Welcome to Bluedot Los Angeles! Every other Sunday, we share stories about local changemakers, sustainable homes and yards, the nature all around us along with planet-friendly recipes, and advice from Dear Dot. Please email us with story ideas at laeditor@bluedotliving.com. Together, we can make a difference for the blue dot we call home.
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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If “plant butcher” sounds like an oxymoron to you, you’re exactly the type of customer Nia Campos, owner of The Plant Butchers in Long Beach, wants to see walking through her doors. “I personally love when those people come in, because then we get to show them how wrong they really are and how delicious plant-based food is,” she says. Campos’s shop opened last year, part of a wave of vegan delis that have debuted across the country in the past couple of years, introducing plant-based meats and cheeses to foodies from Minneapolis to Salt Lake City to L.A. It’s a labor of love, says Joe Egender, co-owner of Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher Shop in Highland Park. “We’re just making a similar taste using different ingredients,” he says. “It makes perfect sense
to us to create things that taste, look and smell similar to what we like, but to do it in a way that is sustainable for the planet and doesn’t hurt animals.”
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Quick Links
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Skip scrolling! Here’s what you’ll find in today’s Bluedot Los Angeles Newsletter:
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Central California orchards produce more stone fruit than any other region in the world. But a lot of that fruit gets discarded before it ever gets to market — nearly four million pounds daily in peak season, in fact.
Ben Moore, a fourth-generation farmer, aims to change that with his company, The Ugly Co., which transforms damaged cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots into dried fruit
snacks. Last year, the company saved two million pounds of fruit from becoming landfill waste. If you’re looking to replace your heating and cooling system, chances are you’ve heard about heat pumps.
They’re cleaner and more energy-efficient, and federal and state programs offer rebates and tax incentives to homeowners who install them. But how well do they actually work, and are they right for your home? Writer Alec Ross answers those questions, and more.
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Dear Dot: Does Solar Work on Cloudy Days?
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–Illustration by Elissa Turnbull
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Dear Dot,
What happens when solar panels do not gather enough energy to power the home? Does solar gather power during cloudy/rainy/snowy days or only during sunny days?
—Sam
Dear Solar-Curious Sam,
An app on my phone features a tiny red lightning bolt against a white background. It is called “mySolarEdge,” and when I click on it, I am taken to an image of a tiny cartoon house set in a land of lavender clouds where the sun’s rays are transformed into energy that is charted on a bar graph. I can see, for instance, that on April 18, the solar panels on my roof produced roughly 70 kWh of electricity. The day before, a much cloudier day, it was just over 20 kWh.
I adore that app. It delivers joy right into my orbitofrontal cortex (Eldest Dot Child, a neuroscience Masters student, tells me it’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but for our purposes …). MySolarEdge tells me that 102 trees have been planted since my panels went “live” less than a year ago. These are metaphorical trees, of course. My panels cannot plant trees, but they can do the work of trees, and that’s pretty cool.
I want this joy for you, Sam. I want those metaphorical trees planted for you, too. I want it for all of us. Joy and trees for everyone!
And so let me shed some light on your very good questions — questions that so many also wonder about — in the hopes that you, too, will become a solevangelist like me.
Read the rest of Dot’s answer.
Got a question for Dot? Write her at deardot@bluedotliving.com.
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BUY LESS/BUY BETTER: Athletic Clothing
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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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If you’re one of the many people who have committed to exercising more in the new year, you may want another pair of leggings or snag-resistant pants to your wardrobe. Whether you’re hiking, doing yoga, or hitting the gym, these brands have you covered.
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Boody
Boody’s best known for super-soft underthings, tees, and basics made from bamboo viscose. We also recommend their activewear, which is made from viscose and organic cotton, with a little spandex for stretch. (Men and women.)
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Buy now or
read our
review.
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Prana
Bluedotters across the country love Prana’s tops, bottoms, and dresses for hiking, yoga, and just hanging out. The brand makes simple yet attractive clothing that doesn’t distract from the task at hand. (Men and women.)
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Buy now or
read our
review.
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Girlfriend Collective
This size-inclusive brand makes flattering activewear using recycled materials and good manufacturing processes. Our Boston co-editor Julia Cooper, a fan, appreciates the wide range of cheerful colors on offer.
(For women.)
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Buy now or
read our
review.
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Bluedot Kitchen: Presto, It’s Pesto!
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You’ve used the dozen or so basil leaves you needed for your caprese sandwiches. But you still have handfuls of the fragrant herb, and no plans for margherita pizza on the schedule. How to keep those basil leaves from going in the trash? Make pesto! Santa Barbara-based chef Pascale Beale offers two versions: one with basil and shallots, and another with pistachios, mint and parsley.
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Good Libations: Sipping on Seedlip
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Dry January may be coming to an end, but the non-alcoholic cocktail trend is still going strong. If you went alcohol-free this month and discovered that you liked it, there are plenty of non-alcoholic spirits for you to sample. Good Libations columnist Julia Cooper shares the story of one of those spirits, Seedlip, which works one-on-one with small farmers around the world to source high-quality herbs, spices, peels, and barks that give the drink its flavors.
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Capture the Rain
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Every time it rains in Southern California, I’m amazed at the rivers of water that rush through the streets in my neighborhood. During last week’s rainstorms, I once again found myself thinking: How could I collect that rainwater and use it? This year, I hope to provide you with answers to questions like that so we can all contribute to a greener world. Here at Bluedot, we’re here to help you make the most sustainable choices; please consider a contribution to support our journalism.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll be back in two weeks!
–Robin Jones
Do you have a special Los Angeles photo or story to share?
Email laeditor@bluedotliving.com.
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Robin Jones is a Southern California native who served as an editor at Westways magazine for more than a decade. She currently lives in Long Beach and teaches journalism at Cal State Long
Beach, where she advises the award-winning student magazine, DIG MAG. She loves road-tripping across California, especially when the itinerary includes stops in Arcata and Trinidad.
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