FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: John Caceres

Telephone: 802.885.7778 – o / 802.289.2204 - m

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VTel helps Vermont Stay Clean and Green. VTel and The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation Work together to plant 165 trees.

Springfield, VT –Helping to keep Vermont clean and green, the VTel annual tree planting took place, On May 2, 2013, along the bank of the Otter Creek in the Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area, near Danby Vermont. This year’s project added to the creek bank stabilization and wildlife travel corridor that started at the 2012 VTel tree planting.

Harry Gleim and Trish Sliker, of VTel,  forester, John Lones, and three Department of Forestry workers, Lisa Thornton, Kyle Mason, and Chris Stone, pitched in planting 165 hardwood trees; silver maple, red oak and boxwood varieties along the creek. John Lones stated, “VTel’s commitment to doing and funding this annual planting is wonderful and we are thankful to be part of it.” Trish and Harry agreed, adding, “We are honored to be out here representing VTel while doing something good for the environment.”

VTel has an ongoing policy to plant the equivalent number of trees it uses in paper-based materials each year. In 2012 VTel used approximately 16,000 lbs., or 8 tons of paper. Conservatree, a non-profit organization that works to make paper environmentally sustainable, estimates that it takes about 20 trees to make a ton of paper. Using this information VTel calculated that it needed to plant 160 trees to replace what it used in 2012, meaning this year’s project planted slightly more than what was necessary as paper usage remained the same.

In the past three years VTel has planted over 750 trees throughout Vermont in collaboration with the VT Dept. of Forests, Parks & Recreation. The VTel annual tree planting is part of its continued commitment to being an environmentally responsible company.  Michel Guité, President of VTel said, “Our annual tree planting is a big part of our commitment to being environmentally friendly.  It’s one of the many things we do at VTel to help Vermont stay clean and green.”

In addition to the tree-planting policy, other VTel green initiatives include being one of the first companies in Vermont to drive hybrid vehicles and print VTel telephone bills on chlorine-free, 100% post-consumer-waste paper manufactured using only wind-power and hydroelectric power.

VTel is a family-owned telephone company that began serving rural Vermont in 1890. The company operates a four-state optical fiber network from Vermont with connections to New York City, Boston, and Montreal, with speeds up to 100 gigabits, serving some of the most intensive data users in the northeast.

In 2010, VTel received American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) awards, to help build one of the fastest Internet services in America, to extend VTel WOW 4G/LTE wireless broadband to every un-served Vermonter, and to extend our fiber to community anchors throughout Vermont.

VTel actively supports Vermont community groups; creates Vermont jobs; drives hybrid vehicles; uses solar, hydro and wind power, and is committed to improving the quality of life in Vermont.

VTel employs Vermonters proudly serving Vermonters.

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