Green Up Day
May 4, 2013

Green Up Vermont
P. O. Box 1191
Montpelier, VT 05601-1191
Ph: 802-229-4586,
or 800-974-3259
greenup@greenupvermont.org

Click for Past Writing Selections

1980—2012 Overall Poster Design Selections

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2007—2012 Overall Writing Contest Selections

2012 Writing Contest winner
Curtis Petitt, Grade 11, Mount Anthony Union High School

Vermont is a state of beauty and respect. It is also the state that I call home. I am a native Vermonter and I truly love all that it has to offer year round in its unique four seasons. From warm summers to picturesque falls, crisp white winters and the sometimes long awaited springs, it is a state that stands second to none.

Since this beautiful state is my home, I never miss an opportunity to participate in Green Up Vermont Day. This day's purpose is to restore Vermont's natural beauty lost through littering. It's more than just bending down to pick up a piece of garbage; it symbolically shows the beauty of Vermont and our pride of working together for the betterment of everyone living here as well as all of the tourists we attract. Green Up Day shows what characteristics true Vermonters possess. We are hardworking, dedicated and focused on the cleanliness of our community. Without Vermonters of all ages volunteering to keep the event organized, this day would not be possible or successful. Vermont comes together as a community so well that it truly is the best place to live.

The way I viewed Green Up Day ten years ago is completely different from the way I see it now. It used to just be a fun day to spend with my family and friends looking for rocks painted with a ladybug and picking up the occasional piece of trash if I had walked into it. Now however, it means so much more. It is a gift to be able to help my community in the simplest way possible and be able to participate in a statewide movement promoting a litter-free environment. Not only am I able to help out our community, Green Up Vermont has taught me much about the important value of teamwork. While picking up garbage for Green Up Vermont I have met a lot of new people ranging from children to adults, firemen to board members, and we all share one common goal, to maintain the natural beauty of the landscape we call Vermont.

2011 Writing Contest winner
Corinne Lyndes, Grade 7, Fairlee

Green Up Day

Winter hides the dead of fall,
It's a flawless heaven that covers all.
But when the snow begins to melt,
What we've done is uncovered.
There's so much trash,
The ground is smothered.
Spring is a time for
A cloudless day, flowers to bloom, and animals to play.
The grass should be green,

So get up and keep the environment clean!
Our state and our towns deserve so much more, so we should see the forest floor.
This is where our children play, so help out!
It's Green Up Day.

2010 Writing Contest winner
Cassie Lee, Grade 9, Pittsfield

Ode to Preserving Nature

As I walk through the forest,
littered with careless whims and thoughts
thrown away,
I begin to realize how unprotected
Mother Nature is becoming.

The Green Mountains
which hold our ancestry
loom like a shadow, ashamed
instead of gleaming
in the sunlight,
proud and strong.

When Nature is not celebrated
the world loses it vibrancy.
But as we come together
to show Nature our appreciation
and care for it
my heart swells.

My soul awaits the day each year,
when Vermonters unite
to act on a single belief,
so that Nature can become beautiful again.

The trees that sag sadly in the shadows
become lively and bright.
As the sun casts delicate patterns
the forest floor
illuminates
as the oppressing material is lifted from the lives
of the new plants
that refresh the woods.

As I walk through the forest,
I realize the difference
that one small action can make.
So I stoop
and I gingerly pick up the plastic
that suppresses Nature's beauty
and I watch the forest shine again.

2009 Writing Contest winner
Elise Seyferth, Grade 11, Mt. Anthony Union High School

The River

The river flows over the land,
Crosses mountains, valleys, passes through the towns of men
And women, a wide, deep power
That carves into the ground its stream of trash.

As man on his daily journeys passes signs of its flow,
Passes the slightly rusted cans and the bottles filled
With sludge, passes Styrofoam and cardboard cartons-
"I'm lov'in it" trumpets from their soggy sides-
Passes bags caught in trees, great white fluttering birds
That on release will fly high over the river, the sea
Without life; the man adds to its depths.

But the men and women begin to open their eyes,
To see the seething river that grows to intolerable proportions,
And as it flows they turn their eyes to the future.
Their apathy becomes action as they try to fight the roiling current
With one of their own.

For, as I watch, a new river forms from a mountain spring
And streams forth, deep and clear and cool,
To grow and carry along its swelling waters
The hope of an entire people, a new generation, a single child.

2008 Writing Contest winner
Taylor Paone, grade 7, Browns River Middle School

Just Listen

Listen to me said
the ant to the bee
I have got something
to say about what is happening today.
Listen to me
said the sky to the sea
I am heating up now I just don't understand how
Listen to me
said the car to the tree
I feel this is all my fault,
But I just can't seem to come to a halt.
My eyes drift over the field of green
trying not to recognize
the scattered bottles and plastic bags
that could've been turned into useful cash.
So…
listen to me
said the eagle to the duck
I've seen too many things
flying out of trucks.
If we work together
we can make this right
and save Mother Nature from this terrible fright.
So listen to me
said the ant to the bee
what is happening in May
is called
Green Up Day.

2007 Writing Contest winner
Chelle Beehler, Grade 12, Green Mountain Union High School

The Smell that comes with Spring

Abandoned bus stop bench
Pelted by May's first rain
witnesses winter disappear
as the snow slowly drains,
revealing hidden secrets from December
of cigarettes, trash, crud,
one lone pair of galoshes
Stuck into the mud.
A torn, plaid, corduroy couch
stares blankly from its spot
next to a broken dryer
beside a crumbling parking lot.
Man's vices ignored
fester, piling up against a ledge,
like an unkeepable secret
stuck into a wedge.
A small army emerges
black garbage bags in hand
Erasing the dirges
that were written for the land.
Earth's facial now complete
Beauty blooms again,
love everywhere beats
from kindness shown by men.