Exciting things are happening at a rural school district in the heart of Central Maine. RSU 19, a geographically dispersed, rural school district between Waterville and Bangor, is comprised of eight towns: Corinna, Dixmont, Etna, Hartland, Newport, Palmyra, Plymouth, and St. Albans. These communities are among some of the hardest hit by continued cuts to Read More
composting
More Composting Resources
Maine Guide to Recovering and Composting Organics in Maine: An excellent resource from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Maine’s Compost School Biocycle: A national composting and organics recycling information hub. UMaine 2011 Waste Characterization Study : Showing that around 43% of our household garbage bags contain organic material (and 27 percent of which is Read More
Municipal Composting Programs
Municipal composting programs for food waste are few and far between in Maine, but there are many around the country and beyond. In Maine, most municipalities provide composting of leaf and yard waste, but few offer food scrap composting. Some towns partner exclusively with one of Maine’s compost collection companies to offer a discount for Read More
Home Composting Resources
Home composting is the most economical and environmentally sustainable way to manage household organic waste. Doing the work yourself, and preventing your organic materials from travelling to a compost site, saves money on any transportation and processing fees and reduces collection vehicle traffic and pollution. If you have a garden and the desire to maintain Read More
Maine Composting Companies
There are fantastic companies in Maine that make composting very easy and affordable. Those listed below offer a subscription-based service with regular pick up of your organic materials. They provide the bins, and some can even supply you with the finished compost! Garbage to Garden: Serving Greater Portland and beyond We Compost It!: Serving Great Read More
Why Choose Composting?
Organic Materials Don’t Belong in Landfills: Sending our organic waste, like food and yard waste, to landfills or incinerators is unsustainable. We need to move beyond the idea that our waste simply goes “away” and instead look for smart, effective ways to close the loop on our consumption patterns. Composting is nature’s way of recycling Read More
Legislators Question Viability of Fiberight Waste Proposal
Eight members of a legislative committee are calling on the Department of Environmental Protection to withhold a permit for the controversial waste-to-energy project until concerns over state law and funding are addressed. By Madeline St. Amour, Staff Writer Central Maine newspapers news story A controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in Hampden that would handle Read More
Midcoast Towns Struggle with Trash Tug-of-War
by Andy O’Brien Free Press news story In the coming weeks, Camden, Rockport, Hope and Lincolnville will hold special town meetings to decide where to send their 6,000 tons of annual household trash after March 31, 2018. That date marks the expiration of a lucrative electricity contract between the utility Emera Maine and the Penobscot Read More
Teaching the Next Generation the Value of Composting and Reducing Waste
When I first started teaching at South Portland High School in 2000, one of the teachers was unable to incorporate the school’s fledgling recycling program into her classroom and asked if I wanted to take up the task. I was immediately interested because I had worked to implement recycling programs when I attended Stonehill College Read More
