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Mayor Miro Weinberger, ECHO Leahy Center, Edmunds Elementary Students Encourage Community Participation in Burlington’s Green Up Day Efforts on Saturday, May 6

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 3, 2017
Contacts:  Katie Vane, Mayor’s Office, 802.734.0617
                   Erik Oliver, ECHO Leahy Center, 802.864.1848
 

Mayor Miro Weinberger, ECHO Leahy Center, Edmunds Elementary Students Encourage Community Participation in Burlington’s Green Up Day Efforts on Saturday, May 6

 

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain Executive Director Phelan Fretz, Burlington Electric Department General Manager Neale Lunderville, City Sustainability Coordinator Jennifer Green, Skinny Pancake Founder and Owner Benjy Adler, and Edmunds Elementary School first, third, and fourth graders today encouraged community participation in the City of Burlington’s Green Up Day efforts this Saturday, May 6. This year marks the state’s 47th annual Green Up Day, during which Vermonters collect litter and debris left behind by the spring snow melts on City streets and in our parks and neighborhoods. The group – joined by the Lake Monsters’ furry sustainability advocate, CHAMP, and inspired with the knowledge that free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream awaited them upon job completion – collected trash around ECHO and along the Burlington Bike Path up to the Perkins Pier parking lot, as well as along the route between ECHO and Edmunds Elementary.

“This year and every year, Green Up Day is a great example of how our community rolls up its sleeves and works together to keep our City vibrant and clean,” said Mayor Weinberger. “I thank our Green Up Day partners and all Burlingtonians, especially our amazing and dedicated Edmunds Elementary students, for their crucial help this weekend.”

“At ECHO, we inspire our visitors to positively impact the world around us,” said Phelan Fretz, ECHO Leahy Center Executive Director. “Our goal for all visitors who walk through our doors is that they accept the call to make a difference through their post-visit actions, that they help make our great lake and our planet a little better, greener than they were.”

“As a local business, we take our commitment to our community seriously,” said Benjy Adler, Skinny Pancake Founder and Owner. “We believe there is no profit without purpose, which is why we source our food locally and donate 1% of our revenue to local non-profit organizations that help protect our planet. We are committed to recycling and composting to reduce the waste that goes to the landfill. We’re honored to help promote Green Up Day.”

To participate, City residents and other Burlington stakeholders can pick up bags and other clean up supplies on Saturday, May 6 between 8:00 am- 12:00 pm at the following hubs:

  • St. Joseph’s School, 20 Allen Street

  • Robert E. Miller Community Center, 130 Gosse Court

  • Burlington Subaru, 351 Shelburne Road

  • Salmon Hole Park, Riverside Avenue before the Winooski Bridge

Bags also are available prior to Green Up Day through Friday, May 5 during regular business hours at the following locations around the City:

  • St. Joseph’s School, 20 Allen Street
     
  • Departments of Public Works/Parks, Recreation & Waterfront, 645 Pine Street
     
  • Miller Community Center, 130 Gosse Court

  • Burlington Electric Department, 585 Pine Street

  • Community & Economic Development Office, City Hall, 3rd floor, 149 Church Street

  • Burlington Subaru, 351 Shelburne Road

For the second year, Burlington’s Green Up Day will include a special incentive prize opportunity.  Those community members who pick up their bags at Burlington Electric will be entered to win a “Green-Up Basket,” including power strips, CFL bulbs, and Burlington Electric schwag.

Also for the second year, the Burlington Business Association’s “Adopt Your Sidewalk” downtown clean-up event will take place on Friday, May 5 from 8:30-9:30am (with a rain date of May 12).  Volunteers should "bring their brooms" and meet at the corner of Church and Cherry streets for a clean-up focused on Cherry Street's sidewalks. The Adopt Your Sidewalk Campaign asks businesses to sign up and pledge to clean, maintain, and beautify the strip of sidewalk in front of their business. For more information on Adopt Your Sidewalk, please contact Sarah O’Donnell, BBA Member Services and Events Manager, at sarah@bbavt.org.

On Green Up Day, the Departments of Public Works and Parks, Recreation & Waterfront will have trucks circling the City’s major thoroughfares, picking up full, tied bags of collected trash throughout the day.  All trash collected should go into the provided Green Up Day trash bags. Scrap metal or tires should be kept separate, not in bags, and placed in a pile at the same Green Up Day drop-off site. This material will be collected and recycled.

The City appreciates Burlington's Green Up Day partners – including Chittenden Solid Waste District and Burlington Subaru – and the hundreds of volunteers who come out every year to make Burlington's streets and parks clean and green. Burlington Subaru will provide water bottles, snacks, and a noon-time barbeque to participating community members.
 

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Press Release Date: 
05/03/2017
City Department: 
Mayor's Office