This is a sentence that, in Oswego, must come with a fair deal of hedging. But, winter, might (maybe, perhaps) finally be over.

Given students may soon finally have the chance to get outside, it’s time for our friendly, slightly buzzkill, reminder to students to be conscious of their surroundings when spending time outdoors.

Most students, and members of the community, remember the incident at Flat Rocks following Harborfest. It was an embarrassment to our school and an insult to the community we adopt as home for two-thirds of the year. Let’s not let an incident like that happen again.

Littering is illegal, bad for the environment and a sure way to anger your neighbors. Yet this doesn’t seem to hinder many Oswego State students. If the beaches aren’t covered in ice, then odds are they are covered in beer cans and food wrappers.

This campus is our home and we are coming up on the few months of the year we get to enjoy it in bearable weather. It’s hard to enjoy, however, when sidestepping the trash left behind by less thoughtful students.

This spring, let’s be mindful of the way we treat our surroundings and avoid any more incidents like Harborfest. Trash cans are not hard to find; garbage is not hard to carry.

Students can also be proactive and pick up trash when they see it. Much as we’d like to think it’s avoidable, there will always be students who leave it behind. If you see it, take care of it.