An ad in the Gazette-Journal on Feb. 28 asked for volunteers to help clean up Gloucester County on Saturday.

The occasion is the annual Clean Gloucester Day. It is sponsored by the Clean Community Committee, which provides bags, vests and other supplies. "Please participate" the ad urges, asking potential volunteers to call 693-5370 to sign up.

Roadside litter: it’s an eternal problem which defies the teachings and preachings of many generations. "Don’t be a litterbug" children have been taught in school, for decades now. They draw beautiful posters, win awards and approval. And then, likely as not, the newspaper that publishes their photos is thrown out on the roadside along with a myriad of other materials.

We foul our own nest relentlessly. The evidence is on every roadside in Gloucester and Mathews. Going to their assigned pick-up spots on Saturday, the litter volunteers will pass others just as bad.

The ad looking for trash-picker-uppers asks a question, then answers it: "Why do we need this community effort? Drive down T.C. Walker Road, starting at either end, and look in disgust at the trash on the roadside."

We took up this challenge and saw the trash mentioned (some is pictured here); and passed many other patches just as bad on the way to Walker Road.

Until mankind is somehow perfected, a small minority of residents will continue to trash its own environment, forcing others to pick up after them. For a better Gloucester and better Mathews, please join the litter control effort.