Last month, hundreds cleared 5.7 tons of garbage from the Shelby County portion of Lay Lake. That’s almost 12,000 pounds of garbage cleared from gorgeous Lay Lake, a Shelby County treasure. Unfortunately, that’s not even the saddest part of the whole mess.

This isn’t the first year for the Lay Lake cleanup. Rather, this cleanup has been happening annually for more than a decade — yet volunteers are still pulling out trash by the ton. Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?

Those who pollute Lay Lake and the Cahaba River don’t stop to recognize the possible consequences. The Cahaba River is the principal supply of drinking water for much of Shelby County.

Anytime you throw that soda can or Styrofoam cup into the Cahaba, you’re depositing possible germs into the water, as well.

It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself an environmentally conscious citizen or you think global warming is a bunch of hooey — you probably still don’t want trash deposited in the water you’ll eventually drink.

Beyond the health concerns, just think about how pretty our environment is. We’re blessed to have gorgeous scenery to gaze at — but trash tends to ruin a photo op pretty quickly.

For those of you already taking care of your waste, thank you. For those of you who aren’t, please don’t ruin it for the rest of us. Just find a trashcan.

For more information on the Cahaba River cleanup, visit Cahabarivercleanup.com.