Citizens who care about keeping their county clean and organizers of the annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event last week have plenty of reasons to be happy.

In fact, they have 22,000 of them.

That is how many pounds of unwanted hazardous waste items were collected at the one-day event in Haverhill. More than 200 people participated and all sorts of items that are better off the streets were disposed of properly.

These include car batteries, tires, aerosol sprays, paint-related materials, propane tanks, toxic materials, electrical equipment, more than 26 pounds of prescription pills and 50 pounds of liquid medications.

Although the collection efforts are down slightly from recent years, this event should be viewed as a huge success.

The Lawrence Scioto Solid Waste Management District, Dow Chemical, Americas Styrenics, and Veolia Environmental Services all partnered to make this happen and should be applauded for their efforts.

Keeping Lawrence County clean isn’t just about picking up litter from the side of the road or removing garbage that has been dumped illegally. Much of the work and success comes from ensuring it never ends up there in the first place.