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Friday, October 11, 2024

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Florida picks up the pieces after Hurricane Milton; Georgia elected officials say Hurricane Helene was a climate change wake-up call; Hosiers are getting better civic education; the Senate could flip to the GOP in November; New Mexico postal vans go electric; and Nebraska voters debate school vouchers.

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Civil rights groups push for a voter registration deadline extension in Georgia, federal workers helping in hurricane recovery face misinformation and threats of violence, and Brown University rejects student divestment demands.

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Hurricane Helene has some rural North Carolina towns worried larger communities might get more attention, mixed feelings about ranked choice voting on the Oregon ballot next month, and New York farmers earn money feeding school kids.

ME tackles food waste in effort to mitigate climate change

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Monday, September 30, 2024   

A new study found Maine households are a leading contributor of food waste in local landfills, which in turn contributes to climate change.

Researchers said as the waste breaks down, it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Susanne Lee, faculty fellow for the Sen. George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Science at the University of Maine, said reducing food waste is one of the easiest ways to solve the problem.

"Not everybody can get a new electric vehicle but everybody can shop more wisely, do meal planning," Lee pointed out.

Lee noted new data on where and how food waste is generated will be added to the state's climate plan. She argued it could help in building the needed infrastructure to transport, store and distribute excess food from farms and businesses. About one in eight Mainers experienced food insecurity in 2022, including one in five children.

A recent pilot program helped four elementary schools in Maine reduce their food waste by up to 20% while improving kids' nutrition. Students learned about waste in landfills and got a close-up look at their own waste by sorting their scraps and trash. Lee believes early education programs will be key to helping Mainers build sustainable habits and ensure the state reaches its own climate goal of net-zero emissions by 2045.

"A simple 10-minute explanation of how food is meant to be nutritious and not meant to be trash," Lee explained. "These children can get it."

Lee added new funding will allow researchers to continue the elementary school programs and even follow one school's students into middle school to see if their new habits stick. Legislators are also considering an outright ban on food waste in landfills, something already enacted in every other New England state.


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