Down East = Magazine

A selected history of sustainability in Maine.

By Joshua F. Moore

Mainers were living sustainable lives long before pioneering = homesteaders=20 Scott and Helen Nearing moved here in the fifties and prompted waves of = young=20 people to drop out and move =E2=80=9Cback to the land.=E2=80=9D Over the = past six decades, Maine=20 has experienced suburbanization and sprawl, but the Pine Tree State = remains one=20 of those increasingly rare places where people still live close to = nature and=20 sustainability seems less a consumer trend than a part of the Down East=20 heritage. Here are some local milestones in green living.=20

1952
Scott and Helen Nearing, authors of = Living the=20 Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled World, settle in=20 Harborside, on Cape Rosier. Over the next half century, more than a = million=20 people follow their example of simple living in Maine and=20 elsewhere.

1956
Rachel Carson, who would = write Silent=20 Spring, joins a handful of Mainers concerned about unchecked development = to form=20 a branch of the Nature Conservancy =E2=80=94 the fourth such chapter in = the country=E2=80=94 to=20 seek a balance between habitat protection and economic=20 prosperity.

1959
The Natural Resources = Council of=20 Maine (NRCM) is founded. In time, NRCM takes a leading role in the = establishment=20 of the Land Use Regulation Commission, the passing of the Growth = Management Law,=20 the campaign for Maine=E2=80=99s solid waste and recycling law, and=20 more.

1965
After more than a century of = operations,=20 passenger trains stop servicing the Boston-to-Portland run, as more = Americans=20 turn to automobiles to access the Pine Tree=20 State.

1968
Peter Cox and John N. Cole create = Maine=20 Times, an alternative newspaper focused on environmental journalism, = progressive=20 politics, and simple living.

1970
Peggy = Rockefeller=20 and Tom Cabot form the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, pioneering the use of = conservation easements as a way to protect land. Since its founding, the = trust=20 has protected more than 125,000 acres in Maine, including more than 250 = entire=20 coastal islands.

Tom and Kate Chappell discover that natural = toothpaste=20 can be a big business in Kennebunk. Their Tom=E2=80=99s of Maine brand = becomes a pioneer=20 in the fledgling natural-care industry. In 2006, the Chappells sell 84 = percent=20 of their company to Colgate-Palmolive but retain enough of a controlling = interest to ensure that the company=E2=80=99s environmentally sensitive = policies remain=20 in place.
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1971
Charlie Gould, a cooperative = extension=20 agent in Lewiston, fields so many questions about organic farming that = he=20 gathers farmers for a meeting. That group becomes the Maine Organic = Farmers and=20 Gardeners Association (MOFGA), a forceful advocate for growing food = without=20 chemical fertilizers or pesticides and sponsor of the Common Ground = Country=20 Fair.

1974
Twenty-three-year-old Rob = Johnston,=20 Jr. moves his fledgling mail-order seed company from his family home in=20 Massachusetts to Maine, quickly establishing Johnny=E2=80=99s Selected = Seeds as the=20 go-to source for vegetable, flower, medicinal, and culinary herb seeds.=20 Johnston=E2=80=99s five-hundred-dollar startup would grow to an = enterprise with two=20 Maine locations, eighty full-time employees, and a distribution center = that=20 ships Maine seeds to more than fifty countries.

Pat and Patsy = Hennin=20 start the Shelter Institute in Bath, eventually moving operations to a=20 sixty-eight-acre campus in Woolwich, and instruct thousands of students = in the=20 finer points of timber-frame=20 construction.

1976
Maine Audubon opens = its Energy=20 Education Center, designed by architect Richard Renner [page 44], at = Gilsland=20 Farm in Falmouth, to inspire Mainers to incorporate energy-saving = devices =E2=80=94 like=20 the center=E2=80=99s solar panels, wood-fired furnace, and wind turbines = =E2=80=94 into their=20 own homes.

Maine=E2=80=99s first food co-op opens in Belfast, = working out of an=20 eight-hundred-square-foot storefront. The co-op=E2=80=99s unique labor = system, with=20 discounts offered for volunteers, proves a success as the shop expands = twice in=20 less than two decades, to a six-thousand-square-foot facility. Gross = sales stand=20 at more than three million dollars=20 annually.

1977
Marion Fuller Brown, a = legislator and=20 champion of Maine=E2=80=99s scenic beauty, succeeds in passing a law = banning billboards=20 from Maine highways.

1978
Maine=E2=80=99s = =E2=80=9Cbottle bill,=E2=80=9D the=20 second such law in New England to require a refundable deposit on all = soda,=20 beer, and liquor bottles, takes effect. Litter begins disappearing from = the=20 state=E2=80=99s roadsides almost overnight.

1981
The Woodex plant in Lincoln = begins=20 producing three hundred tons of wood pellets a day from compressed = sawdust,=20 bark, and chips. Maine becomes the first state in the country to have an = established retail-distribution network for such pellets, which sell for = $125 a=20 ton (most homes require between six and eight tons of pellets during a = heating=20 season).

1984
Roxanne Quimby and Burt = Shavitz, of=20 Dexter, start selling candles made from beeswax, a byproduct of = Shavitz=E2=80=99s honey=20 business. Quimby goes on to create a line of natural skin-care products, = eventually moving her company to North Carolina in 1993 before finally = selling=20 it in 2007 for just under a billion dollars.
Photo Credit: Jennifer=20 Baum

The Maine Green Independent Party is formed, the first such = party in=20 the United States [see page 19].

1986
The = Portland=20 Fish Exchange opens, handling thirty million pounds of groundfish = annually.=20 Twenty-three years later, following the collapse of marine species in = the Gulf=20 of Maine, the exchange processes less than eight million pounds a year,=20 requiring a city subsidy to stay = afloat.

1988
Maine=E2=80=99s=20 revised Sand Dune Law takes effect, restricting the use of seawalls, = jetties,=20 and breakwaters and requiring that certain coastal structures more than=20 half-destroyed during a storm be torn down or moved. Maine=E2=80=99s = shoreland-zoning=20 law becomes an examplar for states on both=20 coasts.

1989
Willow Pond Farm in Sabattus = opens as=20 the state=E2=80=99s first community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm, = offering members a=20 share of the harvest in exchange for a flat fee. Today there are more = than a=20 hundred CSAs operating in Maine.

At a stretch break during a = Portland=20 City Council workshop, Tom Jewell, Nathan Smith, Dick Spencer, and Cathy = Stivers=20 create the Portland Shoreway Access Coalition, which evolves into the = nonprofit=20 Portland Trails. To date the group has created more than thirty miles of = biking=20 and walking trails in Greater = Portland.

1992
The=20 Bicycle Coalition of Maine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making = the=20 state more biker friendly, is = founded.

1993
From=20 their farm in Harborside, Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch serve as = co-hosts=20 of Gardening Naturally, a TV program on the Learning Channel viewed by = millions.=20 Coleman=E2=80=99s The New Organic Grower becomes the bible on the=20 subject.

1994
Ellie Daniels and three friends = open=20 the Green Store in Belfast, aiming to =E2=80=9Cpromote personal and = planetary=20 well-being=E2=80=9D by offering environmentally friendly products and=20 information.

1995
The Colony Hotel in = Kennebunkport=20 joins the =E2=80=9CGreen=E2=80=9D Hotels Association as a charter = member, leading the push to=20 encourage hotel guests to reuse towels and conserve=20 water.

1997
Edwards Dam in Augusta becomes = the first=20 dam in the nation to be denied its license renewal under a federal law = that=20 requires a review of the environmental impact of a dam compared with the = value=20 of the electricity it produces. Two years later the dam is breached, = depriving=20 the state of 3.5 megawatts of power =E2=80=94 but restoring native = sea-run fish to the=20 Kennebec River.

1998
Hoping to build on the = success=20 of the longest-running farmer=E2=80=99s market in the country, the Libra = Foundation=20 opens the Portland Public Market. The Preble Street bazaar fails to = attract=20 enough shoppers, however, and the market closes its doors in 2006. The = farmer=E2=80=99s=20 market survives, returning to Monument Square, one of its earliest=20 locations.

1999
A fleet of free, = propane-powered=20 buses is launched at Acadia National Park to reduce gridlock. To date = the buses=20 have prevented more than twenty-five tons of harmful chemicals from = entering the=20 air and effectively removed more than nine hundred passenger cars from = the park=20 roads every summer day.

Martin Grohman forms Correct Building = Products,=20 which manufactures decking materials out of 60 percent recycled hardwood = sawdust=20 and 40 percent polypropylene, proving that construction materials made = from=20 recycled materials can be as durable as old-growth lumber.

The = Maine=20 Farmland Trust is formed in Bucksport to preserve working farmland = through=20 easements. Two years later the organization creates FarmLink, which = connects=20 would-be farmers with people looking to retire and sell their farms. To = date the=20 organization has made thirty-seven matches, keeping 3,105 acres of Maine = farmland in active production.

2001
Amtrak = launches=20 the Downeaster between Boston and Portland, reestablishing passenger = rail=20 service to reach Maine. The Downeaster carries 1.4 million passengers in = its=20 first five years.

2002
Farm Fresh Connection = is=20 established to provide college dining halls with local food. Bowdoin is = promptly=20 named by the Princeton Review as having the best food in the country, an = accolade it maintains for three of the next four=20 years.

2003
Oakhurst Dairy, based in = Portland, is=20 sued by the agribusiness giant Monsanto, which alleges that = Oakhurst=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Cfarmers=E2=80=99=20 pledge=E2=80=9D of not using artificial growth hormones implies that = milk from=20 hormone-treated cows is harmful. Oakhurst agrees to add a disclaimer = saying that=20 the FDA has found no significant difference between the two types of = milk, but=20 five years later Monsanto divests itself of its hormone-treatment=20 business.

Scarborough voters defeat a =E2=80=9CGreat American = Neighborhood=E2=80=9D=20 concept that would have controlled sprawl by creating a compact village = and=20 protected hundreds of acres of land,=20 alas.

2005
Backyard Beauties, a = twenty-four-acre=20 greenhouse where tomatoes are grown year-round, is founded in Madison, = becoming=20 New England=E2=80=99s largest indoor-growing=20 facility.

2006
Maine=E2=80=99s e-waste law = goes into effect,=20 requiring the recycling of computer monitors. The state also passes a = law=20 requiring that appliance manufacturers pay a minimum of five dollars for = every=20 mercury-containing thermostat turned into a Maine recycling center. = These and=20 other measures have reduced the amount of mercury released into the air = by more=20 than 75 percent since 1991.

Montville becomes the first Maine = community=20 to ban genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, arguing that pollen = blown from=20 genetically altered plants could potentially contaminate local organic=20 farms.

Maple Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast Inn and Conference = Center in=20 Hallowell activates Maine=E2=80=99s largest solar array, a 202-tube = solar water heater=20 and fifteen-kilowatt solar electric panels, estimating the assembly will = reduce=20 its annual carbon dioxide emissions by forty thousand pounds; the Maine=20 Department of Environmental Protection awards Maple Hill its first Green = Lodging=20 Inn certification.

2007
Twenty-eight wind = turbines=20 begin producing up to forty-two megawatts of electricity at the top of = Mars Hill=20 Mountain, potentially generating nearly half the output of a coal-fired = power=20 plant.

Thirteen Mainers, including MOFGA Executive Director = Russell=20 Libby and Hannah Pingree, now Speaker of the House of the Maine = legislature,=20 volunteer for a study to detect toxins in their bodies. Thirty-six = different=20 toxic chemicals, including arsenic and mercury =E2=80=94 all caused by = exposure to=20 carpets, fire-retardants, and other common household items =E2=80=94 are = found in their=20 bodies.

Monhegan lobstermen move =E2=80=9CTrap Day=E2=80=9D from = December 1 to October 1.=20 In exchange for the longer season, the fishermen agree to limit their = number of=20 traps to three hundred =E2=80=94 the smallest number of any area in = Maine.

2008
Zach Lyman, son of Maine = boatbuilder=20 Cabot Lyman, invents a solar generator that provides six hundred watts = of power=20 in a self-contained package the size of an oversized cooler =E2=80=94 = plenty of power=20 for any off-the-grid camp or cabin.
Photo Credit: Peach=20 Frederick

A consortium of four entities =E2=80=94 Maine = Maritime Academy,=20 Cianbro Corporation, Marinus Power, and OceanWorks International = =E2=80=94 announces=20 plans to build a testing station on the Bagaduce River to determine the=20 feasibility of tidal power.

Former Governor Angus King proposes = a $15=20 billion network of offshore wind turbines to make Maine the = =E2=80=9CSaudi Arabia=E2=80=9D of=20 wind energy. Several companies, including Rockport summer resident Matt = Simmons=E2=80=99=20 Ocean Energy Institute, have designs in=20 testing.

2009
The Maine Turnpike Authority = raises=20 rates on drivers entering the highway from side interchanges from sixty = cents to=20 a dollar. Ironically, E-ZPass drivers will see smaller increases, and = some may=20 even see their rates drop somewhat, rewarding the pike=E2=80=99s = heaviest=20 users.

Good Lives

A selected history of sustainability in Maine.