I’ve been picking up a lot of trash lately, not necessarily in my home but in my yard and ditch alongside the highway. There ought to be a law, and actually there is.

Virginia’s litter law makes it illegal for any person to “dump or dispose of trash, garbage, refuse, litter, a companion animal for the purpose of disposal, or other unsightly matter on public property, including a highway, right-of-way, property adjacent to such highway, or on private property without the written consent of the owner thereof or his agent.”

Persons convicted of this misdemeanor face jail time approaching 12 months and a fine of not less than $250 or more than $2,500, under the statute.

There you have it, plain and simple, but I don’t think some of my fellow citizens have gotten the message by my observing the amount of trash deposited along the roads and highways in the county and elsewhere.

I understand some of that may be unintentional, rather it be trash or an occasional can blowing out of the bed of a pickup truck without the driver’s knowledge, or by a young child who doesn’t know any better.

We as adults do know better, or I hope we do.

My late mother would always tell me motorists or their passengers get just far enough away from a fast food establishment to finish their food or drinks before tossing the paper bag, Styrofoam cups and cardboard French fry containers out the window.

Just try and drive along Routes 58 and 501 just outside town limits, and you’ll see enough packaging along the sides of the road to start your own fast food business, not only fast food containers but beer and soda cans too.

I personally picked up a plastic bag full of trash last week at the end of my neighbor’s driveway, neatly tied and appearing to have been placed there by hand.

Granted, it may have blown out of the back of someone’s truck, but you get my message.

Halifax County is lucky to have a number of volunteers who conduct roadside trash pickup campaigns to help keep litter to a minimum, including the Halifax County Improvement Council and other civic groups and individuals acting on their own to keep their part of the county road system free of litter.

VDOT also does its part with its Adopt-a-Highway program, which offers for “adoption” certain two- mile sections of state-maintained highways.

Still, the trash seems to persist, and judging by conversations I’ve had the past few days with fellow citizens, it seems to be more noticeable than ever.

Not only is it illegal, litter can be dangerous.  One careless person can toss a cigarette butt out his or her window and cause a roadside field fire if conditions are favorable.

Law enforcement has a lot of area to cover and catching litterbugs in the act is always difficult if nearly impossible, even if witnessed by other citizens.

I’m sure no one wants to spend time picking up gum wrappers, cans, used tissues, napkins, paper bags and other stuff in their driveway or in their ditch.

I’m not a raging environmentalist, and I don’t consider myself a “greenie” or “tree hugger.”

I just try to be a responsible citizen, and I try and do some little things to help keep my surroundings a little cleaner.

I consider myself to be a packrat, a lot of ways the opposite of a litterbug, but at least packrats hoard things and in most cases do not toss them outside for other people to look at.

Littering is a problem each individual can address in his or her own way toward a common goal.

As Red Green would say in his former PBS comedy show, “Remember, I’m pulling for you.  We’re all in this together.”