Minnesota's Adopt a Highway Program...

I am nearly 1000 km into my bicycle journey and have just arrived into Michigan, having passed through Manitoba, Minnesota and Wisconsin over the past week. The routes have been absolutely stunning, as fall approaches and the roads are lined with miles and miles of multi-colored leaves sitting in the trees, just waiting to fall. But before they fall, plenty of volunteers will be making the final roadside clean up throughout much of northern Minnesota.

Along my route in Minnesota, I encountered what seemed like hundreds of different "adopted highways". Adopt A Highway programs typically involve and organization of some kind volunteering to pick up trash along a stretch of highway a few times per year. In exchange, the government puts up a big sign exclaiming the group's effort. You see these from time to time in Ontario and Manitoba (I'm sure they are elsewhere in Canada, too), but I have never seen them in such abundance as I did in Minnesota.

I have never personally been involved with an Adopt A Highway program, but it seems like a great idea. You get free advertising, the roadsides become cleaner (very noticeable by those of us who stop there frequently) and people can get outdoors and do some volunteering. Moreover, it reminds us that some environmental problems are still fixed simply by doing a little hard work, even though much of the world has moved on to the more exciting and global problems, like climate change and solving our energy needs.

I'm on a bike most of the time, so I'll admit I have little desire to research this any further and I have no substantive evidence that proves how popular Minnesota's program is. This is simply something I've noticed. Why is it so popular compared to other places? My only guess is that the signs the Minnesota government puts up are far larger than what you'd get in Manitoba or elsewhere. Advertising is advertising.