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As the snow melts and the temperatures rise, the area is left with the remnants of winter — most of which are unpleasant and unbecoming for our city. 

Driving around the community in the last few days, we have noticed trash and other items in the streets and on sidewalks that have likely been uncovered from the months of snow and ice in winter.

If you’re walking anywhere in town and you see some trash on the ground, we encourage you to do everyone a favor and pick it up. It only takes a second but it will instantly improve the appearance of the park, sidewalk or yard where it was found. 

Picking up trash is also a good opportunity to teach stewardship to your children or grandchildren and help them instill pride in their neighborhood and community. Grab some gloves and a trash bag and start in your own neighborhood. 

The street sweepers will be out in the coming weeks cleaning the sand and dirt left behind from the winter, but we can all do our part to start in our own yards, in parks and other outdoor areas we may frequent.

It’s also important to keep trash and other items away from our waterways, which our community leaders are working so hard to clean up. 

While picking up trash is great, it’d be even better to be a good example and teach your friends, children and grandchildren to dispose of trash properly so this does not become a problem in the first place.