Promote Sustainable Transportation on Green Up Day 2022

Overall winner for the 2022 Poster Art Contest: Marina H., 7th Grade from Shelburne Community School. 

Green Up Day 2022 falls on May 7th. There is less than a month to round up a group of friends, grab a trash bag, and choose a sidewalk or pathway you want to keep beautiful!

Cleaning up trash locally encourages walking. Walking is the most sustainable form of transportation because it only requires your own two feet. People want to walk more when they enjoy the spaces they travel in. Would you like to see piles of empty beer cans, old tires, and lost facemasks all along your journey? Pedestrians are more likely to choose the path that is cared for and vibrant. 

Every year, since 1970, Vermont has designated one day of the year for Vermont citizens to lend a helping hand and pick up litter. Robert Babcock, former Burlington Free Press reporter, pioneered this idea and shared it with the governor, Deane Davis. The first Green Up Day took a year of planning and all the hard work paid off. That year, estimated savings from Green Up Day saved taxpayers $200,000 in road clean up fees. 

Green Up Day has grown to be a tradition with Vermont residents new and old. In 2021, there were over 22,000 volunteers that joined together to collect 41,019 bags of litter! 

The non-profit Vermont Green Up Inc. was established in 1979. Over the decades, the Board of Directors has encouraged growing numbers to take part in this civil duty. The non-profit’s mission is to increase public stewardship for environmental matters and sanitation. The day works to educate young people about the importance of a litter-free environment as a space where we live, work, and play.

Children all across the state to submit a poster in the Green Up Poster Art Contest. The winner’s artwork becomes Green Up Day’s promotional poster of the year. This project is an innovative way to advocate for Green Up Day as well as educate kids how vital it is to keep your home clean.  

Cleaning up the ecosystem not only makes it more attractive but also healthier. More walking means less vehicle use, which in turn requires less maintenance of the roads. As with the first Green Up Day, volunteer clean up saves the state government money that could instead be put into funding sustainable forms of transit. 

Green Up Vermont urges Vermonters to get outside and care for the spaces they inhabit. When a place is cared for, more people may appreciate the benefits of spending time outdoors. More people walking indicates there are less people driving. Green Up Vermont has indirectly helped encourage sustainable transportation within the state. Take the five seconds to pick up and throw away any trash you see along your journeys. 

For more information on how you can get involved in this year’s Green Up Day, visit https://greenupvermont.org/. Here you can locate the town you live in and find the closest spot to pick up/drop off Green Up bags. 

Vermonters taking part in Green Up Day 2021.