Two tons better: Another Green Up day for the books
May 8, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti Waterbury volunteers returned to Green Up this year fiercely determined to clean up the town’s roadsides and many went above and beyond the usual cleanup.
The word from Casella on Friday was that the 30-yard trash container where most of the Green Up bags and debris were collected tipped the scales at 1.99 tons -- one of the biggest hauls in the past two decades. That followed 2020’s pandemic-postponed Green Up at the end of May last year where a fraction of the usual volunteers picked up less than a ton of roadside trash.
The volunteer groups and cooperation was impressive this year. Thanks to Thatcher Brook Primary School sending out all of its students and teachers to scour the nearby village -- approximately 360 volunteers in that group alone -- there easily were more than 500 people pulling tires out of ditches, bagging grimy bottles and cans, and collecting everything from random car parts to old campaign signs, to what amounted to buried treasure.
New volunteers took special interest in Route 100 this year from Blush Hill to the Stowe town line. By the end of Green Up afternoon, it was hard to find one stray chip bag or beer bottle along the stretch.
Others took interest in tackling old dumping areas. Owen Hall and friends targeted a spot along Henry Hough and Middlesex Notch and filled two small trucks with ancient castoffs. Joseph Cavalear and friends spotted tires along the banks of Butler Pond near Route 2 and they didn’t stop until they pulled 53 from the muck. Volunteers from SunCommon nearby with three trucks helped move the haul along with several loads of trash and assorted junk to Rodney’s Transfer Station. All morning and into the afternoon Rodney Companion, his staffer Brandon Fuller, along with Simon the German Shepherd greeted volunteers and collected bags and junk to fill a large truck that they later emptied into the Casella dumpster.
Other groups who made a big difference this year included employees at Ivy Computers who scoured a section of Route 100 and the Waterbury Area Trails Alliance attacked the area near the Ice Center and Perry Hill trailhead.
The volunteers working the drop-off keep things running smoothly all day. Thanks to Bill Minter, Kit Walker and Rob Hofmann, Anna Brundage and Kris Nine -- they unloaded, recorded and even photographed the activity. We lost track of the trips Chuck Kletecka made to pick up bags from volunteers filling them along busy roads. Volunteers appreciated the bakery treats that Shaw’s chipped in for the drop-off table, too.
Appreciation to John Malter at the Mad River Resource Management Alliance who spreads the word for Green Up and magically makes the tires disappear -- we counted at least 81 this year. Likewise at the end of the day, Jenna Companion from Green Mountain Performing Arts and her dad took away a pickup-truck load of bottles and cans to clean, redeem, and add to the dance studio’s donation box.
Finally, many thanks to all who help behind the scenes in getting ready for Green Up Day: Darrick Pitstick at Pack and Send Plus who updates the banner; Carla Lawrence, Pam Pratt and Beth Jones at the town offices and the folks at Sunflower Market who dole out bags (more than 300 went out this year); Celia Clark and her crew at the town highway department who graciously make room for the container and let Green Up take over the garage for a few days; and to the town of Waterbury for picking up the tab (a well-spent $500).
It was especially great to see how, even on a day that started off with a dusting of snow on the hills, people were in good spirits and enjoying greeting each other. Smiles were behind masks but still apparent. And let’s hope that next year, no one drives into the Green Up collection spot looking for a COVID-19 test.
Lisa Scagliotti is editor of Waterbury Roundabout and Waterbury’s Green Up coordinator.