By STEVE BRAWNER
Drivers on Arkansas’ roadways are passing the word “Natural?” written with five-foot-tall metal letters and wire mesh and crammed with something very unnatural – manmade litter.
The signs are part of the Arkansas Department of Transportation’s stepped-up effort to clean up the state’s roadsides. Two have been in circulation with a third recently built.
“We pick up litter in a district, fill it up, fill those letters up, and leave them there for about a month as sort of a public service announcement,” said ARDOT Director Jared Wiley.
“Kind of trying to step on toes to say, ‘Hey, this litter’s not natural. It’s making our state look bad. Please help us to curb the problem.”’
Three blue signs greet drivers as they approach the “Natural?” signs. One informs them that ARDOT spends $8 million a year combating litter. The expenditure in fiscal year 2025 was $9.7 million, so the department is updating its signs. The second asks motorists if they are part of the problem or part of the solution. The third asks drivers to do their part.
Wiley said the department spent that $9.7 million in a variety of ways: staff time and expenses, contract litter pickup, and supporting its Adopt-A-Highway volunteer program.
The displays were first posted in Springdale and have been in Arkadelphia, Pine Bluff, Jonesboro and on I-630 in Little Rock not long ago. A welder in ARDOT’s central Arkansas shop built them.
Wiley said the idea came from another state. A group in Bella Vista then brought the idea to Arkansas by spelling out the word “Why” as part of its local cleanup display. Wiley – who has visited all 52 Arkansas State Parks with his wife and children – chose the word “Natural” because Arkansas calls itself “The Natural State.”
Wiley said litter leaves a bad impression with visitors and can be a safety issue. Tire treads, mattresses, tools and other items must be collected. Other litter left along the roadside needs to go lest it be shredded by a mower and make a bigger mess.
While some of the litter is the result of carelessness, another part of it comes from trash haulers who don’t properly cover their beds. ARDOT plans to step up enforcement of existing laws through its Highway Police division starting in late May or June. It will educate the haulers beforehand.
ARDOT also is ramping up its efforts to recruit volunteers for its Adopt-A-Highway program. The department’s online interactive map allows prospects to click on a highway segment to adopt a mile. ARDOT asks them to collect trash once a quarter and provides the bags, vests and pickup. To learn more, go to ardot.gov and scroll down.
Six or seven years ago, I judged a homeschooling speech contest where a student talked about plastics pollution. Now I can’t unsee it. Plastics and other types of trash are everywhere, and not just on the roadside.
Much of it takes many years or even centuries to decompose, if it decomposes at all. Instead, it becomes little pieces of plastic that infiltrate our soil, air, water and eventually, ourselves. Researchers in a study published last year said they were finding the equivalent of a plastic spoon in deceased human brain tissue. CNN quoted the lead researcher saying that half a percent of our brains are now plastic. Amounts had risen roughly 50% between 2016 and 2024. Plastics have been found in other body parts including the heart, lungs, liver and placenta.
Given that trash exists so long and that humans are producing so much of it, one solution is to produce less. That’s beyond what Wiley and ARDOT can tackle, but individuals can make choices. Engineering solutions hopefully will produce biodegradable materials that can replace today’s forever ones.
Meanwhile, Arkansans can use less, recycle what they can, properly dispose of the rest, and pick up the trash left behind by others.
It’s how we can keep The Natural State natural.
Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.