In 2018, litter has probably been the most discussed topic in LaGrange and Troup County. It’s been discussed at city council meetings, county commission meetings and throughout this newspaper, including frequent letters to the editor on the opinion page.

It’s been clear since the beginning that many community members were fed up by trash on the side of the road and wanted something done about it. Many wrote about it, saying that it made our city look bad and that the people responsible should be caught and fined.

This newspaper’s opinion has always been that the litter problem was one the community would have to solve together, through cleanups and by picking up after ourselves.

Jackson Services, Kimble’s Events by Design and Crossfit LaGrange organized a cleanup Saturday and they stuck it out through the rain to fill an entire dumpster full of trash.

A few months ago, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office adopted a mile by the sheriff’s youth home and spent a Saturday morning cleaning up trash.

The City of LaGrange shut down for non-essential employees on a Friday in April and picked up trash for the majority of a morning.

Other cleanups have taken place as well.

The truth is litter is never going away. It’s always going to be a problem, unless one day we all figure out how to properly dispose of our trash in a way that it doesn’t blow into yards or roadways.

Type “litter” into Google News and you’ll quickly be reminded that litter isn’t just a Troup County or LaGrange problem. Communities all over the country and world are dealing with the same issues and are figuring out their own ways to pick up trash.

Locally, the best way to handle it is to join a cleanup — or start a cleanup effort — roll up your sleeves and get to work. But even if you pick up trash as you walk, you’re helping take care of the problem.

Litter is a problem we all have to deal with, and thankfully many are answering the call and doing their part to make our community a cleaner place to live.