Wednesday, April 17

Dear Reader,

Dot is a huge fan of second-hand treasures! Whether it’s clothes (I recently scored an authentic gorgeous Versace blouse for $40), furniture (sitting in my comfy second-hand down-filled armchair as I write this), or even dogs (got mine off Facebook from someone looking to rehome his dog!), second-hand is first in my book. And today’s Climate Champ, Sandra Goldmark, is a kindred spirit. 

Goldmark, Senior Assistant Dean at Columbia University Climate School and Director of Sustainability at Barnard College, is a believer in and promoter of a circular economy. ‘If it’s broke, fix it,’ is this Climate Champ’s motto. Almost everything she owns, she says, used to belong to someone else (she makes exceptions for underwear and socks), and she wrote a book — Fixation: How to Have Stuff without Breaking the Planet — to guide us all toward a world in which we fix things rather than toss them.

“In the not-too-distant future,” she told the Washington Post’s Michael Coren, “we should be able to walk into a Target, Walmart or a local small business to see a comparable display of new and used stuff, as well as a good repair service.” 

Goldmark has plenty of like-minded compadres, judging by the response to Bluedot Toronto’s story about Repair Cafés — “A New Life for Broken Things” — which remains that site's most popular story by a long shot. Seems a whole lot of us have closets full of broken toasters and kettles, chipped ceramics that need gluing, and socks that need darning. 

Circularly, 

Dot