Mar 10, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Maine Seacoast Mission.
BAR HARBOR—A July 2022 waste audit in Bar Harbor showed that approximately 12% of the town’s solid waste came from single-use containers.
The town also spends more than $2.5 million to dispose of municipal solid waste (MSW) each year, according to volunteer Elizabeth Chen.
“By reducing MSW, that money can be used for better causes than discarding our trash,” Chen said.
Now, there’s a pilot project meant to help reduce that waste stream a bit and therefore also reduce the cost to Bar Harbor property tax payers.
ReuseMe launches this month and and one of the project’s goals is to reduce the waste stream by offering reusable packaging for food and beverages.
Beginning this month, Coffee Matter Café customers can choose to have their food or their beverage packaged in returnable stainless steel containers. Cafe This Way will launch the program there in May when the restaurant opens.
Customers can sign up to borrow the containers the same way people check out a library book via a Recirclable app where they can create a free account.
“We are so excited to partner with ReuseMe in its pilot program,” Coffee Matter Café owner Cristina Devora said in a press release. “Our customers will have the opportunity to be the first on MDI to try out the reusable to-go containers, reducing the impact of disposable to-go items on our coastal community.”
According to the press release, the program stems from researchers from the University of Maine and the volunteer coalition Reuse Maine Coalition, which designed and implemented the pilot in Bar Harbor, Bath, and South Portland.
Local partners include the Town of Bar Harbor, the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, A Climate to Thrive, and Zero Waste MDI. The Chamber and the town hosted a listening session about trash in 2024.
And then there are local volunteers who have been involved as well.
“I got involved in this project through A Climate to Thrive,” Chen said. “Johannah Blackman, the executive director of ATTC, asked those of us on the Zero Waste MDI committee to participate. I think this is a great project that can make a difference in the solid waste disposal in Bar Harbor and was keen to help.”
The project hopes to see if reusable takeout packaging can help save communities and businesses money, reduce waste, and prevent some plastic from polluting the area’s land and waters. It also aligns with the town’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for strategies to decrease “resource consumption and waste” and an effort to “minimize all community-wide waste to the greatest extent possible by 2030.”
Restaurant participants in a recent University of Maine survey said they spent an average of $2,039 each month on disposable food packaging and collectively spent $5,880 on waste management services, which averages to $420 dollars each month.
“In addition to reducing MSW and the associated tipping fees for hauling/disposal, decreasing the amount of plastic, mostly non-recyclable, from the waste stream is important,” Chen said. “Microplastics are a big problem for human health. Scientists are just beginning to understand the detrimental effects of microplastics, e.g., inflammation, cell death, and genetic changes in brain, reproductive, and cardiovascular tissues.”
Chen hopes that the pilot will show that reusable foodware containers can decrease time and money restaurants spend on disposable takeout containers and decrease MSW tonnage, as it has in other communities. And, that the program can be expanded to include more restaurants and food service organizations on MDI.
“These are a few of the reasons I wanted to get involved. There are many others as well, including energy consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, less water usage, etc,” she said.
In June 2025 University of Maine researchers performed baseline food packaging surveys. According to the press release, they found that “single-use packaging generates significant waste while cutting into restaurant profit margins and municipal solid waste management budgets.”
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Read the baseline survey report here.
Bar Harbor Climate Action Plan
Reusable Takeout Packaging Pilot Launches in Bar Harbor
Getting Rid of Trash is a Costly Business
HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY
When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.
We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.
If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.
It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.
Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.
Thank you so much for being here.
Founding member information can be found here.
Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.
Discover more from Bar Harbor Story
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.