For New Mexico Teens, Litter Means $3K

High school students in New Mexico can pick up a cool, (not to mention quick and fairly easy), $3 grand this year thanks to the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

There is a big litter problem in the land of enchantment and to help spruce the place up a bit , the New Mexico Department of Transportation, (NMDOT), is putting its money where its mouth is to get young people to help clean up New Mexico.

The Land of Enchantment Young Ambassadors Program is open to all New Mexico high school students. The application can be found here.

According to KOB, each of NMDOT's 6 different districts will choose 2 students to take part in the program during the 2025 - 2026 school year. Those 12 will be asked to do one cleanup event in their community and then, based on what they see and hear in that community, select a "capstone" event to complete.

Organizers say ambassadors will need to dedicate 4-5 hours a month to the program which really isn't that much and then, once completed, they'll be rewarded for their work with a check for $3K.

READ MORE: Make Money Off Junk In El Paso

“We really believe that when we ask young people to be leaders in our community, that that is a job,” Whitfield said. “Litter isn’t just something dirty that we don’t like to see. It’s something that is really doing our state harm and we want to make sure that we protect the natural beauty of this state that we all love so much.” - kob.com

Students better hurry though, the deadline to submit an application is August 15th.