Groups who adopt an area in Radford that they pledge to keep litter free will have a sign like the one above acknowledging their work.
Sam Wall
[email protected]
Over the last few years, residents and Radford officials have noticed an influx of litter in certain areas of the city, so they have decided to bring back a program to combat the problem.
Adopt-A-Spot gives individuals, organizations or businesses the opportunity to give back to the community by keeping one of 50 designated areas free of litter.
Beatification and Municipal Forestry Commission Chair David Horton said that his group brought the idea to reestablish the program to city officials around the first of the year and Jenni Wilder has since worked on getting it off the ground.
“The Adopt-a-Spot program provides a way for people to do something simple to look after the environment; allowing them to become part of the solution to the littering problem,” Wilder said. “The program is a great volunteer opportunity, as well as a team building or public service activity. Participants get out into nature, creating a cleaner environment, while working alongside friends or family. The program leads to cleaner streets and neighborhoods, for the spots involved, and will help Keep Radford Beautiful.”
Groups that sign up will be responsible for four cleanups per year, and supplies can be checked out from the city.
In addition to helping keep Radford clean, groups will also have signs similar to those found on highways acknowledging that the area has been adopted by them.
Horton said that some of the trouble areas are near Radford University and by the bridge coming from Fairlawn. He believes that the bridge litter comes from people going to the multiple fast food restaurants and improperly disposing of the trash.
“We did a cleanup recently and had two giant trash bags,” Horton said about a recent cleanup at Bisset Park. “I hope that the program gets people to participate and also just say ‘that’s not appropriate.’”
“We did a cleanup recently and had two giant trash bags,” Horton said about a recent cleanup at Bisset Park. “I hope that the program gets people to participate and also just say ‘that’s not appropriate.’”
After each cleanup, adopting groups must file an activity report detailing the number of people involved, number of pounds of litter picked up, how many pounds of recyclable materials were separated out/type of material and hours spent.
There are approximately 40 spots left to adopt.
A full list of procedures for signing up, available spots to adopt, and rules for groups to follow can be found at http://va-radford.civicplus.com/897/Adopt-A-Spot.
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