Should Michigan Consider this Controversial Colorado Incentive To Clean Up Trash?

As a new mom, I take a ton of walks around my neighborhood in Grand Rapids. My son loves to see the birds, flowers, and trees along the way. But the one thing that bums me out is when we see tons of litter all over the roadways by our home.

I remember as a kid you used to see crews of people doing community service and picking up trash along the highways, but you don't see anyone stepping up to take care of the litter that is thrown out of people's cars, getting into our protected waterways and yards.

While I would like to hope people want their community to look and feel nice, I know most people aren't willing to volunteer for free these days without an incentive. That's when I remembered back in 2016, a few dispensaries in Colorado Springs, Colorado started to offer something green to help get their city looking green.

They said that if you were to participate in their garbage pick up, you could get a free pre-rolled joint as a thank you for your time. Tons of people came out, and the city started to look a lot nicer. Honestly- as long as everyone is of age, this feels like an amazing way to incentivize people to do the right thing, and then give them an excuse to relax afterwards.

It wasn't just their cities either- by the start of 2020, nearly 60% of Colorado's highways were being cleaned by these cannabis-sponsored cleanup initiatives, which is amazing.

Read More: From Taxes To Parks: Michigan Communities Benefit From Marijuana

So, why doesn't Michigan try out this incentive? We have 4x more dispensaries than McDonald's locations in the state- so surely one of them can offer to help out. Cannabis is cheap, easy to find, and abundant in volume. If the state were to partner with one of the major retailers like Jars, Skymint or Ascend, maybe we could see some change.

Many may disagree with this idea as they did in Colorado, saying that you shouldn't use an illicit substance to entice people to do good, but I argue- would you bat an eye if they offered you a beer instead? So, I say we consider this idea here in Michigan, after all- we could use a community smoke break after everything looks nicer around our neighborhoods.