ACCORDING TO Island Indicators, a report recently published by the Island Institute, residents of Maine’s offshore islands, in comparison to the state’s general population, read a lot of books. The average per capita library circulation in 2005 for all Maine towns with populations under 1,000 was 5.47; for those with populations between 1,000 and 2,499 it was 4.21. Compare that with the average per capita library circulation for these offshore islands: Islesboro, 21.1; Great Cranberry, 23; Islesford, 30.5;Monhegan, 40.6.
Which isn’t surprising, considering that educational achievement is higher on the islands than it is among Maine’s general population. According to 2000 census figures, 89 percent of islanders have a high school diploma, compared with 85 percent of Mainers.And 32 percent of islanders have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 23 percent of Mainers.
ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL curses these days for the manager of the town dump are the boat owners who prance in with huge wads of shrinkwrap that was used to protect their 50-foot flying- bridge sportfishermen during layup. Now comes a recycler who has come up with what seems like a sane solution. For $15.50 you get a REBAG—a poly bag that will hold up to 600 square feet of shrinkwrap—and a mailing label with prepaid postage.You stuff your stuff, take the whole enchilada to UPS, and it’s gone and you can feel environmentally comfortable with where it went. Information from Dr. Shrink, 315 Washington St., Manistee, MI 49660; 800-968-5147; drshrink@dr-shrink.com.
We can recycle trash; we can recycle ideas. In recent years several Maine towns provided molded fiberglass sculptures to artists and asked them to attack them with an artistic sensibility. Belfast, for example, did it with bears, Rockland with lobsters, and Portland with lighthouses. The results were put on display on street corners and vacant lots in the various downtowns, then auctioned off to the highest bidder.A variation on this theme was taken up by some organizations, which asked artists to decorate various found objects, such as old canoe paddles and chairs. These were later sold to raise funds, the most spectacular result being the $5,000 gained by Bar Harbor’s Abbe Museum from the sale of a paddle with a seagull motif by Jamie Wyeth. The next in this new genre has been organized by Rockland’s Atlantic Challenge/Apprenticeshop, which has encouraged nearly 50 artists to create works from old rudders, oars, half-hull models, bits of sail, etc. The results will be sold at auction on August 16, 2007, at Knight Marine in Rockland. And the next after that will come on October 13, 2007, when the Maine Maritime Museum will raise funds by auctioning off artist-decorated sea chests.
