Town of Orono

At A Glance

Contact: 

Megan Hess

Location: 

Orono, Maine

Primary Issue Area:

  • Climate Change & Energy
  • Environmental Health

Active since:

2021

  • WindowDressers Build 2022 - Middle School Volunteers
  • WindowDressers Build 2022 - Resident Volunteers
  • WindowDressers Build 2022 -  Town Council & University Student Volunteer

Our Purpose

The Town of Orono is composed of residents that are passionate about the environment and ecosystem health. Therefore, the Town of Orono hired an Environmental Services Coordinator (ESC) in the fall of 2021 which started an environmental department of one employee. The ESC was charged with implementing projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the area and improve regional and social vulnerabilities related to climate change. The ESC also educates the public on environmental impacts including stormwater education and water quality. The ESC has been propmoted to Environmental Services Manager (ESM) and oversee's trash, recycling, and the landfill operations additionally. The Town of Orono is governed by seven elected Town Council members who are defined as "the group" in this application that are the decision makers for the Town and thus, direct the Town Manager to guide Town employees, including the ESM. The environmental department is new to the Town, is one employee, and is just getting started implementing projects with a small budget. This includes the first WindowDressers build in 2022 (group spending below). The big picture goal is to have the Town of Orono operations and infrastructure be more environmentally friendly and provide means for vulnerable populations of climate change pressures to have access to solutions.