Taking Care of the Road We Call Home: Root 9's Highway Cleanup
Our name comes from the road we live on. Every day, our neighbors drive Route 9 to get to work, drop their kids at school, and run their errands, and so do we. So on Sunday October 3rd, the Root 9 team traded the shop floor for hard hats, safety vests, and trash grabbers to give Route 9 a little care in return.
What we did
A crew of over ten Root 9 team members spent Sunday walking Old Hopewell Road near SplashDown, picking up litter along the shoulders, medians, and drainage areas. By the end of the morning, we had filled over fifteen bags with everything from fast-food wrappers and plastic bottles to a single abandoned shoe.
It wasn’t glamorous work, and it wasn’t supposed to be. It was about showing up for the place that has welcomed us.
Why it matters to us
Being a good neighbor is more than a slogan. As a licensed, locally operated dispensary, we believe we have a real responsibility to the community around us, and that responsibility extends well beyond our front door. Litter along our roads ends up in storm drains, streams, and eventually the Hudson. Cleaner roadsides mean healthier waterways, safer shoulders for walkers and cyclists, and a town everyone can feel proud of.
This cleanup is part of Root 9’s broader commitment to community impact in Wappingers Falls and the surrounding Hudson Valley. Root 9 is an official participant in the Adopt-a-Highway program, and we’re proud to be responsible for our stretch of Old Hopewell Road.
A team effort
A huge thank-you to everyone who came out and put in the work, and to town officials, NYSDOT, & The Adopt-a-highway initiative for giving Root 9 a chance to give back to the community we call home. The hard hats came off at the end, but the sense of pride stuck around.
This is just the start
We plan to make this a bi-annual effort, and we'd love for the community to join us. Keep an eye on our blog and social channels for the next cleanup date. If your local organization is working on something that makes Wappingers Falls a better place to live, we want to hear about it.
See you on Route 9.
Root 9 Dispensary 1546 Route 9, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
