As a mother of two, I’m realizing there are some important life lessons that you should teach your children as they grow.

Be kind to others.

Respect yourself.

Use manners.

Stand up for what you believe in.

Help those around you.

Help the environment.

With Earth Day last weekend, my husband and I decided to instill the importance of helping the environment with the kids. They may have complained, but after our little adventures were complete, I think they saw the lesson we were trying to teach.

We set out Saturday to take a drive up the road from our home and parked at a little nature center. We then began to walk, trash bags in gloved hands, and picked up litter along the side of the roadways. It was amazing to see just how much trash people discarded along the sides of the road, from beer cans to old car parts.

Unfortunately, we found pretty much everything except money. People just don’t throw actual cash away as much as they discard their empty bottles and cans.

We walked about a half mile total, picking up trash along the way and filled two black garbage bags.

By then, the kids were whining about the bags being too heavy or them being tired, so we called it a day.

The next day, we traveled that same road, but up a bit farther outside the area of businesses.

The area is known for illegal dumping and parties by visitors and residents who like to go up and enjoy the mountain.

We picked a spot, parked and started day two of our cleanup. It didn’t take long to fill three more trash bags with everything from construction material to last night’s dinner packaging and even some unmentionables.

As we stood there, looking over the embankment of this small area that we just picked up, I realized we barely scratched the surface. I could still see broken televisions, large construction material that had been discarded, a mattress, couch cushions and more.

We packed up our vehicle with the bags we collected and headed home.

The kids, while tired again, asked a few questions about just why we were making them pick up other people’s stuff.

It was a good discussion about cleaning up the environment so when they get older, it is still here for them to enjoy.

Pennsylvania, and notably Carbon County, is known for the beauty of nature, but the sight of people using this land all around us as their personal dumping grounds really takes away from that.

The environment is important.

Not only for the beauty that draws people to this area, but also for our health, our safety, and our future generations.

Even though Earth Day is over, I urge you, grab a pair of gloves and a trash bag.

Walk a half mile along a roadway and pick up the litter you find.

Together, we can make a difference.

Remember, we only have one world.

Let’s keep it beautiful.