Jul 22, 2010 By Herald Standard Staff 1 min read

More than 186,000 volunteers cleaned 19,373 miles of roads, trails and shorelines in the state during the Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania from March 1 to May 31, according to the state Department of Transportation. During the cleanup, 12 million pounds of trash was collected, with 3.7 million pounds collected by PennDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program volunteers. There were 4,822 reported cleanup events statewide. Of the total miles cleaned, Adopt-A-Highway groups cleaned a record 12,340 miles of roadways, with the help of nearly 104,000 volunteers.

Over the past three years, the cleanup has yielded more than 29.5 million pounds of trash, involved 533,627 volunteers and resulted in 54,940 miles of roadways cleaned. As part of those efforts, 284,838 Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collected more than 10.9 million pounds of litter on 32,678 miles of highway.

PennDOT requires that Adopt-A-Highway volunteers complete four cleanups per year. The 7,156 groups in the program have two-year commitments and have adopted 16,562 roadway miles.

PennDOT provides gloves and safety vests for Adopt-A-Highway and Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania groups. PennDOT said it spends about $11 million a year for litter pickup with department staff.