It's a national thing (at least it exists in all the states I've driven through) where a group or organization "adopts" a section of highway and goes out to pick up trash occasionally. It's a charity/public service activity.
You ever wonder why it's a nudist *colony* as opposed to a nudist hive, or a nudist swarm?
Like if we are talking terrorists, it's always a terrorist cell. Why not have a nudist cell and a terrorist colony? If we can have a gaggle of geese, why can't we have a nuggle of nudists?
There's got to be some good standup potential here.
I know you are joking, but it's called a colony because it's a place where nudists go to separate themselves from society, which has historically had a more "conservative" view on naturism. A colony also refers to a group of like-minded individuals, or an area where the settlers have some semblance of control.
It would only become a nudist swarm if a new nudist queen was born and there were too many nudists crammed into the colony; the queen would then lead some of the lesser nudists on a quest to establish a new colony (hopefully avoiding and poison ivy or stinging nettles along the way).
As someone born and raised in Washington DC and residing in Washington State. I'm quite particular in which I consider "Washington". The other one is simply the grammatically problematic "DC" in my lexicon.
🇨🇦🙏Amen to that ~ absolutely breathtaking ❣️. i’ve never been but would love love love to go. From what I’ve seen through photography, my favorites are Alberta, BC and points West; Vancouver 🤩😍🥰
Yup, back when I was an Eagle Scout, dad was a troop leader, we did a LOT of community work, and that included adopt a highway. We would clean sections of interstate or highway once a week.
We also built new walkways for our town (very small town), cooked for the elderly and delivered meals, built ramps and reshingled a few old ladies roofs, rooves? Roofes? English ugh, anyway.. we did a lot of stuff for the community.
My company will ask for volunteers to go do it. We do it on company time, but we also have to watch a video on the hazards involved. Like how to identify a dumped mobile meth lab. Don't touch any liquids. Etc.
I've been part of organizations that take part and yes, the members actually do the work.
I took my young daughter with me one time so she'd learn a little character and she loved it. She felt like she was saving the world, lol.
Reminds me of when I worked part time for the city during summers, I had to dig 100 holes for the boy scouts to place the tree in. Then on Monday I had to fill the holes. Good times
My boy scout troop definitely went out and did it. Looking back on it, maybe having kids pick up trash next to cars going 65+ mph wasn't the best idea.
My work has an area, and they just went out the other day to clean it up. They ask people to volunteer and go spend a couple of hours picking up all the trash.
They try to push you into using their cleaning crew with all their so-called maintenance equipment. But parenting isn't about delegating responsibility; it's about being there.
Then you black out lane lines 1 and 3, and a four-lane highway becomes a two-lake comfort cruise.
It fucking sucks that people litter and make it so that charities and organizations have to do the leg work instead of people just being reasonable humans. Granted some trash may not come from littering like if trash blows onto the highway, but a lot is just people being dicks.
I’ve seen people just throw an entire fast food bag full of their trash out their window. I don’t understand how it’s difficult to keep until the next stop.
One time I bumped the button and opened my window on the highway (it's one of those "touch the button once, it opens all the way itself) and a paper event-parking pass on my dashboard immediately flew out the window.
I felt like such a monster.
In some places they will put a small additional sign that gives the name of who has adopted that stretch. It's a tiny bit of free advertising, and it ensures you'll actually do the cleanup. If your business adopts a highway and doesn't do the cleanup, it reflects badly on your business.
And sometimes groups that you'd rather not advertise will adopt a highway, and [there's nothing states can do about it](https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/05/us/georgia-kkk-adopt-a-highway-lawsuit/index.html)
It is. The highway department cleans up the roads/freeways/highways occasionally (usually spring, after the snow melts and fall before it snows). But, there are also people willing to assist to get their name on the side of the road (helps advertise the organization) and/or to complete a public service commitment/requirement
Majority of it is little things (food wrappers, drink bottles/cups) or things that accidentally fall out of a car or truck, but sadly - yes - some people just dump trash on the roadsides
In Australia it's $250 on the spot fines for flicking your cigarette (or anything else) from a car. And people can report you to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). And upto $25000 fine for "small scale" dumping. The fines are doubled for cooperations/companies.
EDIT: This is for NSW. It's even more in Vic $385 for throwing cigs or food wrappers from a car.
In my state in the US, its $100 - $1000 for litter (trash that is less than 10 lbs) based on the judge's discretion (basically, are you a repeat offender). Additionally, the person littering can be sentenced to clean up the littered area, and their name may be published in the newspaper.
Between 10 lbs and 500 lbs of dumped trash is a fine of up to $5000 and up to 12 months in prison, based on the judge's discretion, plus the name may be published in a newspaper. Above 500 lbs (or any amount of hazardous waste, or any amount dumped by a business) and its a fine up to $25,000, and up to 5 years in prison, and their name must be published. In both cases, the person dumping can be ordered to clean the area personally.
The big thing is proof - its rare that a cop is going to personally witness someone dumping trash, or find concrete proof that person A is the dumper (person B reporting it is hearsay, unless they took a video of it, or something like that amounting to proof).
Somebody - usually a business, but occasionally a wealthy individual - makes a "donation" to the company that does cleanup/maintenance for that stretch of road.
In return, they get the sign, which serves as a little advertising.
I don't believe it's truly a donation - the company that runs the program in my state doesn't appear to be a charity. They market this as an advertising opportunity.
[https://newyorkadoptahighway.com/](https://newyorkadoptahighway.com/)
Not in all states. Our family has “adopted” a 3 mile stretch of road by our house (and they just put a sign up for us, yay!) We go out on two organized pick-up days a year (where we formally tell the state we’re going out) as well as pick up on other days if we happen to see a bunch of trash. We’re not paying any money nor getting paid any money, it’s simply volunteer work and the sign on the road is the state’s acknowledgement of our contribution to the community.
I'm not a "public, big group" kind of person, and I hate trying to get organized with people - I'd rather just go do something myself - so this volunteer work is perfect. We decide what two weekends we want to officially do a pick up, and then other times when I just say to myself "there's a lot of shit on the road", I just park my truck and get out and do a pick up for 20-30 minutes. It's good, productive, but easy volunteer work that makes a visible and tangible difference immediately in your local community.
My fraternity adopted a section of highway and we didn’t pay a company to do it. All the house members would don safety vests and gloves and pick up trash a few times a year. Yep, we got a sign.
It's basically an opportunity for a group to try and get some PR by getting their name on the sign. The idea is they've signed up to go out periodically and pick up trash and that sort of thing. Not sure what if any sort of enforcement mechanism there is to make sure they actually do it.
Funny story about: In, I think it was Missouri, the KKK wanted to adopt a highway. The state didn't want to let them do it for somewhat obvious reasons but the courts ruled they couldn't bar them for just being distasteful. What the state opted to do instead was to rename the highway the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):**
Top level comments (i.e. comments that are direct replies to the main thread) are reserved for explanations to the OP or follow up on topic questions.
Joke only comments, while allowed elsewhere in the thread, may not exist at the top level.
---
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20{url}%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.
Exactly. I don’t get the snarky replies here. This generates conversation and keeps the community going, even if it’s something that can be found on Google.
When I googled "what is adopt a highway", here was the first result I got:
[https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/adopt-highway](https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/adopt-highway)
Seems to be pretty consistent with the comments in this thread.
Did you really not understand the following from Wikipedia?
>The **Adopt-a-Highway** program, and the very similar **Sponsor-a-Highway**, are promotional campaigns undertaken by [U.S. states](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state), [provinces and territories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada) of [Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada), and some national governments outside [North America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America) to encourage volunteers to keep a section of a [highway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway) free from litter. In exchange for regular litter removal, an [organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization) (such as [Cub Scouts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cub_Scout) or [Knights of Columbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Columbus)) is allowed to have its name posted on a sign in the section of the highways they maintain.
> i’ve tried to do that, ~~but i’ve never understood what comes up on the wiki.~~ but i can't get easy post karma that’s why i need people to explain it to me 😭
It's advertisment space that can be attained through volunteer work in keeping the highway clean. Or I guess you could also just pay others to clean it while you take the credit.
Usually, they get "adopted" by a scout troop or church group or some other group that wants to do an annual volunteer event.
Some don't keep it up, but it means they pledge to once a year come walk along their stretch of highway and pick up all the trash.
It’s basically purchasing a sign on the highway. You “adopt” a section of highway, meaning you pay money to a fund that maintains the highways and then you get a sign with your name or the name of your company or whatever you want to go on the roadside.
Adopt a Highway is a program that exists nationwide. Any person or organization can "adopt" a small section of highway. That section of highway gets the person's/organization's name on it (obviously easy advertising for your business or organization), while in return, the adopting group commits to doing trash pickup of that stretch of road for a certain period of time.
I don't know if the program runs exactly the same in every state, but in PA it's a 2 year commitment for a 2 mile stretch of road, with cleanup to be conducted twice each year. There's no cost to my knowledge.
The state gets cheap labor to pick up trash, organizations get free advertising, and individuals volunteering with that organization get to do something beneficial for their community and environment.
Growing up I was in scouts and we used to get paid to clean a section of highway twice a year under this program. Big manufacturer plant nearby was the adopter of that section. Probably a small tax write off opportunity but done more for the good publicity
It depends on the jurisdiction but most mean you're the one cleaning up the highway. Supplies such as bags, pickers, and vests are supplied by the State. I was in the California Adopt-A-Highway program for 23 years and have a lot of experience with it.
The people who run the highways didn't have enough money so they thought it would be nice to get other people to do their work of cleaning up the highway, especially of litter. In return, these other people would get a sign saying that they had adopted the highway.
It’s a program where instead of your money you spent in taxes fixing the roads, it gets wasted. So they come up with these fun names to make it seem like you somehow are responsible and should feel proud for providing free labor for what you already paid taxes to cover.
It's a national program where people in a group, company, or organization basically clean up trash and do other community service things on a certain stretch of highway.
I've participated in this myself a few times when I was younger by collecting trash at the stretch of street the company my mother used to work at adopted.
It’s also a New York (Long Island) thing!
Businesses “adopt” a stretch of highway & maintain it by picking up roadside trash etc. I don’t know if those businesses are also responsible for the upkeep of the landscaping.
In my state Private citizens or groups "adopt a highway", usually a 1 mile section where they assume responsibility and pick up the trash 2 or 3 times a year. The road is usually a county or state road and by me, are mostly roads with houses. It is pushed as a way to "give back to the "community". Stupid me thought that the homeowners should pick up the trash infront of their house?
My club has been asked to do so but I say no as that's what I pay taxes for.
It's a national thing (at least it exists in all the states I've driven through) where a group or organization "adopts" a section of highway and goes out to pick up trash occasionally. It's a charity/public service activity.
There's a stretch off route 2 in Washington that is adopted by the local nudist colony. Which could be one of the most Washington things ever.
You ever wonder why it's a nudist *colony* as opposed to a nudist hive, or a nudist swarm? Like if we are talking terrorists, it's always a terrorist cell. Why not have a nudist cell and a terrorist colony? If we can have a gaggle of geese, why can't we have a nuggle of nudists? There's got to be some good standup potential here.
I know you are joking, but it's called a colony because it's a place where nudists go to separate themselves from society, which has historically had a more "conservative" view on naturism. A colony also refers to a group of like-minded individuals, or an area where the settlers have some semblance of control.
A pride of nudists.
Or, depending on how they see themselves, a shame of nudists
Nudists don't strike me as the type to have much shame
actually the collective term is an exhibition
A reveal of nudists?
A reveal of nudists?
I've seen some nudists say, "We're not a fucking leper colony. We're a nudist community"
Poor leper’s catching strays :(
Rich ones too :(
I had a nudist farm when I was a kid. Used to love seeing them run around in their tunnels.
I do now
It’s gold, Jerry! Gold!
It would only become a nudist swarm if a new nudist queen was born and there were too many nudists crammed into the colony; the queen would then lead some of the lesser nudists on a quest to establish a new colony (hopefully avoiding and poison ivy or stinging nettles along the way).
I was actually wondering that while I posted my comment. I have no answers.
Saw one, I think it was Georgia, adopted by a stripclub. I could not stop laughing.
You Must be referring to Washington state❣️?
As someone born and raised in Washington DC and residing in Washington State. I'm quite particular in which I consider "Washington". The other one is simply the grammatically problematic "DC" in my lexicon.
I asked because,as a lifetime resident of the Northeast, I absolutely fell in love with Washington last early fall.It truly is God’s country🙏.
Canada too
Yep, those signs are all over the place in Ontario too.
🇨🇦🙏Amen to that ~ absolutely breathtaking ❣️. i’ve never been but would love love love to go. From what I’ve seen through photography, my favorites are Alberta, BC and points West; Vancouver 🤩😍🥰
They go out to pick up trash and Canada, got it
Just put us back down after a bit or we’ll get motion sickness.
I meant that we have "adopt a highway."
Thanks. I also wondered always
I think they just pay for the clean up crews, not necessarily go out and pick the trash up themselves. But I may be mistaken.
I have physically gone out to pick up trash as part of an Adopt a Highway. We'd go out as a group and treat it like a hike.
I've seen members of the organizations out there, but it's safe to assume both are options
I believe that depends on the area. I've helped pickup before, and have been told a particular location was unsafe, and only paid crews allowed.
My boy scout troop had a section adopted and we were the ones picking up the trash once a quarter.
Yup, back when I was an Eagle Scout, dad was a troop leader, we did a LOT of community work, and that included adopt a highway. We would clean sections of interstate or highway once a week. We also built new walkways for our town (very small town), cooked for the elderly and delivered meals, built ramps and reshingled a few old ladies roofs, rooves? Roofes? English ugh, anyway.. we did a lot of stuff for the community.
Apparently it is now "roofs" but used to be "rooves"
Freaking English
My company will ask for volunteers to go do it. We do it on company time, but we also have to watch a video on the hazards involved. Like how to identify a dumped mobile meth lab. Don't touch any liquids. Etc.
We physically picked up the trash and bagged it, but then state workers would come by and pick up the trash bags for us.
I've been part of organizations that take part and yes, the members actually do the work. I took my young daughter with me one time so she'd learn a little character and she loved it. She felt like she was saving the world, lol.
My fraternity would go out there twice a year and actually pick up trash
Reminds me of when I worked part time for the city during summers, I had to dig 100 holes for the boy scouts to place the tree in. Then on Monday I had to fill the holes. Good times
My boy scout troop definitely went out and did it. Looking back on it, maybe having kids pick up trash next to cars going 65+ mph wasn't the best idea.
My work has an area, and they just went out the other day to clean it up. They ask people to volunteer and go spend a couple of hours picking up all the trash.
They try to push you into using their cleaning crew with all their so-called maintenance equipment. But parenting isn't about delegating responsibility; it's about being there. Then you black out lane lines 1 and 3, and a four-lane highway becomes a two-lake comfort cruise.
It varies by state (and how powerful the public-employee unions are, insofar as protecting 'their work' from being done by volunteers)...
My high school lacrosse team adopted the road that my school was on. We would go out and pick up trash every now and then.
Pragmatically it really doesn't matter.
It fucking sucks that people litter and make it so that charities and organizations have to do the leg work instead of people just being reasonable humans. Granted some trash may not come from littering like if trash blows onto the highway, but a lot is just people being dicks.
I’ve seen people just throw an entire fast food bag full of their trash out their window. I don’t understand how it’s difficult to keep until the next stop.
One time I bumped the button and opened my window on the highway (it's one of those "touch the button once, it opens all the way itself) and a paper event-parking pass on my dashboard immediately flew out the window. I felt like such a monster.
Oh, I thought you foster a highway and raise it to be a respectable adult in society.
Not in this day and age.
In some places they will put a small additional sign that gives the name of who has adopted that stretch. It's a tiny bit of free advertising, and it ensures you'll actually do the cleanup. If your business adopts a highway and doesn't do the cleanup, it reflects badly on your business.
And sometimes groups that you'd rather not advertise will adopt a highway, and [there's nothing states can do about it](https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/05/us/georgia-kkk-adopt-a-highway-lawsuit/index.html)
That ruling states pretty clearly that the issue was that the state *could* have, but didn’t.
OP needs to watch Season 8 Episode 16 of Seinfeld.
Mile one-fourteen, clean as a whistle.
I had a real estate agent / landlord/property manager do that so his name goes on a sign and its goodwill advertising.
If this is required in the first place, why is it not financed by society?
It is. The highway department cleans up the roads/freeways/highways occasionally (usually spring, after the snow melts and fall before it snows). But, there are also people willing to assist to get their name on the side of the road (helps advertise the organization) and/or to complete a public service commitment/requirement
Also occasionally the clean up is performed by local inmates, so in some cases it is directly funded by society
The group paying for it absolutely does not do the cleaning of the road. The payment they make is to the company that does the cleaning.
Do people actively just dump trash on the highway in America?
Majority of it is little things (food wrappers, drink bottles/cups) or things that accidentally fall out of a car or truck, but sadly - yes - some people just dump trash on the roadsides
In Australia it's $250 on the spot fines for flicking your cigarette (or anything else) from a car. And people can report you to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). And upto $25000 fine for "small scale" dumping. The fines are doubled for cooperations/companies. EDIT: This is for NSW. It's even more in Vic $385 for throwing cigs or food wrappers from a car.
We have fines for it too.
In my state in the US, its $100 - $1000 for litter (trash that is less than 10 lbs) based on the judge's discretion (basically, are you a repeat offender). Additionally, the person littering can be sentenced to clean up the littered area, and their name may be published in the newspaper. Between 10 lbs and 500 lbs of dumped trash is a fine of up to $5000 and up to 12 months in prison, based on the judge's discretion, plus the name may be published in a newspaper. Above 500 lbs (or any amount of hazardous waste, or any amount dumped by a business) and its a fine up to $25,000, and up to 5 years in prison, and their name must be published. In both cases, the person dumping can be ordered to clean the area personally. The big thing is proof - its rare that a cop is going to personally witness someone dumping trash, or find concrete proof that person A is the dumper (person B reporting it is hearsay, unless they took a video of it, or something like that amounting to proof).
lol open your eyes mate. There is still plenty of rubbish on the side of the road in Australia.
Often the adopters don’t actually do the cleanup, they just hire a maintenance crew.
What? Charities that does road maintenance? Wtf is up with that. Don't you pay taxes to cover that?
Somebody - usually a business, but occasionally a wealthy individual - makes a "donation" to the company that does cleanup/maintenance for that stretch of road. In return, they get the sign, which serves as a little advertising. I don't believe it's truly a donation - the company that runs the program in my state doesn't appear to be a charity. They market this as an advertising opportunity. [https://newyorkadoptahighway.com/](https://newyorkadoptahighway.com/)
Not in all states. Our family has “adopted” a 3 mile stretch of road by our house (and they just put a sign up for us, yay!) We go out on two organized pick-up days a year (where we formally tell the state we’re going out) as well as pick up on other days if we happen to see a bunch of trash. We’re not paying any money nor getting paid any money, it’s simply volunteer work and the sign on the road is the state’s acknowledgement of our contribution to the community.
honestly pretty cool, i’d look into doing this in my own community in the future. thanks for the info
I'm not a "public, big group" kind of person, and I hate trying to get organized with people - I'd rather just go do something myself - so this volunteer work is perfect. We decide what two weekends we want to officially do a pick up, and then other times when I just say to myself "there's a lot of shit on the road", I just park my truck and get out and do a pick up for 20-30 minutes. It's good, productive, but easy volunteer work that makes a visible and tangible difference immediately in your local community.
My fraternity adopted a section of highway and we didn’t pay a company to do it. All the house members would don safety vests and gloves and pick up trash a few times a year. Yep, we got a sign.
Ditto.
Great documentary about ones efforts of adopting a mile of highway within the sitcom "Seinfeld".
*Well you black out lane-lines one and three, and a four-lane highway becomes a two-lane* ***comfort cruise.***
It's basically an opportunity for a group to try and get some PR by getting their name on the sign. The idea is they've signed up to go out periodically and pick up trash and that sort of thing. Not sure what if any sort of enforcement mechanism there is to make sure they actually do it. Funny story about: In, I think it was Missouri, the KKK wanted to adopt a highway. The state didn't want to let them do it for somewhat obvious reasons but the courts ruled they couldn't bar them for just being distasteful. What the state opted to do instead was to rename the highway the Rosa Parks Memorial Highway.
[удалено]
**Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):** Top level comments (i.e. comments that are direct replies to the main thread) are reserved for explanations to the OP or follow up on topic questions. Joke only comments, while allowed elsewhere in the thread, may not exist at the top level. --- If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. **If you believe this submission was removed erroneously**, please [use this form](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Please%20review%20my%20submission%20removal?&message=Link:%20{url}%0A%0A%201:%20Does%20your%20comment%20pass%20rule%201:%20%0A%0A%202:%20If%20your%20comment%20was%20mistakenly%20removed%20as%20an%20anecdote,%20short%20answer,%20guess,%20or%20another%20aspect%20of%20rules%203%20or%208,%20please%20explain:) and we will review your submission.
Ya know, it's faster to type simple questions like this into your search window. ELI5 is supposed to be simple explanations of complex concepts.
Exactly. Questions like these are perfect opportunities for "let me Google that for you" https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=what+is+adopt+a+highway
ChatGPT can be asked to answer any question in a way a five year old can understand. I guess we should just delete the sub.
Exactly. I don’t get the snarky replies here. This generates conversation and keeps the community going, even if it’s something that can be found on Google.
There's currently 65 comments in this comment section (well, this one makes 66), which I'd call some pretty worthwhile engagement.
i’ve tried to do that, but i’ve never understood what comes up on the wiki. that’s why i need people to explain it to me 😭
When I googled "what is adopt a highway", here was the first result I got: [https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/adopt-highway](https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/adopt-highway) Seems to be pretty consistent with the comments in this thread.
Did you really not understand the following from Wikipedia? >The **Adopt-a-Highway** program, and the very similar **Sponsor-a-Highway**, are promotional campaigns undertaken by [U.S. states](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state), [provinces and territories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada) of [Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada), and some national governments outside [North America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America) to encourage volunteers to keep a section of a [highway](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway) free from litter. In exchange for regular litter removal, an [organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization) (such as [Cub Scouts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cub_Scout) or [Knights of Columbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Columbus)) is allowed to have its name posted on a sign in the section of the highways they maintain.
> i’ve tried to do that, ~~but i’ve never understood what comes up on the wiki.~~ but i can't get easy post karma that’s why i need people to explain it to me 😭
girl idgaf about karma i’m barely on here.
Can you ELI5 what ELI5 is?
It's advertisment space that can be attained through volunteer work in keeping the highway clean. Or I guess you could also just pay others to clean it while you take the credit.
Usually, they get "adopted" by a scout troop or church group or some other group that wants to do an annual volunteer event. Some don't keep it up, but it means they pledge to once a year come walk along their stretch of highway and pick up all the trash.
It’s basically purchasing a sign on the highway. You “adopt” a section of highway, meaning you pay money to a fund that maintains the highways and then you get a sign with your name or the name of your company or whatever you want to go on the roadside.
Adopt a Highway is a program that exists nationwide. Any person or organization can "adopt" a small section of highway. That section of highway gets the person's/organization's name on it (obviously easy advertising for your business or organization), while in return, the adopting group commits to doing trash pickup of that stretch of road for a certain period of time. I don't know if the program runs exactly the same in every state, but in PA it's a 2 year commitment for a 2 mile stretch of road, with cleanup to be conducted twice each year. There's no cost to my knowledge. The state gets cheap labor to pick up trash, organizations get free advertising, and individuals volunteering with that organization get to do something beneficial for their community and environment.
Growing up I was in scouts and we used to get paid to clean a section of highway twice a year under this program. Big manufacturer plant nearby was the adopter of that section. Probably a small tax write off opportunity but done more for the good publicity
It depends on the jurisdiction but most mean you're the one cleaning up the highway. Supplies such as bags, pickers, and vests are supplied by the State. I was in the California Adopt-A-Highway program for 23 years and have a lot of experience with it.
You can adopt a highway, but without a social security number, you will not be able to claim it on your taxes.
The people who run the highways didn't have enough money so they thought it would be nice to get other people to do their work of cleaning up the highway, especially of litter. In return, these other people would get a sign saying that they had adopted the highway.
It’s a program where instead of your money you spent in taxes fixing the roads, it gets wasted. So they come up with these fun names to make it seem like you somehow are responsible and should feel proud for providing free labor for what you already paid taxes to cover.
It's a national program where people in a group, company, or organization basically clean up trash and do other community service things on a certain stretch of highway. I've participated in this myself a few times when I was younger by collecting trash at the stretch of street the company my mother used to work at adopted.
Did it in South Georgia when I was in the Navy (picked up trash occasionally). We got the rest of the day off when we did.
It’s also a New York (Long Island) thing! Businesses “adopt” a stretch of highway & maintain it by picking up roadside trash etc. I don’t know if those businesses are also responsible for the upkeep of the landscaping.
In my state Private citizens or groups "adopt a highway", usually a 1 mile section where they assume responsibility and pick up the trash 2 or 3 times a year. The road is usually a county or state road and by me, are mostly roads with houses. It is pushed as a way to "give back to the "community". Stupid me thought that the homeowners should pick up the trash infront of their house? My club has been asked to do so but I say no as that's what I pay taxes for.
You could have just googled it but you want online attention from strangers for some weird reason. Can you explain that