This month, residents of Floyd County engage in a little friendly rivalry with other communities, while making a positive difference in the environment and aesthetics of their hometowns.

September is “Roadside PRIDE” month, a time set aside for an annual litter cleanup. During the month, Floyd County, as well as the cities of Prestonsburg, Martin, Wheelwright, Allen and Wayland, can compete against similar-sized counties and cities for bragging rights and trophies in a competition to pick up the most litter.

But competition aside, the true victory will come from cleaner roadsides. A short walk along many of our community’s main thoroughfares will reveal a disheartening amount of trash either carelessly or ignorantly tossed out of car windows. One would not need to travel very far to fill a trash bag with the cans, bottles, fast-food wrappers and cigarette butts and packages that dot the landscape.

But the good news is that this problem has a simple fix, and one that only requires a little bit of work .... if enough people get involved.

Kudos go out to students at the Carl D. Perkins Job Corps Center, who have already given Prestonsburg a good start, spending Sept. 11 picking up trash throughout town in advance of the city’s first-ever marathon.

Now is your chance to chip in. Just contact your local PRIDE coordinator and ask how you can help.

Do it for the competition. Do it to improve the community. Whatever your reason, the important thing is that you just do it.