
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 30, 1993                   TAG: 9304300426
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS ABOUT IT

ONE WEEKEND recently was Broomin' & Bloomin' in Montgomery County. This annual event helps to clean up garbage thoughtlessly discarded by some of our neighbors and visitors - making the county a better place to live. We are grateful to every volunteer who gave effort to B&B.

Sadly, we also witnessed the carelessness of some of the smokers among them. When finished with their smokes, two of the volunteers absently tossed their cigarette butts on the ground and walked on. When confronted with this, they apologized politely, and went back to retrieve their own trash.

Unfortunately, these gentlemen are the exception, not the rule, for smokers who litter. If only 5 percent of the 40 million who dispose of their butts thoughtlessly average a pack a day, that's 40 million cigarette butts a day discarded as litter in our nation. From the amount of garbage along the river, one would guess the percentage is much higher.

Folks, if we think a little more often, then we won't need an annual Broomin' & Bloomin'. PAUL S. VAIL and CARLA DUNCAN McCOY

by CNB