Evian, L’Oréal, Mars, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Walmart and others commit to using only reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025. by Danica Kirka, Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story LONDON — Once a month, accountant Michael Byrne pulls on his rubber boots and makes his way to a spot on the banks of the River Read More
plastic pollution
York’s Young Foam Fighters
While alliteration in blog titles is great, there is something even better, and that is when we learn about the next generation of Mainers recognizing a major problem in our environment, foam containers, and stepping up to solve it right in their own community. That principal is certainly on display in York where an intrepid Read More
Rockland to Consider Ban on Plastic Bags, Styrofoam Containers
By Stephen Betts Village Soup news story ROCKLAND — The Rockland City Council will consider this month an ordinance to ban the use of single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam containers. In addition, the proposed law would impose an increasing fee on paper bags in an effort to encourage shoppers to use reusable shopping bags. Councilor Read More
Survey of Casco Bay Finds Microplastics in Four Distinct Regions
The Friends of Casco Bay assessment identifies pieces of the plastic waste, which marine life can ingest and which attract toxins. But none of the microbeads banned in Maine in 2015 showed up. By Mary Pols, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story The first survey of Casco Bay for microplastics, the troubling, hard-to-see fragments Read More
York Teens Want Their Town to be the Latest to Ban Polystyrene Containers
By Deborah McDermott The York Weekly news story Four York High School seniors are taking democracy and a concern for the environment to heart, and have launched an online petition drive to ban polystyrene takeout containers from being used by restaurants in York. Margaret Wilkinson, Sophia Eytel, Anya Walsh and Sammi Pooler, all students in Read More
Steamrolling Forward: Multiple Maine Towns Take Steps to Reduce Plastic Pollution
You may not have noticed amid all the hubbub around national issues and politics, but some other pretty important votes took place in Maine on, or near, this past Election Day. Multiple towns took important steps to help create more sustainable communities through the elimination or reduction of plastic pollution. And that is good news! Read More
Portland Students’ Ocean Litter Project Wins Conservation Award
By Kate Irish Collins The Forecaster news story PORTLAND — In their bid to protect the ocean from litter, two students at King Middle School have won the People’s Choice Award from the Natural Resources Council of Maine. The council held its annual conservation leadership awards ceremony Oct. 19 in Bath, where Addie Farmer, 13, Read More
NRCM Presents Awards to Conservation Leaders
Augusta, ME – The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), the state’s leading nonprofit membership organization working to protect Maine’s environment, has named its 2017 Conservation Leadership Award winners. The award is given each year to individuals or groups who have made an extraordinary contribution to the protection of Maine’s land, air, waters, or wildlife. Read More
Two Portland Middle School Students Behind App Win Awards
By Tory Ryden, WCSH Staff WLBZ new story PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Lainey Randall and Addie Farmer know they live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and they share a mutual goal to keep the ocean around them as clean as possible. To that end, the two discovered an app Read More