Maine single-sort recycling company ecomaine announced more than $9,500 in grant funding to seven recipients of its 2022 School Recycling Grants, which are designed to raise recycling and composting awareness in schools and communities, and to help schools implement more efficient recycling programs or add composting to their waste collection.

Caleb Hemphill, chair of ecomaine’s Outreach and Recycling Committee, in a June 7 news release, said “ecomaine seeks to provide this funding to help jumpstart some of the programming around recycling, compost, and waste reduction. Providing resources to students to directly engage in thoughtful waste reduction and management is an important goal to us. I am very pleased to see such thoughtful and creative proposals from our students and educators.”

The recipients are located in many parts of the state, and proposed a variety of programs designed to divert waste from landfills:

Appletree School, Cape Elizabeth: Raised beds and soil for compost utilization.
Fiddlehead Center for the Arts, Scarborough: Composting materials.
Fiddlehead Center for the Arts and Sciences, Gray: Composting materials.
King Middle School, Portland: countertop dishwasher, sporks, flatware organizer, and bus tubs to help replace the plastic-wrapped plastic utensils in their cafeteria.
Lyseth Elementary School, Portland: Composting materials.
The Ecology Learning Center, Unity: Classroom waste sorting and collection systems infrastructure.
Westbrook Middle School: Classroom recycling infrastructure and a water bottle refill station.

Recipients were chosen by ecomaine’s Outreach and Recycling Committee based on the following criteria:

(1.) Project outline and school commitment.

(2.) Ease of project replication.

(3.) Likelihood of success and program sustainability.

(4.) How compelling and worthy the funding is, overall.

Along with its grants program, ecomaine also promotes increased public awareness of sustainable waste management through its eco-Excellence Awards, Upcycle Challenge, Recycling is a Work of Art painting contest, and a public education and outreach program. So far this fiscal year, ecomaine has reached more than 71,000 school children and members of the public through grants, tours, presentations and events.

Saco & Biddeford Savings donates office furniture

Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution has donated more than 100 pieces of office furniture to six local organizations. The like-new furniture came from branch renovations in Saco, Biddeford, Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough and South Portland.

Lou McAuliffe, facilities & security manager for Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution,  got the idea to donate the furniture and invited local nonprofits to each location before renovations started. Nonprofits were able to select office furniture that fit their needs, and the Saco & Biddeford Savings facilities team was on hand to help load vehicles for transportation and delivery.

“When we looked at the condition of the furniture, we knew it needed to be rehomed because it has so much life left in it,” said McAuliffe in an email. “Giving back to the communities we serve is part of who we are, and it just made sense for this stuff to continue to be useful to others. We thought this was the perfect way to honor our commitment to our communities.”

Donated items included desks, guest seating, filing cabinets and bookshelves.

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