Let’s be honest: The easiest time to fall in love with Maine farmers’ markets is amidst the luscious towers of tomatoes and melons in August, not the coolers of meats and crates of root vegetables in January. You might not have even realized that there IS a farmers’ market near you in January! But every Read More
Spotlight on Sustainability in Maine
Every day, Maine people and communities embrace better, more sustainable ways to inhabit our great state. Spotlight on Sustainability in Maine is devoted to gathering and sharing information about the people, places, and initiatives making a positive difference for Maine's environment. From fresh local foods to clean solar energy to turning trash into treasure, there are many ways to say “sustainable” in Maine.
Do you have information about a great project helping to make Maine a more sustainable place to call home that you would like featured on NRCM’s blog? Guest posts are always welcome! If it is good news for our environment and involves Maine or Mainers, it belongs in the spotlight. Please contact Sarah Nichols, NRCM Sustainable Maine Director at snichols@nrcm.org.
Plastic and Foam Containers Have an Impact, in Maine and Globally
Do you know that the plastic bag you innocently accept when the cashier hands you your groceries could actually be the death of you? I first learned about marine litter when I was 13. I was given an inscribed copy of the book Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam and the Science of Ocean Motion by Loree Read More
Waste Not, Want Not
91. That’s the number of times the Empire State Building could have been filled from top to bottom with the amount of food wasted in the United States in 2010. And the problem gets worse every year. United States Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, representing Maine’s First Congressional District, recently unveiled and introduced legislation to tackle this Read More
Do You Know How Sustainable Your Business Is?
Guest Post by Anthony Jaccarino, Senior Program Manager, Sustainable Economies Program, Manomet Manomet, of Brunswick, is generating big ideas to make businesses and communities more sustainable with its Sustainable Economies Program! Manomet’s Sustainable Economies Program has a long history of working with the forestry, agriculture, and dairy industries in Maine, and farther afield, as well Read More
Maine Puts A Fresh Coat On Unused Paint
Thursday, October 1st marked the official start of Maine’s Paint Stewardship Program making Maine just the eighth state in the nation to establish a system to help people dispose of unused, unwanted paint without taking it to a landfill. The Maine Paint Stewardship Program is modeled on those already proving successful in other states around Read More
Could an Old Landfill Become a Lot Greener?
Officials for the City of Belfast recently entertained a proposal to convert a closed city dump into a new community solar facility with an array similar to the one atop the Belfast Firehouse. According to Assistant City Planner Sadie Lloyd, the array would be installed and maintained by ReVision Energy, a solar company based in Read More
Students Lead the Transition to Clean Energy
Students have been the driving force behind the continuing decline in energy costs at Camden Hills Regional High School since it opened in 2000. While the school owns and operates the 155-foot tall wind turbine erected in 2012, the genesis and work to bring wind power to the high school came from the Windplanners, a Read More
Farmington Turns Waste Into Cash…and Gardens
Farmington, Maine has partnered with the local campus of the University of Maine to put an unused recycling center to good use, generating cash for the town and fertilizer for local gardeners. When the Sandy River Recycling facility closed in 2004, Farmington officials and residents wondered what they would do with the site and the leftover Read More
South Portland Zero Waste Initiative Off to a Great Start!
South Portland has set an ambitious goal to ensure that city events are zero-waste occasions. The first test of this new enterprise was the Fourth of July celebration at Bug Light Park. According to Julie Rosenbach, South Portland’s Sustainability Coordinator the City was able to divert an astounding 73 percent of the event’s waste stream Read More
