You can adopt a stretch of highway, a pond, even a park -- and now, in the City of Saint Cloud you can adopt your very own storm drain.

It seems like a great idea to me, and it's pretty straightforward. The idea is that you adopt a storm drain in your neighborhood -- and you keep it free of trash, snow, ice, and debris.

It's a great opportunity to keep our waterways clean by adopting a drain (or more) and clearing them of all the leaves before the snow arrives. I've cleared my two drains, and cleaned the leaves from the street along the gutter in my neighborhood.

It's a great way to get your family involved in keeping our waterways clean, and protecting the mighty Mississippi River.

This is genius. Storm drains stay clean and clear. The city doesn't have to pay for it. And it might be a fun project for you kids to teach them about helping the environment.