WATERBURY, Vt. -
Some Green Mountain Coffee Roasters employees are spending the week in the great outdoors. It's the company's eighth annual employee cleanup of the Winooski River.
The effort kicked off Monday afternoon, and all week long, 240 GMCR employees will be on paid release time. That's a company program that allows workers 52 hours per year to volunteer during their normal shift without losing their wages.
They'll be picking up trash in and around the Winooski River between Montpelier and Waterbury.
"So people really are kind of angry when they see that there is trash in the river. It is really important to them for recreation. We have a lot of people who fish, kayak, canoe; so use the river for fun," said Liz Dohrman of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. "They get really angry when they see the stuff that is in it and they also, I think, are really proud of the accomplishment that they can see the big difference that they have made by the end of the week."
Last year they collected more than 800 tires from a 3-mile stretch of the river. They expect to pull more this year because of Tropical Storm Irene.
