Isenhour interviewed for News Center Maine report on plastic straws
Cindy Isenhour, an assistant professor of anthropology and climate change at the University of Maine and a cooperating faculty member at the Climate Change Institute, was interviewed by News Center Maine for a report on reducing plastic straw waste. Many restaurants in Maine, from Portland to Bar Harbor, are looking for alternatives to plastic straws ahead of the busy summer season — but not just to discourage people from asking for them, according to the report. “Interestingly enough in terms of materials used, that doesn’t make as much of a difference as the social pressure that it generates,” Isenhour said of individual consumer efforts. The larger movement will eventually shift the responsibility to manufacturers to meet demand for alternatives to plastic, Isenhour told News Center Maine.