Over the past year, we have seen an increased effort to clean up the appearance of Lawrence County, with the county’s Land Bank tearing down many abandoned and dilapidated structures.

But, in addition to the need to focus on large scale projects, there are resources for individual households trying to their part.

The Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District has announced events for 2018, which feature numerous cleanup efforts, as well as drug takebacks:

• March 26-30 (Monday-Friday): Shawnee Park Cleanup. To register, call 740-858-6652.

• April 13 (Friday): Scioto County Drug Take Back Day at the Scioto County Sheriff’s Department parking lot.

• April 14 (Saturday): Lawrence County Drug Take Back Day at Ironton Hills Plaza.

• May 5 (Saturday): Lawrence Countywide Cleanup Day at various locations throughout the county. Events begin at 9 a.m.

• May 11 (Friday): Scioto County E-Waste/Document Shred Day at the Valley Wholesale Foods parking lot in Portsmouth.

• May 12 (Saturday): Lawrence County E-Waste/Document Shred Day at Ironton Hills Plaza.

• June 16 (Saturday): Ohio River Sweep at various locations throughout Lawrence and Scioto counties.

• Sept. 29 (Saturday) Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Event from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the former Dow Chemical site in Haverhill.

We encourage everyone to take advantage of these events, and commend the agency and its director, Dan Palmer, in organizing them.