Moises Mabunga knew the stretch of I-15 between 600 South and 2100 South was messy, but he was surprised the Adopt-A-Highway group he helped organize would end up with 32 bags of trash during a recent clean-up.
And that was from only one side of the road.Mabunga is vice president of the Philippine-American Bayanihan Association of Utah (PABAU), which just signed up to take part in the Utah Department of Transportation's Adopt-A-Highway program.
PABAU's mission is to preserve Filipino culture, promote friendship with Americans and undertake public service projects. It has 280 members.
"We felt we should be part of keeping Utah clean, and this is one way we can help," Mabunga said.
Aside from that, "one thing we found out is that doing community service work is as much fun as any recreational activity," Mabunga said.
PABAU is one of 145 groups in the Salt Lake City area combing state roads for litter. There are about 300 groups statewide.
Adopt-A-Highway, begun three years ago, has become so popular there's now a waiting list in the Salt Lake City area.
"It has been wildly successful," said Boyd Fronk, maintenance area supervisor for the Utah Department of Transportation District 2, which covers Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit counties.
"I get four or five calls a day from groups that want to join," Fronk said.
However, all the state roads in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area have been adopted, so Fronk is assigning groups to areas along I-80.
Once in a while, one of the area's 145 groups drops out, so Fronk can refer to the waiting list and assign a two-mile stretch of road to another.
Unlike other states, Fronk said as far as he knows, Utah has not had applications from hate groups, such as Ku Klux Klan.
"We've been kind of fortunate," Fronk said. "Those that have made an agreement with us have been pretty darn good."
Usually, the groups involved are associated with churches, Scout troops, motorcycle clubs, fraternities, businesses or civic organizations.
UDOT supervises clean-up days and supplies safety vests, safety signs and trash collection bags. Fronk said volunteers find everything from mattresses to cigarette butts.
Mabunga said he was amazed at the variety of trash found along PABAU's stretch of highway. Volunteers not only cleaned up the usual bottles and cans but also found syringes, tools, underwear and coins.
"One thing we noticed were the people driving by, honking their horns," Mabunga said. "They were saying, `good job' and that really makes you feel good. Hopefully, people who see us cleaning won't want to dirty the highway anymore."