Karsann revamps Adopt-A-Highway vest and data collection

The Adopt-A-Highway program is all about waste…eliminating it. So, when District 1’s Robin Karsann continually saw volunteers wasting program resources, she came up with an idea to combat it.

“Paper bags that contained safety vests were constantly getting returned to us torn and ripped,” she explained.  “Volunteers were frequently returning an armload of vests wrapped with the original paper bag.”

The groups were often failing to submit their litter statistics in a timely manner, slowing down the tracking, which is a necessary part of the program’s administration.

“Litter pickups were being done, but the litter statistic cards were either not getting turned in, left at maintenance sheds, mailed in, or sent to Boise,” Karsann said. “All of this caused a delay in getting the litter statistics that are tracked in our database. Frequently, I had to phone or email to gather these statistics.”

So, reusable bags and clear plastic sleeves were purchased and a new information sheet design was created. The information sheet slides into the sleeve, and that is velcroed to the reusable bag. On the week a volunteer group is scheduled to do their litter pick up, information is filled out on the information sheet with the group name, and the number of vests, signs, and boxes of bags they requested.

This information sheet is then slid into the sleeve adhered to the reusable cloth bag. The reusable bag is then filled with the number of vests the group requested. Signs, sign stands, and boxes of bags are set by the filled and labeled reusable bag. Reusable bags are returned intact, and the new form is saving time, effort, and money gathering the data.

“This is especially helpful when multiple groups are going out the same weekend,” Karsann explained.

When returning the Adopt-A-Highway supplies, the group leader fills out the top portion of the information sheet, listing the number of volunteers who participated in the clean up, the group hours, and the number of litterbags they filled. Supplies are stored, vests are folded, and the reusable bag is saved to be used again by another group. The information sheet is then taken back to the office to be inputted into the Adopt-A-Highway database.

The process - along with the reusable bags and information sheets - saves time, money, and effort for volunteers and the district’s Volunteer Services Coordinator.

“The new system is very efficient and effective. All sheds in District 1 now have these bags and information sheets. I recommend it for all districts,” she added.

Published 07-26-19