Friday, April 23, 2010

MoDOT Doing Its Part to Take Care of the Environment

I was at Wal-Mart the other night and as I got back to my vehicle I found a huge pile of trash sitting in the parking lot next to my car. I guess the people next to us wanted a cleaner car and thought they’d just dump their trash out. Happy Earth Day everyone.

Fortunately, unlike the rude folks who dumped their trash out for others to clean up, MoDOT is quite progressive with everything we do to try to be conscientious about the environment. We recycle everything from paper to signs and all sorts of things in between. We host programs like Adopt-A-Highway and No MOre Trash! We also participate in events around the state when possible to educate people on our various programs and activities.

Today, along with several other state agencies, we participated in Earth Day at the Capitol. We had a large tent on the south lawn of the Capitol, and we handed out about 3,000 tree seedlings to the thousands of visitors who came through our booth. We also talked to folks about how they can get involved with our various programs and asked them to sign a pledge not to litter. We even had a few games to entertain and educate the younger visitors coming through.

The video below gives you a peek into our Earth Day fun. I encourage everyone to get out and try to make a difference. April is No More Trash! month and there’s still time for you to get out there and help clean up our state. Let’s all work together to make Missouri a more cleaner, beautiful place to live. And if you see someone dumping their trash out, speak up and let them know you don’t appreciate it – or at least get their license plate number and report them. No MOre Trash!