Some volunteers get out the day before Green Up with co-workers to collect along Route 100. Photo by Gordon Miller
Staff from Ivy Computers Green Up along Route 100 in Waterbury Center. Photo by Gordon Miller
Workers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Initiative Greened Up all along Little River Road with help from their mascot, Paxton. Eight people filled 22 bags, hauled out 8 tires and a collection of scrap metal. Courtesy photo
A toy hedgehog falls out of a bag and becomes a mascot for the day. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Dan McKibben somehow retrieved not one, but two sofas dumped down a steep bank on Gregg Hill Road. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The metal recycling container attracts interesting contributions. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Second sofa packed into the container by Dan McKibben and Bill Minter. There would be more later. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Rodney Companion gets some help from his new German shepherd pup Junior at the downtown Green Up drop. Photo by Gordon Miller
Volunteers fan out through downtown to search for trash. Green Up bag were in short supply by mid-morning. Photo by Gordon Miller
Adrianna Benson (right) helps Chris Hancock unload her collection at the highway garage. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Faith Belier and grandson Max Biedermann green up on Gregg Hill. Photo by Gordon Miller
The hedgehog gets a spot at the front of the container beside bags someone carefully tied with orange string. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Lara Lonon (center), Jim Robison (right) and sons Hyatt and Callum work along Gregg Hill Road. Photo by Gordon Miller
Families green up together. Photo by Gordon Miller
Steve and Judith Lotspeich green up near the intersection of Guptil Road and Route 100. Photo by Gordon Miller
Rodney arrives at the highway garage with a truckful of Green Up bags and debris dropped off at his downtown trash/recycling center. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Volunteering at the drop-off brings an unexpected bit of puppy-sitting while vehicles maneuver around. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Don Schneider helps unload Rodney’s truck. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The hedgehog gets a cast-off metal yard ornament to become a Green Up display. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
In a packed truckload of Green Up trash, a lone lightbulb survives to roll out of a bag. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
MK Monley spies a hardcover book in a bag. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
This copy of Charles Dickens’ “The Old Curiosity Shop” has seen better days. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Eeeewww.... Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Waterbury Green Up collected 57 tires pulled from roadsides, ditches, etc. Photo by Gordon Miller
Volunteer Alex McCabe helps sort and pack returnable bottles and cans to redeem for the Crossett Brook Middle School 8th grade class trip fundraiser. Photo by Gordon Miller
Carolyn Fox brings in a load that includes a mystery animal carcass from Perry Hill. John Malter (right) checks it out as Alex McCabe carries it to the dumpster. Photo by Gordon Miller Photo by Gordon Miller
Definitely for metal recycling. Carolyn Fox and John Malter talk trash. Photo by Gordon Miller
Don Schneider and first-time Green Up volunteer Fernando Amato sweep up. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Rodney Companion and his new sidekick Junior. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The load in the container tipped the scales at 2.31 tons. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
Volunteers managed to collect enough trash mostly in one day to fill a 30-yard container. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
A gorgeous Saturday set the stage for a strong turnout for Green Up Day across Vermont and in Waterbury last weekend.
Afterward, every main town road was exceptionally trash-free and litter was hard to find in park spaces from the Ice Center to Dac Rowe to Hope Davey.
Hundreds of volunteers took to the streets starting during the week leading up to Vermont's statewide cleanup tradition since 1970. They included students and teachers from Brookside Primary School, workers from state offices and businesses such as Ivy Computers, and members of community organizations like the Waterbury Area Trail Alliance.
Volunteers snapped up more than 500 green bags from the town clerk’s office, Sunflower Market and Rodney’s transfer station.
According to Casella, Waterbury’s container full of Green Up bags and debris weighed in at 2.31 tons, a quantity not seen since after Tropical Storm Irene.
Most years Waterbury sees between 1.5 and 2 tons collected. In 2020, Green Up was postponed until the end of May due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on community gatherings. Participation was low that year and the collection tipped the scales at just 0.89 tons, the lowest in recent memory.
The town of Waterbury covers the cost for trash disposal which usually is around $500.
Rodney Companion supervised the downtown dropoff that filled his tall-sided dump truck. “I’ve never had more than a pickup-truck full of bags before,” he said when he delivered his haul to the town highway garage drop off.
In addition to filling the container, volunteers picked up a total of 57 tires that were recycled with the Mad River Resource Management Alliance’s help, according to administrator John Malter.
Like every Green Up Day, there were notable finds and efforts by volunteers to clean up areas where trash has been dumped.
Dan McKibben, a regular volunteer on Gregg Hill Road, for example, single-handedly brought in two large sofas he hauled up from a steep bank. Others contributed mattresses and box springs, a toilet, and an animal carcass of dubious nature - the debate at the drop-off went unsettled as to whether it was a small deer or calf. A small toy hedgehog fell out of a bag and became a mascot for the day.
Crossett Brook Middle School students will benefit from the bottle and can collection. Volunteer Alex McCabe was on hand to help pack and sort the returnables to be cleaned off and redeemed for the eighth grade class trip fundraiser. The haul filled a pickup truck.
In addition to all of those who went out to fill bags, much gratitude goes to the many players behind the scenes who help make Green Up a success.
Town Clerk Carla Lawrence and Assistant Town Clerk Beth Jones and the staff at Sunflower Market who hand out Green Up bags and keep track of the distribution.
The town Highway Department crew who loans their garage for the Green Up container (and moves it in and out of the bay)
Rodney Companion for making his transfer station a Green Up collection zone and helping get all of the bags, metal and tires to the right spots.
John Malter at the Mad River Resource Management Alliance for his support, communications, and skill in keeping tire recycling going year after year.
Casella Waste for providing the container, hauling, and disposal at a discount. (And Town Manager Bill Shepeluk who takes care of the bill.)
Pack and Send Plus for updating the Green Up banner each year with the correct date.
Woodstock Market for coupons this year for free coffee refills for Green Up volunteers.
Volunteers who put in a shift at the drop off -- Bill Minter, Adrianna Benson, MK Monley and Don Schneider. Steve Lotspeich and those who picked up trash themselves and grabbed bags collected by others.
Green Up Vermont coordinator Kate Alberghini for her support, enthusiasm, posters, and so many bags!
A final note: Green Up Day is always the first Saturday in May. It happens again on May 6, 2023.
Waterbury Roundabout editor Lisa Scagliotti volunteers as Waterbury’s Green Up coordinator.
Waterbury Roundabout is a volunteer collaboration between Waterbury residents and UVM student journalists from the Community News Service, part of UVM’s Reporting and Documentary Storytelling program in the Center for Research on Vermont. We provide local news coverage about and for Waterbury, VT.