Correctional facilities are making a difference all across the United States. Prisoners are leaving a positive impact alongside roadways, state routes and interstates by picking up the litter you see scattered all across the roadways. Years ago facilities would tap into the resources of using prisoners for certain manual labor jobs, and they even got paid for their services. Granted the pay was not what a contracted laborer would make but it was an additional incentive to maintain good behavior and be able to do something productive outside of their four cell walls. Recently this concept has made a comeback on Rehabilitation and Correction Institutes nationwide. Rewarded for good behavior inmates that are serving low rated sentences for minor offensives are able to pride themselves in working again and feel useful to the community.
Littering is completely preventable. All it takes is to not roll down your window to let the candy bar wrapper fly into the wind but rather wait till your next stop to properly dispose of it. By utilizing these programs allowing prisoners to help clean and maintain the roadways it is saving states that normally have to pay labored Department of Transportation workers millions of dollars. Those participants in these programs are becoming productive members of society again and also showing the public that despite their mistakes, they are making efforts to make amends for their wrongs.
Thousands of bags of blow able trash are collected by prisoners from state highways and roadways. Inmates are even tasked with sorting the contents of the bag and aid in the recycling process. They sort paper from plastic and see that what they collect makes it to the proper bins to be disposed of. Not everyone can say they have an active role in garbage pickup or recycling. Prisoners in correctional facilities that offer these programs are elimination tax dollar spending and productively showing that they too are garbage men and recycle kings.