Solar Energy: Retrofitting and New Construction with ReVision Energy
2024-03-28 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Abbott Room
Whether you have an existing home or are drawing up plans to build your dream home; learn from ReVision Energy’s Solar Design Specialist, Will Field, about how to prep yourself for solar and the all-electric household model.
Modern technology makes it cost-effective and sensible to build a 100% solar-powered home, with no utility bills and a minimal carbon footprint. At ReVision Energy, we’ve helped thousands of homeowners achieve their dream of living in a solar-powered home through retrofitting and new construction, whether we work directly with the homeowner, or with their builder or architect. We are excited to share our 20+ years of experience and advice with you, including next steps!

Solar Workshop Series with ReVision Energy- Solar + Storage
2024-04-11 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
“Join ReVision Energy’s Brandon Mazur, for a discussion about how people are making the cost-effective switch to solar combined with battery storage for backup power.
Learn how you can combine solar power with reliable battery storage to make your home resilient in the face of unknown health and environmental threats. When paired with modern, robust battery technology, today’s solar panels provide the ultimate resiliency package while reducing carbon pollution and our societal need to import dirty fossil fuels. With a rooftop array you can make 100% of the energy you need, while the battery storage ensures backup power when the sun isn’t shining, or the grid goes down.”

Belfast Garden Club Presentation: Controlling Stormwater Runoff with Fred Bowers
2024-04-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Abbott Room
Storm runoff can stoke soil erosion and damage plants. Luckily there are man-made solutions to erosion, which rely on fundamental natural soil processes. We’ll learn how to design rain gardens with consideration to natural soil and geologic processes, and about a possible demo rain garden for Belfast. Plus: other “green” options, such as eliminating impervious surfaces altogether, terracing, planting shrubs and trees in strategic places to soak up water or divert it, and other methods.
Fred Bowers is a Ph.D. soil scientist. Soils, topography, and vegetation were his research interests at Rutgers and the University of Washington graduate schools. In his 27-year career at New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, he was a research scientist in charge of stormwater and groundwater programs.
Click here to register for Zoom

Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition: Planet vs Plastics (part 1)
2024-04-18 17:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
Earth Day is Monday, April 22. Earth Day reminds us to think about our beautiful environment and all that we can and should do to preserve it. This is especially important this year when we have had continual reminders of how fragile life on this earth is and how human behavior has affected it.
This year, the national Earth Day organization is focusing on the reduction of the use of plastics – “Planet vs. Plastics.” The organization has set a goal of reducing plastic production by 60% by the year 2040. In keeping with this theme, BBWC and the Belfast Free Library have planned two programs that address the effects of plastics on our environment:
• Thursday, April 18, in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library, will be the first of our “Planet vs. Plastics” presentations. At 5:30, there will be a showing of Earth Day posters created by area students. At 6:00, Plastic Pollution Solutions, a BBWC committee working to decrease the use of single use plastics, will discuss their efforts.
At 6:30, Dr. Charles Rolsky, Executive Director and Senior Research Analyst of the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill, will present a talk on the impact of plastic pollution on the environment and what we can do to help. Light refreshments will be served.
• Tuesday evening, April 23 will be part two of Planet vs. Plastics. At 6:00, we will show the award winning doumentary A Plastic Ocean, followed by discussion about what we can do to limit our personal use of single use plastics.

Earth Day Film Presentation: A Plastic Ocean
2024-04-23 18:00 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
Part 2 of Planet vs. Plastics programming co-sponsored by the Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition.
A Plastic Ocean is an award-winning feature length documentary brought to you by a group of dedicated scientists, film-makers, social entrepreneurs, scholars, environmentalists and journalists, that explores the fragile state of our oceans and uncovers alarming truths about the consequences of our disposable lifestyle.
A Plastic Ocean documents the global effects of plastic pollution and highlights workable technologies and innovative solutions that everyone – from governments to individuals – can do, to create a cleaner and greener ocean.
After the film we will have a discussion about what we can do to limit our personal use of single use plastic.

Community Solar 101- with ReVision Energy-
2024-04-25 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
“Shaded roof? Renting? No worries! ReVision Energy’s Solar Farm expert, Kevin Boyan, will share how you can access the benefits of going solar by joining a local Community Solar Farm (CSF).
Join us for a presentation and Q+A to learn how you can get your electricity from a local solar farm while lowering your monthly electricity cost and getting a 30% Federal Tax Credit on your investment.
In this discussion you’ll learn:
– What is the cost of community solar farm shares for Central Maine Power utility users?
– What is the difference between Ownership vs. Subscription based CSF models?
– Who is eligible to invest in community solar farm shares in Maine? – How does our community solar farm ownership model work in CMP territory?
– Why is community solar critical to the clean energy transition?
– Available financing and tax credit options”

Reporting on Resilience and Solutions in Maine’s Changing Climate a panel discussion with reporters from the Maine Monitor
2024-09-17 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
The doom and gloom of climate change coverage can distract from the important work that’s already being done. Hear from reporters with The Maine Monitor, Maine’s only state-wide investigative nonprofit news outlet, about how The Maine Monitor covers the work Maine communities are doing to prepare for sea level rise and climate change-intensified natural disasters. Editor Kate Cough and reporters Emmett Gartner and Annie Ropeik will share their insights and how they approach environmental journalism, which appears in The Maine Monitor and in their weekly Climate Monitor newsletters.
To register for the zoom option click here

Kate Cough, Emmett Gartner, Annie Ropeik

This program is part of the “Finding Hope In Our Climate Crisis : A lecture series on Climate Change Solutions” brought to you in cooperation with the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition and the Belfast Free Library.

Water Quality and Climate Action in Waldo County
2024-10-01 18:00 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
Join us for a community meeting and panel discussion organized by members of the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition centered around our community’s watershed. This event will focus on water stewardship as a critical component of broader climate action efforts. We aim to increase understanding of the local watershed, spark discourse on sustainable ways forward, and encourage collective action through local initiatives.
Featured Speakers:
Joy Bowles, Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition Vice President, Watershed Quality Chair.
As the lead in Water Quality, Joy brings her expertise on water monitoring practices and how to protect and improve the health of the Belfast Bay Watershed.
Jill Howell, Upstream Watch and Penobscot Bay Waterkeeper
The Executive Director of Upstream Watch, which also functions as the Penobscot Bay Waterkeeper, Jill advocates for the health of our local rivers, enforcement of environmental regulations, and public education.
John Krueger, Friends of Harriet L. Hartley Board Member
John shares his long history of environmental health and advocacy, including as Director of the Maine State Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory. He has particular expertise and interest in the nitrogen levels and plastic pollution in the Belfast Bay Watershed.
Register for the Zoom link here.

This program is part of the “Finding Hope In Our Climate Crisis : A lecture series on Climate Change Solutions” brought to you in cooperation with the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition and the Belfast Free Library.

Food Waste and Climate Change: What is the Connection? with Susanne Lee
2024-10-15 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
In the U.S. and Maine, 40% of the food that we produce is never eaten – wasting the money, energy, and other valuable resources that are used to produce that food. The results are rising food costs, hunger and nutrition issues, and environmental damage. The good news is that there are simple and effective food waste actions that can be taken to end this problem.
Join Susanne Lee as she shares these solutions to help reduce food waste in your home and community. She will also highlight Food Rescue MAINE’s food waste research projects where her team works with community and business partners to implement these solutions.
Susanne Lee is a faculty fellow with the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine. Susanne’s career as an entrepreneurial business executive saw her successfully creating, launching and operating multi-million-dollar consumer products brands and businesses with Fortune 100 companies as well as lean start-ups. She joined the Mitchell Center in fall 2021 where she leads a team working directly with state, business, and community stakeholders as well as national and global food waste experts to develop solutions to end food waste in Maine.
Register for the Zoom link here.

This program is part of the “Finding Hope In Our Climate Crisis : A lecture series on Climate Change Solutions” brought to you in cooperation with the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition, The UU Church Climate Action Team and the Belfast Free Library.

Updates and Recommendations from the Maine Climate Council with Ivan Fernandez
2024-10-29 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
Updates from the Maine Climate Council about Maine Won’t Wait
with Ivan Fernandez, Distinguished Professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute and co-chair of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of
the Maine Climate Council.

Register for the Zoom link here

The Center for Ecological Teaching and Learning with Coleen O'Connell
2024-11-12 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
The Center for Ecological Teaching and Learning
Coleen O’Connell, board vice president, will share what this research field station on Cobscoock Bay is doing to help our understanding of the effects of Climate Change in our region.
Click here to register for the Zoom option.
The Center for Ecological Teaching and Learning (CETL) is the metamorphosis of the former Friedman Field Station of Suffolk University. For 47 years this rustic marine field
laboratory operated on Cobscook Bay in Downeast Maine. People of all ages came to do research, learn about ecology, teaching, and living in harmony with nature and each
other. Then that field station went up for sale. A small group of folks, who are passionate about Cobscook Bay, put in a bid to buy it and reopen it as an educational field station once again.
It now offers programs to diverse groups: families, local school children, and high school and college students from around the country. Some come seeking inspiration for their artwork, others to
collect data for research, others to unplug and connect with family and friends, and some for silent retreat. For all, the unique beauty of this special place is unforgettable.
Since the founding of the field station, visual and performing arts have been an important feature of participant experiences. Visitors may engage in scientific field journaling, academics, nature printing, theater arts, music and so much more.
Coleen O’Connell founded and taught the Lesley University Masters of Ecological Teaching and Learning, a division of Audubon Expedition Institute, on this location at what is now the next generation CETL, Center for Ecological and Learning. Coleen had many years of experience teaching and learning as faculty on the Audubon Expedition Institute bus, facilitating transformative experiential education with college students traveling all over the US, and supervised master’s candidates throughout their degree.
Come learn about the rejuvenation and new life of this lovely natural spot on Cobscook Bay.

This program is part of the “Finding Hope In Our Climate Crisis : A lecture series on Climate Change Solutions” brought to you in cooperation with the members of the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition. More at waldoclimateaction.org

Public Meeting: Harbor Vulnerability Assessment
2025-01-13 18:00 - 19:30 | Abbott Room

Efficiency Maine Presentation
2025-02-11 18:30 - 20:00
Save Money Heating Your Home or Business
Do you know that Efficiency Maine has programs to subsidize installation of : heat pumps in your home or trailer, hot water heat pumps in your home or trailer, and heat pumps for your business, multi family home or commercial space????
Satchel Toole, Program Manager at Efficiency Maine will share about how Efficiency Maine Programs can help.
In person in the Abbott Room and on Zoom. Register for the Zoom link here.
Co-sponsored by the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition and the Belfast Free Library.

Come Boating! Winter Adventure Series : Scallop Farming in Penobscot Bay
2025-03-18 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
Andrew and Samantha Peters founded Vertical Bay in 2018 as a model for scallop farming in Maine. Andrew will discuss how their scallops are grown in the nutrient-rich waters of the Penobscot Bay, the “ear-hanging” method of farming he uses, how he has benefitted from the work of research institutions in Maine and the challenges and opportunities scallop farming presents.
This program is jointly sponsored by Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition, the Belfast Free Library and Come Boating.
It will be held in the Abbott Room with a ZOOM option. Register for the Zoom here.

Our Maine Fibershed a presentation with Pat Harpell
2025-04-01 18:30 - 20:00 | Abbott Room
Our Maine Fibershed: Change your Fiber, Help the Climate- a presentation with Pat Harpell
Pat Harpell, co-founder of the Maine Fibershed, will talk about easy ways that individuals can make a sea change of difference with their fiber choices. She will discuss how to differentiate fresh carbon from fossil carbon fibers, and how a Soil-to-Soil system works, the importance of local fiber to our economy, and how raw wool is being used to replenish soil.
Pat will take us on a “tour” of Maine’s rich fiber farms via a garland of local fiber swatches that range from alpaca to yak, and learn what is needed to go from shorn sheep to a locally-made garment. Come learn how the Maine Fibershed plays a role in carbon sequestration, diminished greenhouse gas emissions, erosion control, flood and drought mitigation and income equity throughout our local fiber supply chain.
The program will be held in the Abbott Room with Zoom Option. Register for the Zoom link here.

This program is presented by the member organizations of the Waldo County Climate Action Coalition and the Belfast Free Library.
