Maine
Maine based start-up getting federal grant support to scale up fish friendly packaging
A Maine based start-up is getting a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to scale up its packaging that is fish friendly. Paramount Planet Product uses cellulose to create materials that can be molded into take-out food containers.
Founder Adriadne Dimoula said many plastics are made with chemicals that can’t be recycled, but cellulose will naturally break down in the environment.
“That natural ability to dissolve, to biodegrade, and to not have toxic materials in it is one of the principles that we utilize in the design in our products. Nature can process it or digest it because it’s never gone through a synthetic process,” Dimoula said. “The materials that are plastic don’t have an end of life design. They have a multitude of chemicals mixed in that make it hard to reuse at the end of its life and can make it very toxic.”
Dimoula said her products can be recycled in paper streams, are ocean compostable, and don’t harm fish.
Paramount Planet Product hopes to have products ready for the hospitality industry at a commercial scale in a few years.
Dimoula is also starting a foundation to test other packaging and wants to help producers improve the circular design of their packaging to make it recyclable and more environmentally friendly.
Paramount Planet Product has offices in Westbrook and Orono. They also use a lab at the Roux Institute.
The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition says over the past two weeks its immigrant defense hotline has seen an uptick in reported ICE detentions.
They say this corresponds with a national shift in ICE activity, including bids for local businesses to cooperate with ICE.
In Maine, the arrests follow a broader trend of targeting Black and brown immigrants, including people navigating immigration proceedings.
The coalition, which represents more than 100 organizations, says it’s ready to protect civil and human rights and is urging immigrants to prepare themselves and their families.
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They suggest having the defense hotline ready in case you witness ICE activity, making sure you have important personal documents in case of detention, and reviewing rights around judicial warrants in private spaces, like your home or workplace.
It wouldn’t be Mother’s Day without a stop at the florist.
According to Fox Business, about 154 million flowers are sold during the week of Mother’s Day. So it’s safe to say it was a busy day for stores like Estabrook’s Maine Garden Center and Nursery.
Plenty of families stopped by to pick out flowers on Sunday, looking to choose the perfect bouquet for their moms.
“I think Mother’s Day is tradition, you know, and so it’s great to see families here. We have a lot of new families that have come today for the first time with their young children and their mother. Watching the young kids and seeing how excited they are—their eyes light up at all the beautiful flowers,” Tom Estabrook, president of Estabrook’s, said.
Estabrook says Mother’s Day tends to be a great kickoff to the spring season.
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