Maine’s clean and healthy environment strengthens the state’s economy and is central to our way of life. Holding polluting corporations accountable through systemic changes in local, state, and federal policies is the key to creating a more healthy, prosperous, sustainable future for us all.
NRCM’s Sustainable Maine program takes a practical, collaborative approach to solving environmental problems faced by Maine people and communities, particularly with how to better prevent and manage waste. We want to make doing the right thing for people and the environment the easy, clear choice for individuals and businesses.
Our vision of sustainability in Maine is ensuring a healthy future for life on Earth. Unfortunately, polluting corporations continue to ignore what is right for the environment at the expense of people’s health. Instead, they spend big money to try to convince people that it’s an individual’s responsibility to act, not theirs. But we are onto them.
The fossil fuel industry knows our clean energy transition is underway, so to keep their profits flowing, they are ramping up production of single-use plastics. We cannot allow this to happen. At every stage of the life cycle for plastics — from production to disposal — there are significant human health impacts, and they disproportionately affect economically and socially disadvantaged people.
Many of us feel guilty that we still rely on gasoline-powered cars, and we can’t seem to avoid wasteful packaging despite our best efforts—but it’s not our fault as individuals. In the State House, in schools, and in our communities, NRCM works with local businesses, municipalities, and Maine people to galvanize support for solutions that require corporations be a part of solving the problem and make it easier to reduce waste and pollution.
Learn more about our Sustainable Maine program priorities and how you can help on the pages below.
Maine Legislature Votes to Ban Toxic Deca Flame Retardant
News release Today the Maine Senate voted 29-5 (with one abstention) to support LD 1658, a bill that would phase out the toxic flame retardant known as “deca,” in favor of safer alternatives. The bill, An Act to Protect Pregnant Women and Children from Toxic Chemicals Released into the Home, sponsored by Representative Hannah Pingree Read More
Support of LD 1657, Support and Enhance Maine’s Beverage Container Recycling Laws and Household Hazardous Waste Collection
by Matt Prindiville, NRCM Toxics Policy Advocate Good morning Senator Bromley, Representative Smith and Members of the Committee on Business, Research and Economic Development. My name is Matt Prindiville. I am the Toxics Policy Advocate for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). NRCM is Maine’s leading, membership-supported environmental advocacy organization. We represent over 10,000 Read More
Mercury “Hot Spots” Found
By Lindsay Tice, Staff Writer Sun Journal news story The upper Androscoggin and upper Kennebec rivers are “hot spots” for mercury pollution, according to two studies published this month in BioScience, a peer-review journal. The studies identified five northeastern regions with high mercury levels in fish and birds. The hot spots include the Adirondack Mountain Read More
Extent of Mercury Pollution More Widespread, Report Shows
Maine Wildlife Ranging from Loons to Otters to Bald Eagles at Risk National Wildlife Federation * Natural Resources Council of Maine PORTLAND – Mercury pollution is making its way into nearly every habitat in the U.S., exposing countless species of wildlife to potentially harmful levels of mercury, a new report from the National Wildlife Federation Read More
Maine Takes Another Step Forward in Recycling Toxic Computers and TVs
AUGUSTA, MAINE — On Saturday, July 1, 2006 Maine becomes the third state in the nation to prohibit the landfilling or incineration of old computer monitors and television sets. This step forward in the implementation of Maine’s electronic waste recycling law means that these products will no longer be headed to landfills or incinerators where Read More
Recycling Electronics Gets Easier Under New State Law
by Tom Bell, Portland Press Herald Writer Portland Press Herald news story A new law goes into effect today that makes Maine the first state in nation to require manufacturers to pick up the cost of recycling old TVs and computer monitors. Environmentalists say the law will encourage manufacturers to design products that are less Read More
Maine’s First-In-the-Nation Law Requiring Manufacturers to Pay to Recycle Electronic Waste Goes Into Effect
AUGUSTA, MAINE – Today Maine launched the first manufacturer-funded program in the nation designed to capture hazardous electronic waste for safe disposal and recycling. Under the law enacted in 2004, beginning January 18, municipalities will send waste computer and television monitors to consolidation centers that are fully-funded by manufacturers. The manufacturers also pay to safely Read More
Mercury Thermostat Sales Ban Started on January 1st
But 5,600 Pounds of Mercury Still on Walls of Maine Homes, Businesses News release Today, the Natural Resources Council of Maine hosted a news conference at the Maine Hardware Store in Portland to inform Maine people about the new mercury thermostat sales ban that went into effect January 1, 2006, and to highlight the need Read More
16,896 Mercury-laden Car Switches Collected Under Maine’s Landmark Program!
NRCM news release At the urging of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, in 2002 Maine lawmakers passed a first-in-the-nation law to require carmakers to pay to collect harmful mercury switches from junked cars before scrapping them. Maine’s car mercury switch law was challenged in court by the carmakers, but the law prevailed. In December Read More
