Sending our trash downriver

Going down to Smith Mountain Lake after all the rain and flooding, I saw firsthand how much trash was in it. Bay Roc Marina looked like the landfill.

The most notable things floating were small plastic water bottles — hundreds of them, along with Styrofoam cups. Looking at them and knowing that they came from the Roanoke Valley above the lake, it makes you wonder why, from where, and how to stop them from coming.

My first guess would be they came from trash containers along the Roanoke River Greenway. How is the trash collected from these containers, and when, and who does it? Is it done once a week on a certain day? Is it collected when it looks like it is about to flood, or do those who collect it just stick to their regular time? Why haven’t people smartened up and started using reusable water bottles?

The Roanoke Valley needs to look into this problem and come up with some solutions: better trash pickup, education about the problem, maybe some strainer system just below the valley, more and better cleanup days.

I would hope that some of the civic groups would want to do something about this. How about the next race on the greenway requiring a full trash bag as part of its entry fee? Same for the fishing tournaments: Require a bag of trash before weighing in your fish.

Something has to be done about this problem.

MARK DEARING
SALEM

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