Roadside trash and garbage represents a plague and blight onnearly every community. Despite some organizations’ best efforts,Brookhaven is no exception to that rule.

The issue continues to come up at both county and city boardmeetings as officials say their clean-up efforts are provenfruitless within hours as garbage once again finds a home onstreets and roadsides. Other officials say a board meeting is notthe forum for addressing trash and garbage concerns.

To a certain degree, they’re right.

The forum for addressing trash and litter on the roadsides is inthe neighborhoods where it exists. Citizens must exert “peerpressure” by sending the message that roadside trash isunacceptable in their communities.

Yes, there are laws against littering.

And yes, law officers can cite those who litter when they cancatch them. Catching litterers, though, is the hard part.

When they are caught, some say law enforcement should send amessage with a stiff fine and community service work to clean uplittered areas. That’s an option that deserves consideration.

Law enforcement efforts notwithstanding, day-to-day communityappearance comes down to a matter of pride.

One person or small group can’t do it by themselves. Allcitizens on a street or in a neighborhood must speak up and demandthat their little corners of the world be kept clean.

If residents aren’t willing to take responsibility for communitycleanliness, they have no room to complain when their areas areverbally “trashed” for looking run down and sloppy.