Litter a problem that is up to us in the end

By Staff
According to members of the Franklin County Commission and Sheriff Larry Plott, Franklin County is getting quite the reputation around northwest Alabama. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of reputation we want.
According to Plott, Franklin County is becoming "notorious" for having more litter on the roads that other places. Especially bad, Plott said, is the road to North-west-Shoals Comm-unity College.
And he's right.
First-time visitors to the area often remark about the litter on the roadways, and that's not the first impression we want to leave.
The commission discussed Monday the possibility of hiring a litter control officer and making a full-time job of taking inmates along county roads to clean up litter, and backing up that action with stiff fines for violators.
In the end, though, littering is a problem that all the law enforcement in the world isn't going to solve.
Because if someone wants to litter, he or she can usually find an isolated spot in the road and do so.
Ultimately, the problem is only going to be solved when county residents develop enough class and self-respect to dispose of trash properly instead of flinging it out a car window.
It's a disturbing problem, really, because it seems to be a symptom of our selfish, not-in-my-backyard, don't-have-time-to-fool-with-it society we live in today. The problem near the county's only college isn't a good reflection on the students that use that road, either.
County residents often complain about not having new businesses in Russellville or enough jobs.
Think about that the next time you roll down the window to throw out your trash from lunch at McDonald's — do your part to help our county make a good first impression on newcomers.
It's all up to us in the end. We can roll tanks through the streets to stop litter, but it won't cut it out completely until we start acting like adults and put trash where it belongs.