The Valdosta Daily Times
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The Lowndes County Trash Permit has only been around for two years, so how is it to blame for all of the illegal dumping that is and has been going on for decades?
People in this community are dirty. So are a great many people in other communities. Snide remarks like “this will give the prisoners something to do” while they toss a bag of trash out of a car window go a long way towards showing the mentality of those who don’t value much of anything.
And it’s not just in the county. City dwellers are just as guilty, particularly when it comes to bulk items such as sofas, refrigerators, washers and dryers. The city imposes an extra fee to come do a special pickup, but how likely are folks to actually pay it when they can just as easily go to a quiet road and push it off the back of the truck and leave. No cost for that at all, unless they get caught, which is apparently extremely rare.
The glitter signs are nice, but until the enforcement is there and unless the city and county can come up with ways to encourage people to dump their trash legally at a low cost, the problem isn’t going away. So what is a community to do? Well, for starters, punish the dumpers, but most of all, we all need an education as to why litter and trash don’t belong on the roadways. Do a once a year amnesty day for those who need to get rid of bulk items but can’t afford, or won’t, pay for it. Maybe the county can sell a permit that will allow a one time dumping for someone who has curbside service but just needs to get rid of bulk items.
It shouldn’t be this difficult to get people to clean up their trash. Maybe if the prisoners stopped picking it up and it was allowed to accumulate, citizens might learn then why it’s such a big deal.
