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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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Friday, March 1, 2024
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In the movie Roman Holiday, Audrey Hepburn and
Gregory Peck use micromobility to get around Rome.
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“For lots of us, talk of electric vehicles typically defaults to cars or SUVs,” writes Leslie Garrett. “And yet, though there is undoubtedly an EV revolution at hand, it is being driven predominantly by smaller vehicles — e-bikes and scooters, for instance.”
Read more about how micromobility is poised to
transform our cities.
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DISPATCHES FROM ALL OVER
SUSTAINABLE LIVING ADVICE
ECO-FRIENDLY RECIPES
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DISPATCHES FROM ALL OVER · SUSTAINABLE LIVING ADVICE · ECO-FRIENDLY RECIPES
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"No matter how long the path,
you have to break it down into steps and take them one at a time."
— Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Pussy Riot in the New York Times
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We heard it said that it was “shocking but not surprising” that Putin murdered imprisoned adversary and pro-democracy activist Alexei Navalny. Nadya Tolokonnikova, founder of the subversive musical group Pussy Riot (who also spent time in a Russian prison) found her inspiration in Navalny, writing “I realized that we needed to create our own set of tools to bring about change: direct, attention-grabbing actions that would be easily replicable, giving birth to a movement.” That’s the power of someone who can see beyond this moment, who can envision a changed world and help us see it too. Navalny’s activism wasn’t around climate per se, but we won’t
have serious climate action without democracy and freedom. Autocrats will try to strip the planet for parts — they care little for the people most affected by climate change, including their own citizens. Rest in peace and power, Alexei Navalny. From all of us working to create a changed world, thank you for standing up and showing us the steps necessary to get there.
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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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FEATURED STORIES
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BIG IDEAS AND LOCAL CHANGEMAKERS
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Bluedot travel contributor Teresa Bergen recently returned from Japan where she engaged in “slow travel,” a method that prioritizes local transport, homestays, and the opportunity to engage with communities. Read her story on Stepping into Rural Japan. While The Bachelor franchise was about love connections, Bachelor Blake Moynes has long had a connection to wildlife, and as Bluedot contributor Megan McPhaden tells us, he’s partnered with a Canadian nonprofit to save woodland caribou. And don’t miss this Climate Conversation with Daniel Swain, renowned climate scientist and the friendly voice behind a popular blog that offers real-time perspectives on California weather and climate.
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Avoid food waste and save money!
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Chickpea, or aquafaba water, can be used as a vegan thickening agent or egg substitute in meringues. For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here.
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Dear Dot: Is There an Eco-Friendly Way to Whiten My Whites?
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– Illustration by Elissa Turnbull
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Dear Dot,
To enhance whiteness, are you suggesting to add lemon juice, white vinegar, and baking soda with the laundry strips? How much?
Thank you.
–Kathy
Dear Kathy,
While Dot is happy to let pet fur and dirt congregate in corners, and to allow furniture to don a veneer of dust, when it comes to getting my clothes clean, I am a dedicated and determined laundress. So before I address your query, let us first revisit Dot’s rules of the load:
Wash less frequently. Is that cardigan you wore for an hour when you were chilly actually dirty? Could those jeans withstand another wearing (or two)?
Wash in cold water. Today’s HE detergents (the HE stands for “high efficiency”) are designed to work well in cold water. Cold water reduces energy consumption and is easier on our clothes. What’s more, it reduces the shedding of microfibers from our synthetic clothes.
Use a laundry
filter to further reduce the microplastics going into our waterways.
But, when it comes to whitening, Dot was a bit stumped. So I enlisted our brilliant intern, Emily, to see if she could enlighten us.
Emily tracked down The Laundry Evangelist. And boy
oh boy, does this evangelist preach the gospel of clean clothes. …
Read on for his simple (and much more affordable) advice.
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BUY LESS/BUY BETTER: Top Online Shopping
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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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This week, our Marketplace editor shares three of her favorite marketplaces. These online stores feature thoughtfully curated brands that prioritize eco-friendly materials, ingredients, or manufacturing processes. If you’d like to shop online without the stress, start here.
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The One-Stop
Shop
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Wooden toys, reusable paper towels, silicone baking sheets, toothpaste tabs, organic cotton socks, rubber pacifiers, latex pillows, compostable phone cases … EarthHero has almost everything.
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Buy now or
read our
review.
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The Hippest
Marketplace
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Montreal-based Goodee carries hip decor, gardening tools, and other useful objets from around the world. We love the focus on what Goodee calls endangered and heritage crafts, which represent a third of the items they sell.
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Buy now or
read our review.
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The Affordable
Online
Grocer
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Thrive, a membership-based market, offers a plethora of quality items at great prices (vitamins in particular are a steal). The yearly fee quickly pays for itself. Try the house label for organic oils, nuts, and dried fruit.
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Buy now or
read our review.
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The Social Hour
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People all over the world are coming together to combat climate change and make a difference. Amsterdam is the first EU capital to embrace the Plant Based Treaty. Dubai plants 500 trees a day for a year. Citizens of Greece are increasingly generating their own renewable energy.
How will you contribute to help our planet? 🌏💙
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FOLLOW US
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The Story Behind 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 communities.
Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you in two weeks.
– Jamie Kageleiry and Leslie Garrett
Editors
Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com
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Jamie Kageleiry, a longtime magazine and newspaper editor from Martha's Vineyard, says her favorite spot on earth is out on a kayak there, looking at birds.
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Leslie Garrett has been covering climate stories for close to two decades. She divides her time between London, Ontario, and Massachusetts. She’s still figuring out her favorite spot but it’s definitely near the
water.
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES
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Read past issues of The Hub here.
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Bluedot Living® magazine and bluedotliving.com are published by Bluedot, Inc.
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