This past week, the Senate passed an amendment by Sen. Anthony Pollina (Washington County) to S.285, which would reclaim Vermonters’ nickels to fund recycling or other important state programs. This amendment must still win approval in the House, but this is a huge achievement that VPIRG has been working toward for decades. Vermont’s popular ‘Bottle Bill’ …
Senate advances Pollina amendment to reclaim nickels Read More »
This week you’ve likely started to hear rumblings about the proposed “bag ban” in Vermont. When you hear about this on VPR, or read about it in another media source please remember one thing. This is not a bag ban. You see, there are two bills being discussed in the Vermont House right now. …
The Bottle Bill is the well-known state law that allows individuals to return certain beverage containers to a redemption center for a five cent rebate. For VPIRG, the issue runs deep- the organization has been fighting to defend and expand the Bottle Bill for over 40 years. It’s a simple yet novel idea, and Bottle Bills across …
Paving the way for universal recycling one nickel at a time Read More »
As folks across the country become more aware of the necessity of recycling and reducing waste, we begin to address some more unusual sources of waste- in this case, tennis balls. Ever think about where all those yellow balls end up when they lose their bounce? Many tennis players will open a fresh can every …
Vermont has a history of being a leader when it comes to protecting our environment. We were one of the first states to implement a Bottle Bill, we required manufacturers to tell you when there was mercury in your light bulbs, and now we are moving closer to implementing a statewide universal recycling program called …
Today our advocate Falko Schilling testified in favor of S. 159, a first-of-its-kind piece of legislation that would establish a state-level certification program for products produced using regenerative agricultural processes. We support this bill for a few important reasons: It will help to legitimize and support regenerative agriculture, which has huge environmental benefits, including: Carbon …
The 2016 Vermont legislative session is here! VPIRG is excited to build on the nearly 45 years of success that we have achieved together and continue working in the State House to protect our environment, watch out for consumers and put Vermont on a path to a sustainable future. Click on a program name below to …
As a child growing up in southern Vermont I spent many afternoons collecting cans and bottles from friends and neighbors. This was a great way to make a little extra spending money, and to help clean things up a bit. This is an experience I am sure that thousands of Vermonters are personally familiar with …
We Won’t Let Coca-Cola Trash Vermont’s Bottle Bill Read More »
As we learn more about the impact that microbeads have on our environment, Vermonters are realizing they are something to be afraid of this Halloween. Microbeads are small plastic beads added to things like toothpaste and face washes to help with exfoliation. A recent article in the Washington Post noted that up to 8 trillion …
Kids seem to often have a better ability to recognize problems than adults do. This was certainly the case in a Windsor classroom this week as I spoke with middle school students about two major environmental issues we’re facing today- microbeads in personal care products and ever-present plastic bags. To the students, it’s simple: we …
VT students research innovative solutions to our plastic woes Read More »
