Enforcement would control litter

To the editor:

I read with interest the article in last week's paper about the litter problem in Missouri. My husband and I live in the St. Louis area but also have some property in Bollinger County.

Litter is statewide problem. From St. Louis on I-55 to Perryville, Mo., from U.S. 51 through Perry and Bollinger County and the five miles down the gravel county road to our home, the roadside is strewn with litter. It doesn't just stay along the roads. It blows into the fields, yards and woods and washes into the rivers and streams, I pick up trash off of the river bank monthly.

People should be ashamed of themselves. We have a beautiful state, but it's very obvious that there is a substantial segment of our population that doesn't care. I don't believe it's a matter of educating the public, I can assure you that everyone knows that it's wrong and illegal to litter.

We all realize that the police are stretched very thin, but if they started fining everyone caught littering $200 and made them clean up a section of roadway, maybe it would keep some folks from littering. If nothing else, it would make me feel better.

CHRISTY LUCIDO, Bridgeton, Mo.