Trash, by nature, is a messy business. But when the winds pick up, things can get a little too messy at the Park County Regional Landfill in Cody.

With the facility unfortunately built within something of a wind tunnel, Cody landfill managers and workers must constantly battle flying garbage. As the breezes pick up south of the city — and they often do — all kinds of plastic take to the skies. Despite screens and fences, some bags and wrappers soar above it all, eventually falling back to earth well east of the landfill, littering the area and creating an eyesore.

Park County officials have been diligent in combating the problem, including recently adding screens and hiring more litter pickers — and some community groups have expressed interest in stepping up to help keep the landfill area clean. But it’s a never-ending battle. As soon as crews finish cleaning up the area along the Meeteetse highway, they can count on more bags flying over the hill from the landfill.

To get ahead of the problem, Park County staff and commissioners have begun talking with business leaders about potential ways to curtail the number of bags being distributed at local stores. It would be great to have fewer bags in circulation — and it would be terrific if manufacturers and retailers would continue working to reduce the amount of lightweight plastic they’re distributing.

In the meantime, however, there are some steps you can take right now to help keep our area clean and beautiful.

First, consider bringing reusable bags along for your shopping trips. Not only will you avoid amassing even more plastic bags, the cloth bags tend to be quite a bit sturdier, too.

Second, reuse or recycle the plastic bags you already have on hand. Those “single-use” plastic bags can be helpful beyond shuttling groceries from store to car — they’re great as liners for small trash cans and for picking up and containing doggie doo, etc. Also, most grocery stores accept them for recycling — and while you’re at it, Powell Valley Recycling is happy to take your paper, cardboard, aluminum and other materials at its center on Road 10.

But if you do nothing else, take the time to bag your trash. While many landfills are not as windy as Cody’s, none are designed to handle a bunch of loose garbage. It just works a lot better to contain grocery bags, napkins, wrapping paper and other debris in a bag, so it can be buried.

If you properly secure your household garbage, the odds are it’s not going to be spotted soaring across the countryside. So please, do your part to help out.