What Bar Harbor is Doing for a Brighter Future

Many know Bar Harbor for its coastal charm and fun-filled streets close to Acadia National Park, but did you know we are deeply committed to sustainability and protecting Mount Desert Island? The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce and organizations in and around Bar Harbor have helped enact ordinances, promoted ecological changes and supported the implementation of green technologies dedicated to a more sustainable future. Here’s what we’re up to:

• The Bar Harbor Conservation Commission enforced a city-wide ordinance, “Light and Glare,” to protect the amazingly dark night skies (the darkest on the Eastern seaboard!) from light pollution. This means that all outdoor lighting in Bar Harbor is required to be “night sky friendly.”
• Bar Harbor organization A Climate to Thrive (ACTT) is dedicated to achieving energy independence by 2030 (local renewable energy solutions). The Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce encourages MDI businesses to take ACTT’s “Sustainable MDI Business Pledge” – you can find the businesses that have proudly taken the pledge, and what is involved in that pledge, here.
• The College of the Atlantic, the first carbon-neutral college in 2017 and an institution that has been repeatedly recognized for being a “Top Green School,” has opened the Community Energy Center to support community conservation and increase educational programs about sustainability.
• The Bar Harbor Task Force on the Climate Emergency works to educate Bar Harbor residents about the climate crisis and actions they can take, identify effective and economic opportunities for emergency-speed reductions of greenhouse gases and provide opportunities for public input and planning.
• Acadia National Park and Friends of Acadia promote sustainable visitation through the Island Explorer, the Acadia Gateway Center and Village Connector Trails to access the park, all of which are aimed at reducing vehicle emissions.