Feeding the 5,000, Portland ME On Friday, October 7, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. NRCM was part of a coalition of organizations that hosted Feeding the 5,000, a free, delicious, community meal for thousands of people, sourced entirely from locally gleaned, fresh food that would have otherwise been wasted. This event was designed to increase awareness Read More
sustainability
Portland Council Panel Endorses Solar Project, Recycling Carts
By David Harry, staff writer The Forecaster news story PORTLAND — By this time next year, recycling could be on a roll in Portland. A plan forwarded by City Manager Jon Jennings and Sustainability Coordinator Troy Moon to purchase carts for storing recyclable materials and three semi-automated trucks to collect the materials was endorsed by a Read More
Too Many Unknowns
The Ellsworth American editorial Communities in Hancock County and beyond — and the Municipal Review Committee that represents them — might want to give additional thought to their support for the Fiberight solid waste processing facility proposed for construction in Hampden. Eight members of the Maine Legislature’s Environmental and Natural Resources Committee — including the Read More
Company Offers Guarantee for Maine Towns to Reduce Trash by More than One-third
News Release The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) and WasteZero announced today a joint initiative to help Maine towns dramatically reduce waste through WasteZero Trash Metering®, a Pay-As You-Throw (PAYT) program for household trash. WasteZero, the nation’s largest waste reduction company, will guarantee Maine communities that adopt its program—and that don’t already have a Read More
Tapping Maine’s Waste Stream for New Ways to Make Money
By Darren Fishell, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story PORTLAND, Maine — As a high-profile fight continues over waste management for 187 Bangor-area towns, a cluster of private businesses based in southern Maine are finding success carving out smaller niches within recycling programs here and, increasingly, elsewhere. The bottle redemption center operator Clynk announced 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
Peaks Island Students Change Habits Beyond an Island in Maine
Students at Peaks Island Elementary School recently engaged in an endeavor created to align with their new, project-based learning program, RRR-Evolution. The idea is to help the youngsters understand the impacts of their decisions with hands-on (quite literally in this case) examples of how those decisions effect the world around us. Students spent one week Read More
“Think About It!” Freeport Interact Club Starts School-wide Recycling Program
On our final school visit, Gabby Grunkemeyer and I headed to Freeport Middle School’s “Interact Club” meeting to hear about their NRCM grant project designing and implementing a school-wide recycling system. As we entered the school, we were greeted by teacher and club leader Lucy Lloyd and a lively group of middle schoolers eager to Read More
Freeport Approves Ban on Single-use Plastic Bags
The ordinance prohibits disposable plastic shopping bags and includes a 5-cent fee on paper bags. By Peter McGuire, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story FREEPORT — Voters approved a townwide ban on disposable plastic shopping bags Tuesday, joining a number of Maine communities putting restrictions on the items. Residents approved the ban 804-501, about Read More