Hats off to everyone who took part in Saturday’s Operation Spring Cleaning. The participants in the roadside litter removal event coordinated by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office and fire departments all across the county filled 1,545 large garbage bags with trash, and they did it in four hours.

Whether the volume of trash collected speaks more about the Herculean performance of the people picking up the litter or the sad state of affairs along the county’s roadways is a matter of conjecture. One conclusion that can be drawn is the fight to keep the county’s highways and byways clear of trash is an ongoing one, and the litterbugs appear to be winning.

And this shouldn’t be so, particularly given the fact that anti-litter campaigns have existed since at least the 1970s. Generations of elementary school children have been taught not to pollute and to be good stewards of nature. It appears these lessons have not taken root in the hearts and minds of some people.

The knee-jerk reaction of many occupants of today’s politically hyper-stimulated society is to find someone to blame. Let it be said to these people, casting blame would be a useless exercise. The people who are going to throw trash from their vehicles are going to throw trash from their vehicles no matter what you say to them. They don’t care about the environment or the negative aesthetic and economic effects of trash-strewn roadways, or what others say about them.

If it makes the blame-casters feel better they can take the present-day lazy way out and blame the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s face it, the pandemic is getting blamed, right or wrong, for almost as much heartache and hardship as is former President Donald Trump. As for the pandemic, there is data to support its negative effects on such things as education, unemployment and skyrocketing violence in major cities.

And there’s plenty of evidence that the county’s roadways are attracting trash faster than picnics attract ants. And, this makes no sense to people who care.

How is it so much litter ends up on the side of the roads when there is a perfectly good landfill near St. Pauls and 20 waste collection sites scattered throughout Robeson County? Litterbugs, take a moment and dump your trash at one of them.

Why throw your trash out of a moving vehicle when you can keep a bag — a plastic bag from any number of the county’s fine retail establishments will serve the purpose — in the vehicle, place your trash in it and, when convenient, dump the bag into any one of the thousands of waste receptacles in the county. Again, one or more can be found at any of the many stores and restaurants in Robeson County.

If that doesn’t work for you, wait until you get home and toss the improvised garbage bag in the trash container at your residence. Then, when it’s time, pull the container to the side of the road and let the outstanding people of the appropriate waste collection department haul your garbage away for you.

Seriously. It’s their job. They don’t mind.

By taking any of the above suggested actions, you help keep our roadsides clean and you avoid going through life wearing a litterbug badge, if that matters to you. If it doesn’t; it should.