Dear Sedona Eye Editor,

Rusty’s Morningstar Ranch (RMR), Tire Pro Automotive of Camp Verde and Sedona plus Reese & Sons of Cottonwood including many others in the Verde Valley have been collecting and processing the illegally dumped litter from Scenic Highway 89A and Highway 260 since February 2009.

Tire Pro Automotive and Reese & Sons deliver the bags of collected litter to Rusty’s Morningstar Ranch where the litter is processed by Jim, an adult with autism. Jim separates the trash from the recyclables. RMR donates most of the recyclables to Sedona Recycle. The trash is placed in a free dumpster provided by Windmill Gardens in Cornville and RMR claims all metal items for the salvage value at Road Runner Recycle located in Cottonwood.

After the sorting process, RMR returns all of the usable ADOT Adopt-A-Highway litter bags to the Point Man for Folksville USA, Folksville American Trash Warriors and the Folksville American Litter Locust. These litter bags are redistributed for reuse, some of which have been used three times.

The American Trash Warriors was created to attract active duty and retired veterans. The Folksville Litter Locust was created to attract citizens who wish to participate in this group effort to “Restore the natural beauty to America the Beautiful”. This is an opportunity for citizens to come together with a common goal. All that is asked of participants is that you “leave politics at home.” 

Our next 2011 litter event is scheduled for November 18/19/20 with Saturday as the “primary” collection day.  Everyone is encouraged to come out and help. We must work together to keep our highways clean and it’s a civic responsibility. Wear sturdy shoes and appropriate clothing, gloves and suncreen. We supply safety vests and litter bags for the clean-up. Lend a hand as long as you like and are able. We are grateful for any effort made to help clean up our roads. Questions? Call the number below.

In addition to Scenic Highway 89A and Highway 260, we will be including portions of Veterans Highway I-17, Highway 169, Highway 69, Highway 89 and Cornville Road. We wish to include Cornville, McGuireville, Camp Verde, Dewey, Prescott Valley, Prescott, Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood and Sedona as we clean up our highways. Contact us to arrange a clean-up event in these areas.

Please contact me if you have any questions, concerns or comments. Group presentations can be arranged upon request. Let us explain our efforts to keep Arizona highways and why it is important to protect our native habitat, natural resources, and economic climate. A clean Arizona is an inviting and liveable model for the future!