Every other Sunday, Bluedot Living Martha's Vineyard will share stories about local changemakers, Islanders’ sustainable homes and yards, planet-friendly recipes and tips, along with advice from Dear Dot. Did your friend
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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Two years ago, Bluedot Living writer Sam Moore spoke with Dr. Michael Moore, a senior scientist at WHOI involved in “nearly every facet of cetacean (whale) conservation on the East Coast — as a biologist, as a veterinarian, and, all too often, as a mortician.” In this picture, Dr. Moore took in 1983, an ailing whale is euthanized. We were reminded of Sam’s story this past week when we read that scientists at the New England Aquarium determined that a dead North Atlantic right whale washed up on Cow Bay two weeks ago had been entangled in fishing gear since 2022, when it was seen entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada.
Read Sam’s story to understand what whale biologists are doing to save
right whales, and what you can do to help. (Don’t miss the recordings of whale songs in Vineyard sound from the 1950s.)
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Quick Links
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Skip scrolling! Here's what you'll find in this edition of the Bluedot Newsletter:
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Rez Williams: A Lover of Our Landscapes
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We were so sorry to hear that Island artist and conservationist Rez Williams died this week. Most Vineyarders can recognize Rez’s work from across a room — fishermen at work or craggy landscapes — and also immediately
understand his love for the beauty in our built and primary landscapes. When I edited MV Arts and Ideas Magazine, Hermine Hull wrote about Rez painting on Monhegan Island in Maine: “How to turn it into something? That is the eternal question artists ask themselves. It was definitely a challenge, to take that scruffy, chaotic mess of downed, dead trees with bare branches going
every which way … Rocky outcroppings carried the eye to far-off spaces, or stopped that same eye with a huge and solid presence that blocked out everything else. The ocean surrounded it all.”
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Rez cherished the Vineyard landscape so much, and worked in many ways to help protect what we have, producing this WPA-style poster of Cedar Tree Neck to support Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation (image courtesy of SMF). Rest in
peace, Rez.
Sue Hruby wrote us about the dynamic West Tisbury Library Climate Book Club. “We read both nonfiction and fiction to educate ourselves about,” she said about the books the library supplies to club members, “and to explore all dimensions and thinking about the climate crisis. We also support each other — ohhh so much better than reading this sometimes-scary material all alone.” At their next meeting on Sunday, Feb. 18th at 4 pm (at the library), the
group will be discussing Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet, by Hannah Ritchie.
Josh Katz, who manages our advertising sales for the Martha’s Vineyard publications, often mentions great ideas he’s picked up from our advertisers — it’s one of the best ways we hear about things we want to write about. Over the years, we’ve written about solar panels, passive homes, and how (and why) to wild your backyard after longtime advertisers Harvest Sun Solar, Farley Pedler, and the BiodiversityWorks’ Natural Neighbors Program alerted us to what they’re working on.
If you have a business that offers eco-friendly products or services, please tell us! You can write me at editor@bluedotliving.com. And if you’d like to share your message with our readers — 5,000 in this biweekly newsletter and more than 10,000 for each print magazine, all passionate about living more sustainably — get in touch with Josh Katz (josh@bluedotliving.com). We start work on the spring issue of the magazine in a few weeks.
Thank you, and we’ll see you in two weeks.
–Jamie Kageleiry (and Leslie Garrett)
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Create a (Simple) At-Home Harvest
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A single purchase of green onion, celery, and living herbs from your local grocery store can kickstart an abundant supply of home-grown food when you replant them, ensuring you never have to repurchase easy-to-grow produce again. For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here.
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          Paid Advertisement
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Can You Find Ethical Chocolate?
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In search of more ethical, planet-friendly chocolate? It’s chocolate season, and we wish something so satisfying were not also so fraught: Much chocolate is a product of child labor and environmentally devastating agricultural practices. In Cambridge, Lori Shapiro launched Sueños Chocolates in 2020 with the dream of bringing Ecuador’s heirloom cacao varieties — world-renowned for their exceptional aromas and flavors, and lack of bitterness — to chocolate lovers
in the U.S. The farms she sources her cacao from prioritize preserving the region’s biodiversity, use organic practices, and treat their workforce ethically.
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BUY LESS/BUY BETTER:Â
Cleaning Up Your Laundry Routine
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The Bluedot Marketplace includes affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of our links, we may earn a commission, essentially a small digital finder’s fee.
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We were delighted to see that the New York Times product review site Wirecutter recently added Bluedot fave Dirty Labs to its list of top-five laundry detergents. This week, you’ll get discounts on Dirty Labs — and two other BuyBetter clean laundry essentials — with code BLUEDOT.
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Great Detergent
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Wirecutter writes that “this hyper-concentrated liquid detergent is an effective stain remover, with cleaning power that rivals our top picks.” We love this plastic-free brand, which comes in sophisticated scents, as well as a fragrance-free option. Save 15% with code BLUEDOT.
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Buy now orÂ
read our review.
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Darling Dryer Balls
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Friendsheep has elevated dryer balls to an art with its beautiful colors and patterns. Colorful dryer balls also serve a practical purpose: They’re much easier to find when you’re folding! Check out the cute décor and pet toys, too. Save 10% with code BLUEDOT.
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Buy now orÂ
read our review.
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Microplastic Minimizer
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Buy the Cora Ball once and leave it in your washing machine. It will capture almost a third of the microplastics your clothes shed during each cycle and prevent them from being released into the water. Amazing, right? Save 15% with code BLUEDOT.
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Buy now orÂ
read our review.
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Dear Dot: How, Eggs-actly, Can I Support Happy Hens?
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– Illustration by Elissa Turnbull
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Dear Dot,
What is the difference between pasture-raised hens (and therefore eggs), cage-free, or free-run? I want eggs only from the happiest of hens.
–Rona, West Tisbury
Dear Rona,
Oh, my hen-loving friend … your innocent question has opened up a can of mealworms that has, no yolk, seriously ruffled my feathers. It would seem that the $6.1 billion U.S. egg industry has more than its share of rotten ova. Egg producers have taken carton blanche to mislead us with labels, and making sense of the various egg classifications is enough to scramble our brains. But let’s crack this open. I hope my response meets your eggs-pectations.
What are
(and where can you find) eggs from “happy hens? Read Dot’s response.
See more Dot here. Got a question for her? Write her at
deardot@bluedotliving.com
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Sign up here for Your Daily Dot newsletter! Get a daily dose of Dot's eco-friendly wisdom when she answers your sustainability questions.
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BLUEDOT KITCHEN
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When we think of Super Bowl Sunday, we think snacks, and meals that are easy to eat in front of the television. Bluedot San Diego recipe contributor Nicole Litvack brought us this Quick Chicken Liver Pâté and reminds us that using all parts of the animal (such as livers) means less waste. Some Bluedotters think this Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chili is the best meatless version they’ve tried. See if you agree.
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Mr. Fix-it helps us repair things instead of replacing them: It’s always best to get more life out of your stuff, right? In this video he shows us how to get sediment out of the bottom of your hot water tank. Who knew that could make it last so much longer? I personally didn’t think this was something I’d ever dare try on my
own (visions of my flooded basement from the storms a few weeks ago are still vibrating in my brain), but Mr. Fix-it makes it look manageable! –J.K.
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HANDBOOK
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Wondering where to buy fresh greens in the winter? Check out our Shades of Winter Green story. For more handy-dandy info, consult our Ultimate Simple, Smart, Sustainable Handbook to Martha’s Vineyard.
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What’s Behind the Name “Bluedot”?
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“There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world,” astronomer Carl Sagan wrote in 1994’s Pale Blue Dot. “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” Sagan’s humbling words inspire us to deliver stories to you that reflect his and so many others’ work to cherish this blue dot. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to your friends and family to share and inspire real-world eco-actions we can take at home and in our Martha’s Vineyard community.Â
Thanks for being part of our Bluedot community!
–Jamie Kageleiry and Leslie Garrett
Editors, Bluedot Living Martha’s VineyardÂ
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Jamie Kageleiry, a longtime magazine and newspaper editor from Oak Bluffs, says her favorite spot on earth is on the trails around Farm Pond, and out in a kayak there, looking at birds.
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Leslie Garrett has been covering climate stories for close to two decades. A newcomer part-time to the Vineyard, she’s still figuring out her favorite spot but it’s definitely near the water.
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