Happy Earth Day! This week we are sharing some photos taken by NRCM activist Brian Skillings of Windham, Maine. Brian posted these photos on social media and shared them with us after he spent Sunday, April 14 helping NRCM and Green With Envy Salons staff clean up around Back Cove Trail in Portland. Brian writes, Read More
plastic pollution
NRCM Testimony in Support of LD 1431, Resolve, To Support Municipal Recycling Programs
Senator Carson, Representative Tucker, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Lakeman and I am the Sustainable Maine Project Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I appreciate this opportunity to speak in support of LD 1431, which may be the most important and Read More
Reducing Waste One Cup (of Coffee) at a Time
On April 2, 2019, Tandem Coffee Roasters launched an ambitious initiative to drastically reduce waste at both of their locations in Portland. The company has lowered all drink prices by 25 cents and started charging customers 25 cents if they need a single-use cup for their drink order. The main intention is to get people Read More
NRCM Testimony in Support of LD 544, An Act To Create Extended Producer Responsibility for Post-consumer Waste Generated from the Use of Tobacco Products
Senator Carson, Representative Tucker, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Lakeman and I am the Sustainable Maine Project Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I appreciate this opportunity to speak to you in support of LD 544, which is part of a Read More
Support of LD 937, An Act Regarding the Sale and Abandonment or Release of Balloons
Senator Carson, Representative Tucker, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Lakeman and I am the Sustainable Maine Project Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I appreciate this opportunity to speak to you in support of LD 937, which is one of several Read More
Iconic Red’s Eats: “Red is Our Favorite Color, but We Love Going Green!”
I have been an animal- and nature-lover since I was a little girl. It comes as no surprise to those who know me to know how important the issue of protecting nature is to me. Living and working in beautiful, coastal Maine is a gift…one we all must not take for granted. Our restaurant is Read More
Belfast Elementary School Student Group Starts Zero Waste Lunch Program
By Courtney Cortright WABI-TV news story Watch full news video. BELFAST, Maine (WABI) – In a school lunchroom, it’s common many students are eating sandwiches that mom or dad have wrapped in plastic and put in a brown paper bag. But, lunch at a Belfast elementary school looked a little different Thursday. Maila Demers, FoodCorps Read More
Red’s Eats Looks to Go Green, Cut Out Plastics in 2019
by Nathan Strout, Times Record Staff Times Record news story WISCASSET — Renowned Wiscasset establishment Red’s Eats is ditching plastic straws for its 2019 season, and hopes to dump its other plasticware in the near future. “I have already purchased red (and) white paper straws for the opening of Red’s Eats and a couple of Read More
Maine Lawmakers Should Pass Plastic Bag Ban
A product so cheap it can be thrown away is creating expensive problems. Portland Press Herald editorial Most people laughed in 1954 when the editor of a trade journal called Modern Plastics told an industry conference that the future of their business “is in the trash can.” But they weren’t laughing nine years later, when Read More