MU Cycling Team helps clean up highway And finds that it can be fun

Fall 2012 -

The Miami University Cycling Team in participated in their third official trash pickup for the Adopt-a-Highway program on Saturday.

The Adopt-a-Highway program has been allowing any group or organization a chance to give back to the environment by cleaning up trash and debris along a 2-mile stretch of a local highway for over 23 years.

For the cycling team, this stretch is a segment of OH-732 S connecting Oxford with nearby Reily.

As the president of the team, I led the team in the pickups.

At 10 a.m. we donned our gloves and reflective vests, stuffed our pockets with trash bags and started walking.

It sounds like boring work, but the sheer variety of things you can find along the roadside can make for some pretty funny stories.

We kept ourselves amused by observing which brands of beer tended to be found next to given fast food wrappers, giving us a sort of cultural insight into the dietary habits of those littering motorists that are keeping us busy with this job.

It’s also important to note, however, that not all motorists we encountered were unconcerned with our efforts – on three separate instances in the first hour alone we had drivers slow down to wave and shout words of thanks and encouragement out the window, which helped strengthen our resolve.

It was nice to know others shared our appreciation of caring for the environment, too.

As we came to the end of our cleanup effort—ten or so trash bags later—we decided that we had worked up an appetite, and indulged our taste buds with some awesome pizza from Reily Pizza – the local bar/pizzeria, before heading home.

As if the praise from passing motorists wasn’t gratifying enough, seeing how much of a visual difference (let alone the actual environmental impact) we had made left us satisfied with the feeling that it was all more than worth it.

If you want to learn more about the Adopt-a-Highway program or learn how your organization can get involved visit: http://www.adoptahighway.com/ home.html

 

By: Adam Messina