Clearing trash everyone’s duty

Like many others, I so look forward to this time of the year. However, it is not just for the usual reasons of warm weather, blossoming trees and so forth. It is because the roadside trash has been cleaned up and our beautiful county looks the way it should. It breaks my heart to see the roadside trash accumulate as the year goes on. Therefore I have questions. Why do people feel the need to throw their trash out of their vehicle windows? Why do people out walking just pass by the trash and not pick it up? Why not cross the road and pick up what you see there as there well as picking up on just your own property?

Thinking about the problem more broadly, Why just pick up trash on Earth Day and not others? How can a person bring a child into this world and then throw their dirty diapers from their car windows? Why don’t storekeepers clean up outside their stores on a daily basis as they do in other countries? It takes only minutes.

I and a few other likeminded people do take some time out of our days to go out and pick up trash. I keep trash bags in my car for that very reason.

I encourage people to adopt all or part of a road. Our local town supplies vests and bags and is very appreciative. They also pick-up the bags after the job is done. It would be so rewarding if people would just take the extra step, whether they be residential or commercial and do so more than once a year.

Many hands make light work. Also, the more people who get involved in such clean-ups, the more there are encouraging the right behaviors along roads and in other public spaces. the Dollar General has in other stores in town. Plus the fact that it is taking away business from local grocery stores like Byrons.