Roadway cleanups in April and May on Ocracoke

The N.C. Department of Transportation is seeking volunteers to help clean up trash along roads during the Adopt-A-Highway Spring Litter Sweep for two weeks starting Saturday (April 10) to April 24.

Each April and September, NCDOT asks volunteers to help remove litter from roadsides. Volunteers are provided with clean-up supplies, such as trash bags, gloves and safety vests, from local NCDOT county maintenance yard offices.

Volunteers on Ocracoke will be on their own during this two-week effort, but Keith Gaskins, the Ocracoke NCDOT supervisor, said he will have orange NCDOT trash bags, some vests and gloves available for volunteers at the maintenance office along Water Plant Road beside the Ocracoke Sanitary District.

After filling their bags with roadside trash, volunteers can secure them and leave them alongside a village road or N.C. 12 and the Ocracoke NCDOT employees will pick them up, Gaskins said.

Information is also on the NDOT Litter Sweep webpage here.

As part of ongoing litter removal efforts, NCDOT crews, contractors and volunteers have now collected more than 3 million pounds of litter from state-maintained roadsides this year.

Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D., who represents Ocracoke, is organizing and participating in a district-wide effort for constituents to clean up roadsides, beaches and parks across eastern North Carolina on Saturday, May 8.

Angie Todd, Ocracoke’s Hyde County Board of Education representative, and who has organized cleanups in the past, will organize this cleanup and post details on various Facebook pages.

All volunteers for these cleanups are encouraged to follow proper COVID-19 safety guidance. This includes wearing a mask and gloves at all times and keeping six feet apart from other volunteers.