The litterbug is still prevalent in Pearl River County.

Local highways continue to be littered with plastic bottles, papers, cigarette butts and other trash discarded faster than crews can clean it up.

Inmates at the Pearl River County jail can be seen walking alongside busy streets picking up truckloads of garbage every day.

Yet, it doesn’t seem to be enough. In residential areas of the county, drainage ditches and front yards are routinely littered with garbage.

Rainy days and gusts of wind aren’t much help either.

Our trash problem is spreading and severe action needs to be taken before it becomes even worse.

Litter fines are already in place around the country, but the hardest part is to actually catch an offender and present enough proof to issue the steep fine.

As private citizens, it’s even harder to prove that you witnessed someone littering because it can quickly turn into a he-said, she said argument.

Beyond the environmental issues, littering can cause drainage and water contamination problems. Animals can die as a result of eating plastic found on the side of the road.

The current mindset that throwing one piece of garbage out the car window doesn’t have an impact needs to change.

One piece discarded by thousands of residents on a daily basis adds up quickly.

Taking the extra care to hold onto our trash until it can be disposed of property is a habit everyone should practice.

It may be easier to throw it out the window and never think about it again, but that mindset creates a ripple effect of repercussions that will be seen down the line.

Taking the time  to clean up after ourselves now, will save the county costly efforts years down the road.