Green Up Day
Green Up Day, observed on the first Saturday of May, is a statewide effort in the US state of Vermont to clean up roadside trash. The first Green Up Day was April 18, 1970 and was started by Governor Deane C. Davis. In 1979, Green Up became a non-profit organization. Ten percent of the funding for the event comes from the state with the non-profit organization Green Up making up the remainder. Vermont is the only state without an Adopt-A-Highway program and instead continues the grassroots tradition of Green Up Day, in which people of all ages can take part. The State of Vermont cleans up the State Highways, and Green Up Day cleans up all the town roads.
Process
Green trash bags are distributed throughout the state which are then used by volunteers to clean up the roads in their area. Although citizens can pick up bags at the local town hall, the program is not fully state funded. The volunteers are often asked to pick a location that they will be responsible for which is often the road on which they live. The bags are often left on the road side for pick up by town road crews or volunteers will be asked to bring bags to a specific location. All towns have a coordinator who can be contacted with questions. The Green Up Vermont website also provides information on their "How to Participate" page.