The Strategy Center Blog

With a mission of establishing a renewable liquid fuels industry, Biofine Developments Northeast (BDNE) is at the forefront of the emerging sustainable bioeconomy in Maine. The company seeks to use cellulosic waste materials including forest residues and municipal solid waste to make 100% renewable, CO2 negative heating fuel and chemicals using underutilized infrastructure in rural Maine—replacing toxic, polluting fossil fuels and petrochemicals. "Biofine Developments Northeast is honored to...+ Read more

Fred Stone is the third generation of the Stone family to own and operate Stoneridge Farm, a dairy farm in Arundel, Maine. Until recently, the daily rhythm of raising, feeding, and milking cows defined Fred’s life. And then, one fateful day in November of 2016, Fred received life-altering bad news. On that day, Fred received a letter from the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District. He learned the water district had tested well water from his property a few months earlier, during the...+ Read more

Maine faces an alarming and growing public health problem as a result of sewage sludge laced with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), that, when spread as fertilizer on Maine’s farmland, pollutes our food, farms, and groundwater with these toxic chemicals. The state has so far failed to address the problem —and now, it’s proposing a path forward that may be just as bad or worse. At the August 28 PFAS taskforce meeting, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner...+ Read more

We've just released a new report —the largest study of its kind, to date—that found one out of seven vinyl or PVC food service gloves contained toxic chemicals called phthalates (THAL-eights) that can leach into food. Worse? Two-thirds of the popular fast food restaurants we visited were using vinyl gloves to handle and serve food. Some PVC gloves from McDonald's tested positive for phthalates. (See how all restaurants ranked here .) We’re calling on McDonald’s, the top restaurant by sales in...+ Read more

Our recent work tackling toxic PFAS chemicals (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) has taken us from farm fields in rural Maine to the nation’s capital. Here’s a peek into our efforts on the state and national fronts to tackle the growing crisis of PFAS contamination in our food, water, and soil. (Read the previous installments in our “Tackling Toxic PFAS” series here , here , and here .) Are children and families in Maine drinking milk contaminated with toxic PFAS? Despite recent...+ Read more