My initial plan this week had been to give our readers a stern talking to about the state of our local recycling centers. Because y’all, they are disgusting and shameful. But, as it turns out, Larry Stout was on the ball, and his breakdown from Jason Yorks handles that subject pretty well. You can read that story on page XX.

I was also going to mention the obscene amount of dumped trash and litter I seem to be seeing around the area recently. But, as it turns out, Andrea McElroy is already on that ball, and she’s got that stern talking to handled on page 24.

I will add my two cents, though. You are a grown adult. There is no reason for you to be leaving your trash or recyclables anywhere other than appropriate receptacles. Be that a trashcan or at our recycling centers. The recycling really grinds my gears because it is a free service that can and will be taken away from us if people don’t stop abusing the program.

Oh, and before ANYONE comes for me with the whole, “they made the openings too small!” stuff. You are letting your laziness show. I am a regular recycler. I use buckets, and my overflow goes into bags. And weirdly enough, I’ve never had an issue getting my stuff into the smaller openings. The openings are large enough to still dump my buckets, and I haven’t had any problems dumping my bags either—also, pro-tip. Use paper bags to take your recycling, and after you dump your recyclables, you can recycle the paper bags in a different bin! Worst case scenario, it takes you slightly longer to take advantage of the free service being offered to you that also saves you money on your garbage bill. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t feel bad for you that it takes slightly longer now.

As for the trash that is being dumped, it is absolutely gross. I’m not sure why someone thinks that it would EVER be OK to just toss your trash in the middle of nowhere like that isn’t going to become someone else’s problem? I mean, obviously, if you are doing this, you don’t care about other people, so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising.

If you drive into our rural areas with just to dump your trash, you should be absolutely ashamed and more than a little embarrassed.

And if you are one of the ones chucking garbage out your window, what is actually wrong with you? Is it that difficult to keep your trash in your car until you can find a trashcan to get rid of it? Do you have any idea how many trashcans are around? Every gas station, store, park — pretty much any place you stop your car — has a trashcan available.

Earth Day is this week, and maybe we all need to use it as a reminder that we have one Earth. We all need to do better at taking care of it. See trash lying around? Pick it up and dispose of it properly. At the very least, don’t be a trash-hole and add to the problem. Dispose of your trash and recyclables properly.

Remember to have some respect for the facilities provided to us and that every time you dump something at a recycling center that you know full and well doesn’t belong there, that someone else has to clean up after you like you are a child. Actually, scratch that because while children tend to be messy, they usually aren’t intentionally disgusting and disrespectful.

Do better, people.