It was during his career in the military that Mac McPherson picked up what he admits is a dirty habit.
“It is just so filthy sometimes,” he says.
That dirty habit? Picking up trash along the roadways.
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“People can’t believe that we have this much trash out here,” he says while stooping to pick up a piece of litter.
He’s picked up thousands and thousands of pounds over the years.
“All the beautiful scenery and then you’ve got all this litter all over the place. You see people out picking but there is just not enough. So, I just had to get involved,” McPherson says.
McPherson is doing his best to keep a two-mile stretch on Interstate 90 near Zoo Drive clean that he’s adopted as part of the Adopt a Highway Litter Control program.
“It’s in my blood. Even when my wife and I are traveling in our camper, we’ll pull off at rest stops and that and I’ll get my bag and picker out and clean up a little bit,” McPherson says with a smile.
During his 26 years in the Navy, his habit seemed to follow him wherever he traveled—Iceland, Spain, and Alaska, where he and his fellow veterans picked up nearly 100,000 pounds of trash.
“You name it, I’ve found it. About the only thing I haven’t found is a body. And some people tell me you haven’t gone off the road far enough,” he says.
Since moving to Montana a few years ago he’s picked right up where he left off.
“I actually finished with 5,600 pounds all of last year,” he says.
McPherson also places wreaths in the veteran’s cemetery, and of course keeps an eye out for any litter he spots.
A guy with a dirty habit helping keep Montana clean.
"It’s a habit of mine. Like I said, it’s a dirty habit but I do it,” he says.
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