March 14, 2026

Safety Rules and General Rules:

1. You are volunteering at your own risk so don't die.

2. Don't walk in the road. If you see a piece of trash on the road, look to make sure no cars are coming, grab it and return to the grass or behind the guardrail.

3. Don't assume people will slow down when they see you. The same people driving on these roads while you are out there are the same people who have littered the roads. 

4. Don't use drugs or alcohol before participating. Afterwards, the choice is yours.

5. Be careful while walking and climbing. The trash unfortunately rolls to the lowest point, you will be walking on uneven surfaces, near rivers and streams, and scaling rocks. Remember that slow and steady wins the race. Don't go outside your comfort zone. 

6. Use your litter stick to pick up trash when you can. If you try and bend over and pick up trash without using the stick, you will break your back. Litter sticks are great for getting plastic bags out of thorn bushes. Your litter stick can pick up pretty much everything except for glass bottles. Use your hands for those.

7. If you see a water bottle filled with yellow or orange colored liquid, don't use your stick to pick it up, unless you want a golden shower. Use your hands.

8. Search high and low and turn around often. Some of the trash clings to trees, some is Earth colored, and some is slightly buried. 

9. When cleaning an area, you can go back until you see a fence line. The trash often blows way off the road and many litterers throw very far after having years of practice. If there is no fence, keep going until the trash ends.

10. Keep your safety vests and gloves on while cleaning.

11. If you fall, get up.

12. Don't put tires or wheels or very large objects into the bags. Line them up along the road. 

13. If you see a tree growing out of a tire hole or a tire that is buried deep, leave it. 

14. Tie your bag shut and place it on the edge of the road when it's filled or too heavy to carry.

15. Don't pick up cigarette butts. You will end up in the same place you started.

16. You can keep whatever you find.

17. When removing your gloves, grab them at the wrist and turn them inside out, leave them with the safety vests, sticks, and extra bags. They will be cleaned and disinfected after each use.

18. Don't flip people off when they beep at you. They are saying thank you. 

19. Watch out for wildlife. Snakes like to hide in fertilizer bags. If you see a snake back away. Snakes with cat eyes are supposedly poisonous. If you see those back away super quickly. 

20. After removing your gloves, don't eat anything or touch your face until you wash your hands with soap and water.

21. Do not put dead animals in bags, it's not that kind of cleanup.