What in sandhill is going on in Carter County?

We’re talking trash. And, it sounds like that citizens in Carter County have had enough and are working to bring this problem to a screeching halt.

It’s a message that has been sent by not only individuals, but by law enforcement officers and the court, that if you trash our roadsides, you are going to pay.

This month, alone, three persons have been bound over to the grand jury for littering. Two of the three individuals were caught by a citizen dumping unwanted trash off the side of Teaberry Road in Roan Mountain. A third allegedly dumped dead animals on the same road.

Chancellor John Rambo found a man in civil contempt after he failed to clean his property in the 30-day allotted period given by the court. The man was ordered by the court to be taken to jail and furloughed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to clean his property to comply with the court’s order.

It is easy to assume that someone else will pick up your litter. That attitude, however, makes one thing for sure. The trash won’t go anywhere.

Trash makes us look bad.

The problem’s significance is such that in some places, whole bags of trash are being left in off-the-road locations. They not only leave their trash, but mattresses, appliances, and tires. Apparently, the dumper knows a roadside crew will come get it. Other places have the indication of things discarded from a passing motorist.

Still other pieces of trash probably just flew out the back of a pickup, the driver never knowing until perhaps sometime later when arriving at a destination. Or not. This happens in small communities, so we get it.

This much we are sure of — it will take all of us doing a little bit to help make the bigger problem go away. Whether our civic groups, churches or school clubs adopt a highway, or whether the good folks surging new energy into Keep Carter County Beautiful find successful strategies, no one person or body of people will fix it for all of us.

We have to take ownership. Littering is a nasty offense for the courts, and there are issues about being able to prosecute someone for it. If that happens, great, but never mind the litigation. That’s not our plea today.

We need to clean the county. If your property needs cleaning, do it. Don’t wait until you are cited to court to do it.

If you don’t litter, that’s great. But that junk isn’t getting on street corners and vacant lots by itself. Someone puts it there.

If you have kids, you can teach them to put trash in trash cans. They’re probably not reading this editorial, so they might need a reminder.

Also, we need to be mindful to report littering. If lawmen don’t know who it is, we need to say something if we see something. That’s no different than any other offense, large or small.

The national Keep America Beautiful organization says 53 percent of litter comes from motorists, 23 percent from pedestrians and 16 percent from improperly covered vehicle loads. Eighty-one percent of observed littering is done intentionally, KAB’s research shows. Most importantly, the presence of existing litter increases the likelihood of more.

You can step up and grab some ground along the highway, pledging to keep it clean. Formally or informally, it doesn’t matter, just stop the littering.

We can do better than what we’ve been doing.