David Adkins was recovering from open heart surgery when he and his wife thought a daily walk would help get him back to health quicker. The walking went fine, but the garbage they saw along the way was slowing them down.

That’s when the couple decided to do something about it and are now part of the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste District’s sponsor a site program.

“We had been seeing the garbage and decided to start picking it up,” Regina Adkins said. “You hate to go and walk and see that garbage. All kinds of beer bottles and shingles. You wouldn’t believe.”

Now about once a week the couple takes care of the 1.5 mile road near their home on County Road 256. “It’s not garbage trucks that lose it,” she said. “They have the same color ties on the bags. It is the same person.”

They have even gone into nearby woods to clear out unsightly debris.

“It is to make everything cleaner and beautiful,” Adkins said. “We see a lot of people go out mushroom hunting. Now they won’t have to step on broken glass. I love looking at the woods. I love walking. I think it is nice to keep the woods clean. God created it and I think we need to keep it clean.”

The Adkins family is the 23rd sponsors to join the solid waste program in Lawrence County, where the only rules are to clean monthly or every other month.

“We will supply you with gloves and litter bags,” Dan Palmer, director of the district, said. “We just ask that you continually do this. It is something we want more than once a year. I think we have a fantastic group. I am amazed at what they do.”

As soon as a sponsor collects the garbage in the area, the solid waste district will send a crew up to take it away.

“(Sponsors) take their time and go out and do this,” Palmer said. “This is commendable.”