In the 60’s and 70’s Vermont was an environmental leader: Vermont banned billboards in 1968; Act 250, the Vermont Land Use and Development Act geared at easing environmental pressures caused by development, passed in 1970; and Vermont’s first Green Up Day happened in 1970.
The following year, the success of Green Up Day was noted in the 1971 Congressional Record. Senator Mansfield of Montana was quoted :
“I want to extend to the State of Vermont congratulations for undertaking the kind of cleanup job achieved on Green Up Day last Saturday, May 1. It was a May Day expression in the finest American tradition. People of all kinds—young, old, and in between—businessmen, farmers, workers, all went out on the roads and into the towns and villages doing a remarkable job of cleaning up. Of course we have come to expect that the great State of Vermont would be first in everything, and once again she is first in inaugurating a Green-Up Day. I understand that the first application of this kind of May Day demonstration was on May 1, 1970—a year ago. I must say, I was tremendously impressed and pleased with the way the people of Vermont worked together to clean up their State…I made a suggestion that the other 47 contiguous State might do well to follow the example of Vermont and set aside at least one day each year as ‘Green-Up Day.’ This is really news, because it is a return to some of the old virtues which made this Republic what it is today.”
Here’s how Green Up Day works: Get some Green Up Day bags, get your friends, gather garbage from Vermont roadsides, put it in the bags, leave them at the side of the road, they will be picked up by volunteers.
Contact your local Green Up Day Coordinator (Lisa Scagliotti is the Green Up Coordinator for Waterbury, 244-1444) or get bags from your town clerk. Learn more about how you can participate.
The weather forecast for Saturday is looking good! Sunny and 60 degrees. The weather is slightly cooler than the seasonal average. After Greening Up, we recommend you warm up with this amazing Spring Green Garlic Risotto from My Kitchen in the Rockies. Click on the image for the recipe…
image credits: www.greenupvermont.org and thecastlerockincook.blogspot.com