The next time you’re in the grocery store, at a school event, at church, in the doctor’s office, at work, or in a local restaurant take a good hard look at the people around you. Some of these folks are the very ones responsible for dumping trash on our streets and county roads.

It’s been a while since I paid homage to this disgusting element of our society that feels that their filth and refuse is something that we all would enjoy sharing. I first wrote about the awful mess that collects along our county roads almost three years ago, and since then it seems that the situation has only worsened. The interstates are routinely cleaned of garbage, and selected other roadways in the county are maintained by volunteers such as my wife, Helen, but the vast majority of our rural roads look like the driveway to the city dump.

What kind of person would dump their personal refuse along the county roads? I can think of several types of individuals, or perhaps more correctly, types of personal motivation for doing the foul deed. The least offensive in my mind is the person who is merely too stupid to recognize the consequences of their actions. While they speed along drinking their diet Pepsi, yakking on their cell phone, and being totally oblivious to the world around them, they toss their empty can out of the window. For heaven’s sake what else could they do with it? Another is the 20-something jerk who routinely and deliberately throws out his/her fast food sacks and beer cartons, as well as empty beer cans/bottles. Hey, it’s a necessary evil. Can you imagine how cluttered his/her car would be in no time at all, besides there’s an open container law. Can’t be too careful, you know.

There are also those who routinely dispose of household garbage along the roadways. These bad actors have no routine garbage service for their homes. Some of the time they burn their trash, however during the current extended burn ban, they merely toss it out on the road. Hey, if the commissioners are too stupid to lift the burn ban, they can clean up the consequences. The roadside is also a favored place to dump rotted out burn barrels with their collection of charred cans and broken bottles. Bridges are especially lovely sites for this disposal effort.

The most despicable is the professional dumper. These characters will dump construction debris (especially asphalt shingles), worn out tires, hazardous materials, broken appliances, and old furniture. They do this on their own privately owned land, property belonging to others, and along public roads. In all cases it pollutes stormwater runoff which goes into our lakes and streams, and further contaminates the ground water so critical to our growing county needs.

What do we do about this enormous problem? I see two courses of action. The first approach would be “business as usual.” Allow the trash to accumulate. Chop it up and spread it around when the roadsides are mowed during summer months. This is unacceptable to my way of thinking.

Another course of action would be to fix the problem. How do we fix it? Again, a two pronged approach — enforcement and education. With regard to enforcement, do you know of anyone who has been fined for littering? I don’t, though I cannot remember when we did not have signs warning of fines of $10-$200 and up. Violators must be punished. Sociopathic behavior must reap its just due. Fines, confiscation or condemnation of property, and incarceration for worst offenders are necessary enforcement strategies.

Lastly, we must teach our youth to respect our environment as well as the property of others. Concentrate on the more impressionable grade schoolers. Demonize littering like we have with regard to smoking and racial discrimination. Young minds quickly assimilate this knowledge and retain it for a lifetime.

While the recent appointment of new environmental officers is a positive step, I challenge Judge Riley and our county commissioners to provide necessary resources and demand new and innovative ideas to combat this curse of rapid development. Enforce our laws and guide our youth.

You have the tools. Do you have the resolve?



Larry M. Jones is a retired Navy Commander and aviator who raises cattle and hay in the Brock/Lazy Bend part of Parker County. Comments may be directed to larrj2@airmail.net.