Drivers on some Butler County highways noticed something different Monday morning. There was little or no litter along some major roads. And symbolic of the volunteer cleanup effort associated with Earth Day 2007, black plastic bags of litter, and other debris found by volunteers, were sitting in neat piles along the road awaiting collection.

Seeing little or no litter along a road comes as a welcome relief in April, and credit is due to all those involved in the weekend's cleanup, including the many groups listed as sponsors in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Adopt-A-Highway program.

Providing extra help this year were the groups connected with the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup, which were out cleaning up on Sunday, the official Earth Day celebration in many areas.

As welcome as this and other once-a-year cleanups are, they are not enough. While Adopt-a-Highway and statewide cleanups will continue and expand, there must be renewed efforts to change the mind-set that allows someone to carelessly toss a cigarette butt, a fast-food meal bag or a beer bottle out of the window of a car or truck.

For too many people, the roadside has replaced the ashtray or an in-car trash bag. It only takes a tiny minority of motorists to make a road look terrible.

Driving a road is the way most people see the litter problem. And, even at driving speeds it's bad. But to really see the severity of the problem, a slow walk along just about any road is an eye-opening and disturbing experience.

Trash, debris and litter are visible from just about any spot of a well-traveled road — cigarette butts, glass bottles, plastic water bottles, hamburger wrappers, plastic grocery bags. The list is endless.

Along some rural roads in this county and elsewhere, some people apparently have decided to save themselves a trip to the landfill or the cost of collection and have tossed old tires, used appliances or bags of trash over hillsides. This dumping is most visible at this time of the year, before leaves of the underbrush and forest grow to disguise much of the mess.

Praising volunteers for picking up other people's trash is appropriate, but somehow feels wrong. Good people, volunteering their time, should not have to pick up other people's trash. But they do, and all of us should be grateful.

Earth Day is celebrated once a year, but it should be a daily priority to try to keep the litter problem under control and to appreciate the appearance of roads and hillsides that are free of garbage.

Litter is a small problem in the big picture, but it says something about a community and its pride. Butler County can do a better job of keeping roadways litter-free.

Once we become accustomed to roadside litter, it becomes virtually unnoticed — and acceptable. And that's unacceptable, on Earth Day or any other day.