La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

As a farmer and outdoorsman, I despise litter. Maybe it’s because the wind blows on Whidbey Island, but it seems we spend an inordinate amount of time picking up litter that has blown into our fields and woods: plastic bags, pet-food bags, flowerpots, cardboard boxes, even trampolines. But litter is an inanimate object, like the chair you stubbed your toe on – yelling at it doesn’t help. The real culprit is always human.

Our state imposes steep fines ($50 to $5,000) for littering, but it still occurs. Whether the cause is ignorance, apathy or just plain slovenliness, the changes...