By Matthew Stone, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story There’s a competition going on for your trash. Some 187 Maine towns and cities will have to decide this year where they’ll send their municipal solid waste starting in 2018. One facility wants it so it can stay in business. Another wants it so it Read More
Sustainability
Our vision of sustainability in Maine is ensuring a healthy future for life on Earth. 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.
How We Can Divert Food from Landfills to Cupboards, Food Banks
By Christopher Burns, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story Nothing takes up more space in landfills than food. This isn’t just table scraps and coffee grounds. It’s also whole fruits and vegetables and even canned food, not all of which is unfit to eat. Americans sent a staggering 35 million tons of food to Read More
Beyond Our Borders
I’d like to cap off 2015 with a short note about a big topic: our place in the international community.
York Prepares for Start of Plastic Bag Ban
Chamber moves to help businesses By Deborah McDermott Seacoast Online news story YORK, Maine — Now that the first-in-the-state ordinance banning single-use plastic bags has been approved, the town’s business leaders, citizens and officials are shifting gears and preparing for the March 1 effective date. Residents last week approved the ordinance by a vote of Read More
Stop Wasting Food! Have Your Cake, and Eat It, Too.
As a micro-scale farmer who has put a lot of effort into every vegetable, egg and pork chop I sell, I’ve often thought it an unfortunate side effect of life in the land of plenty that most of us don’t really worry about throwing away food. But we need to start. Food waste may not Read More
York Enacts Plastic Bag Ban
By Tom Porter MPBN news story YORK, Maine — By a narrow margin, voters here have chosen to prohibit stores from using plastic shopping bags. This makes the southern Maine community the first in the state to introduce such a moratorium. Earlier this year Portland introduced a 5-cent fee for most plastic bags issued by Read More
York Voters Approve First Plastic Shopping Bag Ban in Maine
The measure, which takes effect March 1, prohibits stores from using single-use plastic bags, though paper bags are still allowed. By Gillian Graham, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story The “Single-Use Plastic Carryout Bag Ordinance” was designed to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bags by retail and grocery stores in town. It passed Read More
York Passes Maine’s First Plastic Bag Ban
Organizer hopes York is ‘inspiration’ to other towns By Deborah McDermott Seacoast Online news story YORK, Maine – By a narrow margin, town voters approved a first-in-the-state ban on single use plastic bags, paving the way for retailers large and small to begin implementing the measure early next year. By a wider margin, residents also Read More
Report: Portland Becoming Top Tier Sustainable City
Portland becoming lead sustainable city. WCSH-6 news story PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — A report from the Natural Resources Council of Maine released Tuesday recognized the efforts of 50 people and organizations across Portland that promote sustainability. The report highlighted six areas where these efforts are succeeding: local food, waste reduction, eco-friendly transportation, energy saving, Read More
