After growing frustrated with the amount of litter lining state Route 503, Battle Ground resident Kristina Hickel decided to take action.
Hickel recently launched the Battle Ground Trash Bandits organization through the Washington state Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Adopt-a-Highway program, adopting the northbound shoulder of state Route 503 from Northeast 149th Street to Northeast 179th Street just south of Battle Ground proper.
Hickel said she hopes the volunteer effort not only improves the appearance of one of the area’s busiest roadways but also inspires others to organize similar cleanup efforts throughout Clark County.
“I started noticing a lot of trash alongside the roads, 503 specifically,” Hickel said, adding the state highway is an every day route for her. “And then every other week or so I would go out to Washougal and I noticed how clean SR-14 was, and there were lots of signs for the Adopt-a-Highway program.”
That comparison led Hickel to contact the East County Citizens Alliance, a volunteer group that regularly cleans stretches of state Route 14.
“They talked to me about what they’d been doing on 14, which is picking up litter,” Hickel said. “I think they go out like twice a month, and they also have started a wildflower section where they’re trying to get native flowers to grow there, which is pretty cool.”
Before her Adopt-a-Highway paperwork was finalized, Hickel bought her own safety vests and garbage bags and recruited family members for an unofficial cleanup along state Route 503.
“So there were five of us, it was my family and my daughter’s boyfriend, and we went out and two and a half hours (later), we only got not even a quarter of a mile, but we were able to pick up about 15 bags of garbage,” she said.
Despite covering the short distance, the group had removed roughly 700 pounds of litter.
“It was hot, you know, and nobody liked each other at the end of the time, but we picked up about 700 pounds of garbage,” Hickel said.
Now officially partnered with WSDOT, Hickel is inviting community members to join future cleanups. After a few volunteers attended her first public event, she scheduled another cleanup with more advance notice.
“The feedback from the people on Facebook was, ‘I’d really love to help, but I need more advanced notice,’” Hickel said. “So I decided that I’m going to go out on August 1 and do it again. So hopefully people will show up to help.”
Hickel also hopes local businesses and community groups will consider adopting other sections of roadway.
“I would encourage other groups to get signed up,” she said. We could all really make an impact.”
Hickel added that businesses can sponsor highway cleanups through the Adopt-a-Highway program, allowing them to support litter removal while displaying their name on roadside signs.
Beyond organized cleanups, Hickel believes reducing roadside litter starts with individual responsibility. Hickel said people need to think twice before they discard an item out of their vehicle windows.
She said volunteers frequently encounter fast-food packaging, smaller food litter, miniature liquor bottles, too, along roadways.
Although the state requires Adopt-a-Highway groups to complete four cleanups each year, Hickel hopes the Battle Ground Trash Bandits will eventually work far more often.
“To me, that isn’t nearly enough,” Hickel said, adding that she hopes her organization will be able to grow with monthly cleanup efforts.
For more information, email Hickel at Bgtrashbandits@gmail.com.
To learn more about the Adopt-a-Highway program, visit wsdot.wa.gov/business-wsdot/highway-signs/adopt-highway.
