Let's stop littering and make something beautiful instead

Maybe it's because spring is just around the corner and we keep looking for those bright-blossom harbingers of mild days and a return to outdoor activities.

Maybe it's because Speak Out callers and letter writers are particularly observant.

Maybe it's because you've taken visitors on a tour of the city only to hear them remark, "Boy, you have a lot of litter."

Whatever the reason, more and more of you are calling attention to the litter problem.

And it's a serious problem. Today's front-page story by Bob Miller quantifies how much of a problem litterbugs cause.

And it's a problem everywhere. A recent comment about the "Wayne County look" referring to one component of the litter explosion -- yard trash -- was right on target. A close look along our highways and in our towns shows just how bad the litter problem is.

But it's not just a Wayne County problem by any stretch of the imagination. For whatever reasons, litter has become a way of life wherever you go in Southeast Missouri.

Does it have to be that way? No. But it will take considerable effort to make litter the exception rather than the rule. And it will take a concerted effort by individuals, organizations and government to make pride more important that accepting litter as a problem that can't be solved.

In the weeks and months ahead, the Southeast Missourian will be turning its brightest spotlights on the litter problem: what causes it, who does it, why it's so prevalent and what can be done about it.

At the same time, we will be looking for examples of efforts, large and small, to beautify our communities.

Most of all, we would like to be an agent in restoring the sort of pride that doesn't allow for litter as a way of life.

There are too many good things going on all around us to let litterbugs get away with what they do.

How can this be accomplished?

To be honest, we don't know. But we think if concerned citizens who don't want to put up with litter anymore combine their efforts with support from city, county, state and federal anti-litter efforts, the result will be not just a clean-up, but a change in the way we think about litter.

Please join this fight. If you have ideas about ways to either stop littering or to create something beautiful, please let us know. Together we can make something good -- something really good -- happen in our lives.

And here's fair warning to litterbugs: Watch out. We're coming after you.