Trending
Dear Editor:
I would like to address our terrible litter situation in Hancock County, W.Va. I know the problem is all over this Ohio Valley, but I live here and am working to help fix this issue locally.
This litter is a problem. It costs all of us time, money, energy and misery. It is only a slight misery perhaps, but day after day it seemingly is all over the place. All the litter and all the garbage is not good for us as a people or as a community.
We can fix it. We will need to approach it from many, many angles: schools, kids, education, creating local ordinances, as well as reporting and enforcement of W.Va. anti litter laws that already exist.
We have Adopt a Highway, but clean any street and a week later it's trashed again. Adopt A Highway fixes nothing. It stops not one piece of litter from becoming litter. It does not last and has zero lasting effect or efficacy. We need to stop the littering.
This whole area is so wonderfully beautiful, in spots. But the garbage spoils too much of it.
We need local business, employers and employees to all take part and help.
I ask that businesses, local markets and employers: Could you look into providing your employees access to garbage cans, dumpsters and bins on your company's property. Also invite and educate employees to feel free to leave trash from the lunch or dinner breaks or whatever trash they may have in the car. Allow them to easily leave it at work. In your bins. In your dumpsters. If we could all do this just a little bit more -- and better. Employees might have a more enjoyable ride into work. Less trash to see. More eager and happier to be there. More productive.
We need everybody to pitch in, help out, speak up, educate. Local administrators, law enforcement, parents, teachers, kids. Everybody. All of us. It is our mess. We need to clean it.
Ian Wilson
New Cumberland