Waterbury Greens Up
May 13, 2022 | 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.