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...
Category: Pollution/Waste
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 —...
The Climate Impacts of Stuff
The vacation promised to be high in enjoyment and low in carbon. Rather than flying somewhere and staying in a hotel, we would sail to a cabin powered by solar electricity. Our only fossil-fuel...
Countering the Culture of Convenience
We are consumers of convenience. Offer us a faster, easier, wrinkle-free, nonstick option, and we’re sold. We need no convincing that convenience is an inherent good; a lifetime of ads has done that...
The Need to Keep Compost Free of Chemical Contamination
Imagine giving soil the legal protections that air, water and marine ecosystems have. That’s the momentous step the European Union is taking to recognize healthy soil as critical for climate stability, ecological diversity and...
