Litter in Southern Illinois

To the editor,

I wrote a letter to the editor a while back about the litter in Southern Illinois.

Les Winkler wrote an article that was on the front page of the Southern Illinoisan newspaper about all the litter in our beautiful area.

Geof Skinner wrote an article the following week in The Gazette-Democrat about litter.

I continue to pick up litter all over Southern Illinois when out walking my  dog or hiking.

If everyone would just pick up the litter in their yards, on the sidewalks and roads in front of their homes and businesses – what a difference we would see.

Where are the signs one sees on the highways in other states about littering and fines?

A friend and I walked with a small group this past Saturday from the Anna Walmart to the Trail of Tears State Forest to memorialize the thousands of Cherokee Indians who lost their lives during the original walk, a forced relocation to Oklahoma.

I collected aluminum cans along the route, but soon ran out of bags so I had to quit, not to mention all of the glass and plastic bottles, fast food cups and containers, cigarette packs and other liter on the roadside.

I even picked up a couple of crisp dollar bills and one of the walkers picked up a credit card which was disposed of.

Ninety-five percent of the cans were beer cans. One of the walkers commented on the fact that Indians got a bad rap for not being able to handle their alcohol, but didn't think there were that many Indians in Union County. And I thought that drinking alcohol in a car was illegal.

During the 10-mile trek, our leader, Morningstar, gave us much information about the march, her past and Indian heritage.

This will be a yearly event, and hopefully next year there will be more participants.

Signed, Laura Mueller, Anna