Independent Writer
Climate Change/Energy / Education/Family / Housing / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published May 14, 2023 · Last modified May 15, 2023
My cousin Linda Labaree could hardly contain her enthusiasm over learning that her home could readily be converted to heat pump technology. “The relief I feel comes from having an opportunity to make an...
Ecological Values / Food / Housing
by Marina Schauffler · Published May 22, 2022 · Last modified June 5, 2022
Spreading like dandelion fluff, a “No Mow May” initiative to support bees and other pollinators is taking seed in Maine. It began when two Rockland residents sent City Councilor Nathan Davis a New York...
Ecological Values / Economics / Food / Housing / Sense of Place
by Marina Schauffler · Published May 23, 2021 · Last modified June 5, 2021
The balance of deposits in Maine’s financial institutions is roughly $45 billion. That figure raises an obvious question to experts in socially responsible investing like Scott Budde, who runs Maine Harvest Federal Credit Union:...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Health / Housing
by Marina Schauffler · Published October 11, 2020 · Last modified November 9, 2020
What do you do when the place you call home becomes unlivable? Tens of millions of Americans will face this wrenching choice over the coming decades as they contend with climate-fueled disasters such as...
Climate Change/Energy / Housing / Sustainable Practices / Technology
by Marina Schauffler · Published September 13, 2020 · Last modified November 9, 2020
A single small home, lifted onto a foundation in Milbridge last month, could signal big housing changes ahead. Confronted with scant affordable housing and mandates to reduce carbon pollution, Maine needs to re-envision how...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Housing / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published November 25, 2019 · Last modified February 16, 2020
Winter’s descent returns us to a primordial quest, trying to hold heat – that eternal escape artist – within our homes. In Maine, nearly two-thirds of households depend on heating oil, more than in...
Climate Change/Energy / Health / Housing / Pollution/Waste / Sense of Place / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published September 5, 2019 · Last modified October 3, 2019
Instead of relying solely on models and charts, what if we tried to visualize just how different our lives might be in a climate-altered Maine two decades hence? What follows is an imaginative portrait...
Climate Change/Energy / Ecological Values / Housing / Sense of Place / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published May 23, 2019 · Last modified May 31, 2019
On Mother’s Day, I received a surprise gift. In the peach tree just outside our kitchen, an eastern bluebird and Baltimore oriole alighted simultaneously. It was approaching dusk, and the departing sun lit up...
