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If we had a dollar for every time a person in Troup County complained about litter, we’d all probably have a pretty nice nest egg. Unfortunately, our pile of money would be much smaller if we were getting a dollar every time someone volunteered to do something about it.

This past weekend was the Sweep the Hooch event, a statewide clean-up on the Chattahoochee River. Cleanup locally focused on West Point Lake, and there were quite a few volunteers who gave up part of a beautiful Saturday to pick up trash that someone else carelessly tossed aside. Every year we cover this event, and there’s always way more trash than there is people.  The same goes for the city’s Leaving LaGrange Better Than We Found It events. Oftentimes, a pretty large group of people get up on a Saturday morning to help clean up trash — including city employees — but even 50 to 100 people can only do so much.

When are the rest of us going to take up their lead and do something to help out? Even if you can’t give up a few hours on a Saturday, there are still ways to help. If you walk around LaGrange and see trash on the ground, pick it up. Don’t just leave it there. Don’t walk over it. Don’t ignore it.

Ignoring it is so easy to do isn’t it? We’ve all said the same thing. “I didn’t leave it there, I don’t have any gloves and who knows who touched it.”

We agree — and have written — that this is a societal problem that needs fixing at a young age. It’s obvious some people weren’t taught that you don’t throw trash out your window or carelessly not clean up after yourself. That’s not how we were raised.

But at the same time, these organized cleanups are a great way to get involved and a chance to make a real difference. We realize picking up trash isn’t as fun as waving your fist and saying “someone should do something about all this,” but it’s a lot more effective.

Get involved. Make a difference.