DEAR SUN SPOTS: I enjoyed the Great Falls Balloon Festival and would like to enter the photo contest. However when I click on the photo contest section of the website, it just has the rules and last year’s photos. Any help or a shared link would be appreciated. — Philip, Lewiston

ANSWER: That is rather curious. I couldn’t find a specific place on the website to submit photos either so I advise you to contact the organizers by emailing info@GreatFallsBalloonFestival.org and asking them. Perhaps they’ll tell you to attach your photo entries to that email address, but to be sure, send a preliminary request. It seems odd that Photo Entries is a menu item but there is nothing to direct you.

The deadline for submitting photos is Sept. 21 and they must be from the 2023 Great Falls Balloon Festival.

Three categories will be judged: adult (18 and up), youth (under 18), and professional. There is a limit of two entries per person.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Please clarify Lewiston’s plastics recycling guidelines and then let’s use your colossal clout to spread the word.

I read recently read a New York Times article that in this country only plastics #1 and #2 are truly recyclable. This is mind-blowing. Is that true for Lewiston? Does the same issue apply to other towns? Please let us know. — Elizabeth, Lewiston

ANSWER: I can point you in the right direction. The best thing you can do is speak to Lewiston Public Works. Call 513-3147 for answers to specific questions or email rstalford@lewistonmaine.gov.

Also, are you aware that there’s an informational brochure available with all the ins and outs of what the city recycles: https://www.lewistonmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/458/Single-Stream-Recycling-Brochure?bidId= ?

Lewiston accepts plastics numbered 1 through 7 for recycling.

A Consumer Reports article suggests that number 1 and 2 plastics (soda and water bottles and milk bottles) are the most recyclable, but that doesn’t mean that other plastics aren’t being processed.

You can also get the information you’re seeking from the Maine Resource Recovery Association. The organization promotes sustainable materials management in Maine by providing educational programs, materials brokering services, and planning tools to municipal and business managers and to solid waste professionals. They most likely have the statewide data you’re looking for.

Another source is ecomaine, a Portland-based waste and recycling agency and facility operator. In its fiscal year 2022, ecomaine, which serves over 70 communities, says it processed, prepared and shipped 943 tons of plastic containers and received more than $735,000 in return from brokers and end markets who purchased those bottles, jugs, cups and tubs “to manufacture new and needed products.”

Readers, if you have anything you’d like to add, please do!

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Regarding the person having a problem with fruit flies (Aug. 11 Sun Spots), I found that when I spray any kind of fly with a glass cleaner, like Windex, it can no longer fly and drops straight down making it an easy target for my swatter. This works for me. — No name, no town

ANSWER: It’s worth a shot. Thanks for the tip!

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