May 3rd, 2025 | by Kate Alberghini
Pretty much every Vermonter celebrates Green Up Day annually. It’s such an iconic day that symbolizes people coming together in a rush of state and community pride to literally “Green Up Vermont,” picking up litter and trash everywhere from the side of highways to your neighborhood sidewalks.
Today, the first Saturday in May, is Green Up Day! So, to kick off the day and celebrate taking the initiative to make our roads, trails, yards, and sidewalks cleaner and greener, we’ve brought on the Executive Director of Green Up Day to share the day’s history and role in Vermont’s attitude toward litter.
Kate Alberghini is a seventh generation Vermonter who enjoys the natural landscapes of Vermont. She takes great pride in teaching next generations and those moving to Vermont about Green Up Day and unique Vermont traditions, and she is aiming to expand Green Up Day to other States.
Pretty much every Vermonter celebrates Green Up Day annually. It’s such an iconic day that symbolizes people coming together in a rush of state and community pride to literally “Green Up Vermont,” picking up litter and trash everywhere from the side of highways to your neighborhood sidewalks.
Today, the first Saturday in May, is Green Up Day! So, to kick off the day and celebrate taking the initiative to make our roads, trails, yards, and sidewalks cleaner and greener, we’ve brought on the Executive Director of Green Up Day to share the day’s history and role in Vermont’s attitude toward litter.
Kate Alberghini is a seventh generation Vermonter who enjoys the natural landscapes of Vermont. She takes great pride in teaching next generations and those moving to Vermont about Green Up Day and unique Vermont traditions, and she is aiming to expand Green Up Day to other States.
Green Up Vermont’s mission is to promote the stewardship of our state’s natural landscape and waterways and the livability of our communities by involving people in Green Up Day and raising public awareness about the health, economic, and visual benefits of a litter-free environment year-round.
Green Up Vermont’s mission is to promote the stewardship of our state’s natural landscape and waterways and the livability of our communities by involving people in Green Up Day and raising public awareness about the health, economic, and visual benefits of a litter-free environment year-round.
In the Spring of 1969, newspaper reporter, Bob Babcock Jr. was disgusted on his daily commute along I89 with the amount of trash people had flung from their cars only to pile up in ditches and roadsides. He brought the idea of a statewide volunteer clean-up to Governor Deane Davis who appointed him to lead a task force to make it happen. A year later Green Up Day was launched. The Interstates were closed for four hours as busloads of K-12 students from schools across the State were sent out with thousands of other volunteers to clean up Vermont’s roadsides while State crews picked up truckload after truckload of trash and debris. Over 70,000 volunteers and thousands of dump truck loads of trash were reported that Spring of 1970.
The Executive Director would like nothing more than to work herself out of a job but the reality is that there is too much waste. A lifestyle of convenience has more than taken hold with single use plastic drink and food containers, along with the plethora of Bud Light, Twisted Tea and other alcoholic beverage containers that nearly every 251 cities and towns complain about seeing. Some of the litter is certainly unintentional with blow out from pickup trucks, etc. but much of it sadly seems intentional.
Green Up Day is definitely more than just a litter pick up day. It is a prideful mindset for those that do the work and care deeply about the condition of our natural spaces. There is no denying that every corner of Vermont holds its own beauty from mountain hiking trails to lakeside vistas. The State as a playground in every season offers something for everyone and one visit makes visitors fall in love with the beauty, we get to live in. I often hear “boy, I wish our state was this clean and had a program like Green Up Day.” I like to think that the years and care that we have put in on Green Up Day and year-round are a major supporting role in the success of Vermont’s tourism industry.
In the Spring of 1969, newspaper reporter, Bob Babcock Jr. was disgusted on his daily commute along I89 with the amount of trash people had flung from their cars only to pile up in ditches and roadsides. He brought the idea of a statewide volunteer clean-up to Governor Deane Davis who appointed him to lead a task force to make it happen. A year later Green Up Day was launched. The Interstates were closed for four hours as busloads of K-12 students from schools across the State were sent out with thousands of other volunteers to clean up Vermont’s roadsides while State crews picked up truckload after truckload of trash and debris. Over 70,000 volunteers and thousands of dump truck loads of trash were reported that Spring of 1970.
The Executive Director would like nothing more than to work herself out of a job but the reality is that there is too much waste. A lifestyle of convenience has more than taken hold with single use plastic drink and food containers, along with the plethora of Bud Light, Twisted Tea and other alcoholic beverage containers that nearly every 251 cities and towns complain about seeing. Some of the litter is certainly unintentional with blow out from pickup trucks, etc. but much of it sadly seems intentional.
Green Up Day is definitely more than just a litter pick up day. It is a prideful mindset for those that do the work and care deeply about the condition of our natural spaces. There is no denying that every corner of Vermont holds its own beauty from mountain hiking trails to lakeside vistas. The State as a playground in every season offers something for everyone and one visit makes visitors fall in love with the beauty, we get to live in. I often hear “boy, I wish our state was this clean and had a program like Green Up Day.” I like to think that the years and care that we have put in on Green Up Day and year-round are a major supporting role in the success of Vermont’s tourism industry.
A crowd gathering to pick up trash in Landgrove, VT. Donuts, dogs, and old trucks are staples of the celebration there.
A crowd gathering to pick up trash in Landgrove, VT. Donuts, dogs, and old trucks are staples of the celebration there.
We need lots of voices to be sharing how much Green Up Day and our Green Up state-of-mind matters. We need lots of hands to join in and take part. Cleaning our planet is the epitome of “many hands make light work.” Picking up litter is something that everyone can do, from the smallest of hands to the oldest of hearts. And once you take part in a Green Up Day, something within changes. You will never throw trash on the ground, you will stoop over and pick something up rather than step over it, and you will always notice how much trash lines the roads where ever you are driving or walking. You will also care for natural spaces and look for ways you can modify actions to have less impact on our climate.
Green Up Day is a culmination event and celebration of the year-long work of building stewardship and awareness for our environment. We present to different groups, table at events and work tirelessly to teach people about how making choices around waste reduction, reuse, and innovation that connect to our carbon footprint. If enough “regular joes” eliminate single use plastics from their lifestyle it can have a major impact. If enough kids and people of all ages are brave enough to lead by example, the effort would be magnified and the impact incredibly powerful. In addition, it costs consumers less to fill a reusable bottle at home, rather than buying the drink, and then paying to recycle or trash the single use container. Win, win. WIN for the environment.
Did you know that a plastic bottle of water takes ¼ the amount of oil it will hold to produce and get that product to you.
Did you know that the average person consumes 156 single use bottles of water each year. X 340 million people in the US alone. If you do the math, it’s a lot of zeros. Change a habit and it’s a huge impact. We know there are circumstances but if we all just try our best it will make all the difference.
We need lots of voices to be sharing how much Green Up Day and our Green Up state-of-mind matters. We need lots of hands to join in and take part. Cleaning our planet is the epitome of “many hands make light work.” Picking up litter is something that everyone can do, from the smallest of hands to the oldest of hearts. And once you take part in a Green Up Day, something within changes. You will never throw trash on the ground, you will stoop over and pick something up rather than step over it, and you will always notice how much trash lines the roads where ever you are driving or walking. You will also care for natural spaces and look for ways you can modify actions to have less impact on our climate.
Green Up Day is a culmination event and celebration of the year-long work of building stewardship and awareness for our environment. We present to different groups, table at events and work tirelessly to teach people about how making choices around waste reduction, reuse, and innovation that connect to our carbon footprint. If enough “regular joes” eliminate single use plastics from their lifestyle it can have a major impact. If enough kids and people of all ages are brave enough to lead by example, the effort would be magnified and the impact incredibly powerful. In addition, it costs consumers less to fill a reusable bottle at home, rather than buying the drink, and then paying to recycle or trash the single use container. Win, win. WIN for the environment.
Did you know that a plastic bottle of water takes ¼ the amount of oil it will hold to produce and get that product to you.
Did you know that the average person consumes 156 single use bottles of water each year. X 340 million people in the US alone. If you do the math, it’s a lot of zeros. Change a habit and it’s a huge impact. We know there are circumstances but if we all just try our best it will make all the difference.
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