Cleaning up this mess

I have driven through 32 of the 48 contiguous states and I can say that Arkansas, unequivocally, is the trashiest, most littered state in the nation. I haven’t visited the New England states or the Great Plains, but I can’t imagine they would stoop to trashing their homes like our Neanderthals do here. Our nickname, the Natural State, is laughable. We should call it the “world’s largest pigsty” instead.

Judging from the trash that lines our roadways, it appears that littering is not only legal here but encouraged. When the tourists come for the total eclipse in April, what kind of impression of our home will they take back to their homes? It’s embarrassing. The City Beautiful commission in Little Rock has plenty of work to do. Here’s a recommendation: Clean up the garbage!

It’s not just plastic bags, fast-food wrappers and Styrofoam cups on our byways either. We have mattresses, old television sets, sofas and any number of items dumped on the side of the road. I even saw a blue toilet left by some uncaring clown too lazy to go to the city dump. You can’t drive five feet on my street without seeing trash.

I cannot believe our citizens put up with this nonsense but, after all, we are the home of the hogs.

I wonder how many tickets are issued for littering, if any. Our state legislators should pass laws raising the fines for littering and dumping to astronomical amounts. Maybe the sting of high fines will teach these lowbrows who toss their junk to change their ways. But I have little faith in our politicians to clean up a mess.

JONATHAN RUNNELLS Little Rock