Green Up Day is Saturday 5/1. Now's a great time to start planning for it.
I don't have to tell anyone what's great about Green Up Day. Is it fun picking up trash? Actually, kind of. But more importantly, it just gets rid of it. If everyone picks up just a little bit, it makes a humongous difference. I feel like there's a kindergarten clean up song in there somewhere.
This year, Green Light Real Estate is making a donation for every Green Up Day pic that's shared with the social post #GreenUpVT21 or posted to our facebook page. And, if you don't want to be all social, you can also email a pic to Info@GreenLightRealEstate.com. The lawyers say that rules apply, so make sure to read the previous post about the rules.
I spoke with Dana Casullo at ABC 22 and Fox 44 (MyChamplainValley.com) about Green Up Day, about why it's important, and about how we're working to support it. Here's a link to the story that recently aired. MyChamplainValley.com, Green Up Day.
There's some great information available to help you start planning. Go to Green Up Vermont's website to find out details about Green Up efforts in your town. You can find out where to pick up bags, how to dispose of them, routes, and more. There's even an app that's super helpful for planning what stretches of roadways are being covered.
I could go on and on about what's so great about Green Up Day. Maybe I will.
1. Next time you're out of Vermont, take a look around the roadways. See all that litter? That's what Vermont would look like without Green Up Day. #GreenUpVT21
2. Folks are folks, and I think that Vermonters are just as likely to litter as people in other states. Meaning, that in general, I really think it happens on accident. A receipt blows out the car window. Some recycling blows out of the bin when you're driving to the transfer station. So, actually, I think this is a chance to practice empathy.
3. Let's think about where this all comes from. Last year, on about a half mile stretch of one of the few paved roads in Middlesex, we picked up over 20 coffee cups. It got to be a joke. But what's not funny was thinking about...why? Why is there so much litter/recycling in the first place? Our family got to the question of how people view the waste stream in the first place. Single use containers get thrown away or recycled. And we just saw more than 20 of them on one stretch of road. Instead of cleaning up afterward, maybe efforts could be made to avoid using those in the first place. #GreenUpVT21
4. There's rich irony in the fact that kids will get outside and pick up someone else's recycling and litter from the cold mud, in a ditch on a Saturday morning, but they won't put their clothes in their hamper.
5. It's good for business. We're spokespeople for living in this area. The nicer it looks, and the deeper the sense of community, the better for business, and the better for all of us. Info@GreenLightRealEstate.com
6. Seriously, if people just donate a teensy bit of time, BIG things happen. One person in an hour can make it so that thousands of people don't have to look at litter every single day over the course of years and years. Just get it done, and it's done.