👩Mid 50s WomaninWard 7
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We have a lot of homeless people. We’re in an environmental crisis and people are ignoring it.
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Burlington, VT · Live ReportIssue Focus · September 2026 edition
Environment
Raised by16%9 responses · past 55 days
Top Themes
We select quotes that capture residents' main points about the environment, then group similar quotes by theme. Each theme includes the original quotes, so you can read them, cite them, and see what the theme is based on.
#7 Theme:Raised by 11% of respondents
Climate change is a growing crisis
Climate change is raising grocery costs, threatening the lake, and getting too little attention.
What people are saying:
👩Mid 20s WomaninWard 2
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Dealing with UVMMC’s inefficiency, long wait times, referrals and branches of UVMMC not communicating with each other further delays getting adequate treatment and answers. Climate change and the impacts on our community - in increasing grocery costs, unpredictable crop yields, the risk of flooding, and the health of the lake all affect my everyday life and those of my neighbors.
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🙂Burlington ResidentinWard 5
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Investing in renewable energy will help with the climate crisis.
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👨Late 30s ManinWard 5
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The climate emergency is the biggest challenge of our time. If we get that wrong, nothing else will be right.
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More voices on the environment
A few more quotes worth reading, about topics outside the main themes above.
👨Mid 50s ManinWard 5
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Lastly, and this is just random. I find the train yard to be a real problem in terms of noise, exhaust and separating us from the lake. I tried to get the idling train addressed in the past and they are not responsive.
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👩Late 30s WomaninWard 2
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I'm concerned because I heard they might be ending municipal recycling. We rely on this and it lets us generate minimal waste. If this service is no longer provided, it will be a lot more of a burden to recycle and more things will end up in a landfill.
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👩Mid 20s WomaninWard 2
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I’m pretty concerned about trees being chopped down due to the invasive Emerald Ash Borer. It would be great for the city to communicate more clearly about what is happening.
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🧑Late 20s Nonbinary PersoninWard 5
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I want there to be fewer algae blooms on the lake
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👩Early 30s WomaninWard 5
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I care about fostering community through initiatives that benefit the greater good. The environment and public health are a part of this, but I think public spaces, neighborhood, and transportation have intrinsically health and environmental issues too.
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Resident Ideas
We highlight particularly actionable, tangible, or unique ideas from residents: Because our goal is to spark action in the real world — and action starts with an idea.
Start a needle buyback program
👨Late 20s ManinWard 5
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We need to start a needle buyback program as one of the first steps in cleaning our streets
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Every response is counted toward the next edition.