Sam Lemonick

Chris McIntire was content. He had made goals — to live on Orr's Island, to fish for a living, to raise a family — and by working hard, he had achieved them. Maybe more than anything else, he wanted to make sure his children could also have the life that satisfied him so much, if they wanted it.

Because of changes in global markets, the cost of recycling in Harpswell has more than tripled in the last decade. It is now more expensive by volume to dispose of recyclables than trash — and it isn't clear how much of those recyclables are recycled, or how much ends up in landfills. But town officials intend to stay the course because residents value recycling. And those residents recycle more and with less contamination than national averages.