!

These are from my October 2019 pick up day.