Sharing a Sense of Wonder
With all its fits and starts – unexpected April snows and fierce Nor’easters, spring has finally sprung. For southerly locales, the March equinox may herald the season’s arrival. But here, at least this year,...
Author: Marina Schauffler
Wood Chip Mulch: A Boon for Gardeners
Even before the soil could be worked this spring, I indulged my impulse to dig – shoveling into a pile of wood chips that an arborist delivered last fall. The chips were sodden from...
Bagging Use of Disposable Plastics
“Just because plastic is disposable doesn’t mean it goes away. After all, where is away? There is no away.” — Jeb Berrier in the documentary “Bag It” It’s easy these days to feel as...
A New Utility Model
There’s a growing gap between what Maine’s ratepayers want and what they’re getting from the state’s dominant electric utility, Central Maine Power (CMP). The wish list is short: reliable power, low cost and low...
A Climate to Thrive
Mount Desert Island is a long way from the corridors of power, and what’s happening in Augusta and Washington holds scant promise of fostering a healthier environment or economy. So a growing number of...
Watching the Climate Change
“We have only just begun to feel the repercussions of climate change: we are today in a position likely to be envied by future generations.” – Cornelia F. Mutel, A Sugar Creek Chronicle The...
Supporting Renewable Power
Two-thirds of Americans want to “prioritize clean energy sources,” the Pew Research Center reports. But for energy consumers, deciphering the jargon of electricity generation can be disempowering. The federal Department of Energy website used...
Reining in Social Media
Christmas came and went, and my youngest child did not get the one gift he most wanted. Despite his disappointment about not yet owning a smartphone, I don’t feel bad – not after reading...
