What is it with the people (and I use that term loosely)
in Berkeley County and their propensity for littering ?
I'm not talking about the 12-pack of empty Corona
bottles you see every other morning on the way to
work, I'm talking about out and out dumping of large
articles like tires/rims. recliners/sofas, dishwashers/
refrigerators/ovens....you name it !!! I swear, take a
ride down Shiley Road (old Cat Haven Road) between
Hatchery Road and Nadenboush Road in Inwood...you'd
be amazed at the mountains of trash along virtually
the entire length of it....I mean, you'de think that the
North Mountain Landfill had opened an annex there...
it's getting out of hand, but per usual, no one seems
to care....the 'slap on the wrist' fines that this county
has for everything doesn't help matters...

It's embarrassing bringing people up here when they
are witness to the trashing of the Eastern Panhandle...
I wonder what it looks like from space ??

I agree! Apparently they get rid of the trash any where they can when it gets too much for their front porches! I haven't heard anything about those cameras they had put around dump sites lately.Wonder if they're still usin them? We recycle as much as we can and also we're lucky enough to live "out in the boonies" so when it's wet enough(ha,ha)we can burn our paper trash.We still have a bag of garbage about every 2 weeks.
As for those Coronas,you must have been down our road!My husband and I have gone down to sweep up the glass before us or anyone else got a flat.
Sure would like to catch them perps!

Agreed. It is out of hand, looks absolutely disgusting, and it is embarassing to live anywhere near it. And maybe it is just me, but it seems like there is an excess of roadkill around here too.

Not only roadkill, but in the fall, discarded deer carcasses
everywhere....and I just love listening to the hunters try
and explain away that they're not responsible for it, like
these animals shed their skin and fall asleep all by themselves
on the side of the road...

Recycling in the county is too inconvenient right now....I'd
be delighted if we had the same program that Jefferson
does....I'd gladly sort my stuff and put it on the curb, and
pay to have it done...people mope and gripe about fire
fees and trash bills....if they only knew how easily they're
getting off compared to Northern Virginia...I work there and
I take my recyclables to work with me to drop off at a
center that is close to my office...

Recycling is just a Sat. morning thing .Kinda like a habit now.

I think the reason we are seeing so much litter is all the growth that the Martinsburg area has seen in the past couple of years In 1990 Berkeley County had 55,000 people, now there is 75,000! Then the fines that we have are useless because they only work if the cop catches someone littering, which highly unlikely. Seriously, how many times have you seen someone get into trouble when they litter. The thing I don't understand is when you are in War Memorial Park and people throw their trash on the ground when there is a trash can right near them, can anyone explain that one to me.

Plain old-fashioned inbred laziness.

This morning, I noticed something that the DOH had
hinted at a few weeks ago. The westbound side
of Route 9, as it descends the Blue Ridge in far eastern
Jefferson County, had (yes, had!!!) a small scenic overlook
where motorists could pull off and admire a view of the
Shenandoah River and the valley it carved. Well, seems
most folks perferred to use that as a convenient dumping
ground for all of their trash and whatnot. DOH had grown
tired of having to clean it up, or hire others to do so, and
decided to straighten the guardrail and eliminate the
overlook. This morning, I noticed for the first time that
this has been done.

Too bad it once again takes the actions of a few morons
to ruin something for the rest of us.

I'm not condoning litering here ( I find it rather disgusting), But I think no matter what is done litter will always be a constant. People are lazy and prefer to do things the easy way, at cost to nature and its beauty. One suggestion I would make is to get the West Virginia department of corrections involved and put your tax dollars to work on the inmates doing some clean up. Along 522 in Virginia (very busy road) you see very little litter.... Why? Because about every 2 days White Post correctional facility marches the inmates out and has them clean about a 10 mile stretch of 522. I say Kudos to Virginia and its corrections department for this.

Sounds like a plan to me! Wonder how ya get something like that started?

Start with your local represenative. Got to let your city/county/state leaders know whats going on in their districts.

In a lot of states, mostly in the south, inmates mow all the city/county/state right of ways, and the interstate. THey also get to pick up all the trash along all the roads.