Strength Through Sharing
Battery-powered mowers and hedge trimmers at the new South Portland Electric Tool Library (SPETL) are checked out almost as soon as they’re returned. Demand is high among local residents for fume-free and relatively quiet...
Category: Pollution/Waste
PFAS Are Roadblocks on the Path to Zero Waste
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals with a devastating fusion of longevity and toxicity, highlight the hole at the center of the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol. Discussions of a zero-waste or circular economy often fail...
Third Act: Older People Seek Climate Action
On the first morning of spring, with temperatures hovering around freezing, a large flock of retirees descended like robins on a former farm field in Belfast, the site of a sprawling Bank of America...
Microplastics: A Vast, Barely Visible Problem
Reading Matt Simon’s disturbing new book, “A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies,” I found a question running through my head like a refrain: Why did we not...
The Price of PFAS
Maine’s strong policy response could mitigate future expenses, but short-term expenditures are proliferating and many costs remain untallied. Widespread contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “has the potential to impose an unsustainable burden...
The Long Road to Recovering PFAS Damages
With Maine facing escalating costs from contamination due to ‘forever chemicals,’ work is under way to recoup some losses. Shortly after hearing from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that their well should be...
A Tangle of Plastic Pollution Ties Back to Our Clothes
The soft clouds of gray lint that slide off clothes dryer screens are tangible evidence of the dryer’s tumbling abrasion. Each handful comes at a cost, shortening the lifespan of garments. But the true...
Microplastics on the Menu
Maine made headlines in April as the nation’s first state to ban the spreading of sludge and sludge-based compost. Supporters of the law recognized an urgent need — in the Act’s language —...
