At Home On Earth

SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES

Yasmin Namini, who shoots photographs for our At Home on Earth column, recently returned from the Pantanal, a breathtaking region spanning parts of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. “This rich mosaic of flooded savannas and forests is home to an incredible array of wildlife, including hundreds of bird species,” she writes in her most recent column. These festive-looking Red and Green Macaws thrive in the dense canopies of the Pantanal, where conservation is underway to protect their nesting sites.

“Change did not begin with the King of England deciding to end slavery or the President of the United States giving women the vote or the National Party of South Africa opting to end apartheid. It began when ordinary people — people of no particular power, wealth, or fame — decided that the world could and should be different. … We are the people who changed the world before. And we are the people who can change it again.”

– Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist speaking at Dickenson College; Hayhoe is the author of Saving Us, A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World (available on Amazon).

Margaret Mead said it decades earlier: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

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• Cast-Off Christmas Trees for the Coast

• Iowa Farm Companion: “Our Luck Ran Out”

• Dear Dot: Must I Remove Packing Tape Before Recycling?

• Warm Your Bones on Some Holiday Glogg

• Experiential Gifts You Still Have Time to Buy

FEATURED STORIES

BIG IDEAS AND LOCAL CHANGEMAKERS

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And Dear Dot reminds us that balloons blow.

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 Bluedot Living Kitchen

Iowa Farm Companion: “Our Luck Ran Out”

Fans of Joe Villines’ Iowa Farm Companion column (and there are many) might find this month’s installment a tough one to read. Each month, we root for Joe and his partner and wife Lydia as they set about building a viable farm that respects the Earth and subscribes to their values. But they’ve hit some tough times. As Joe writes, “First, the eggs stopped coming, and the broilers were getting raspy. Then, the laying flock started dropping dead. In all, we lost about two hundred of our five hundred laying chickens. Nothing like this had ever happened to us. The shock of the situation froze us in panic.”

But readers will be heartened to know that giving up isn’t an option for our favorite farmers. 

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– Illustration by Elissa Turnbull

Dear Dot,

While Amazon and other online stores are using more recyclable packaging, they all come covered with packing tape and labels. Can cardboard boxes be recycled when covered with all of that, or does that need to be removed before recycling (which almost no one does or is willing to do)?

– Emily Steinberg 

Dear Emily,

The packaging industry is ripe for innovation, in Dot’s not-so-humble opinion. Packaging that disappears upon delivery! Edible packaging! Amazon claimed it was offering tips via a QR code on its boxes for how to reuse them (a pretend rocket ship! A canine car! A kitty condo!). Amazon talks a good line. And they do go further than many other companies by providing info detailing how to dispose of their packaging. 

If your Amazon product arrived in a bubble-lined plastic bag (and you lack curbside recycling for such a thing), Amazon directs you to where (potentially … if facilities are available) you can drop it off for recycling. If a paper-padded mailer was the packaging for whatever you might have ordered, you can recycle it the way you typically would any paper product. 

But you asked a straightforward question, Emily, and I will offer you a clear, straightforward answer, right out of the mouths of the folks at Amazon: “Cardboard boxes are recyclable in most curbside recycling programs. Flatten the box and remove tape before putting it in your recycling bin.”

There’s plenty more Dot has to say. Read on!

Buy Better Marketplace: Experiential Gifts You Still Have Time to Buy

If you purchase anything via one of our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission.

Still need to tick some people off your gift list? We’ve got great suggestions for experiential gifts, which are easy to acquire at the last-minute and inherently eco-friendly. Just write up a sweet note and stick a bow on it! 

• The Gift of Doing It Yourself: Some of the best items on Etsy aren’t objects, but tutorials and guides. Gorgeous knitting and crochet patterns are among the most popular and would make a great gift, especially when combined with a trip to a local yarn shop.

• The Gift of Travel: What’s more exciting than going on vacation? Going on vacation and having someone else take care of the details. Booking.com is an easy-to-use platform that includes an astounding array of accommodations across the globe. 

• The Gift of Knowledge: Masterclass subject matter experts teach classes on a wide range of topics, such as entrepreneurship, portrait photography, interior design, chess, conservation, French pastry, and so much more.

• The Gift of Chill: If you know someone who might benefit from unplugging, one nice way to help could actually be a subscription to a meditation app. Headspace is designed to help the terminally online find a little inner quiet. 

• The Gift of a New Skill: Uncommon Goods, based in Brooklyn, curates attractive and quirky yet useful items. Their online classes include Pet Portrait Painting, Historical Cocktails, How to Read Tarot, Flower Arranging, and more. 

• The Gift of Music: Bruce Springsteen, Oasis, Beyoncé, Metallica, The Pixies, Dua Lipa, Wynton Marsalis, and about a million more artists will take the stage in 2025. (No, we don’t love Ticketmaster. But we do love concert tickets.)

For even more experiential gift ideas, click here. 

The Keep-This Handbook: Our Declutter Guide

In with the new … out with the old. If you have a bunch of stuff to clear out (and who doesn’t at the end of a year?), check out Bluedot’s Guide to Getting Rid of (Almost) Anything.

Parting Thoughts About You, Our Readers

While we aren’t yet offering you your 2024 Bluedot Wrapped, we can assure you that, in our next newsletter, we’ll share with you some of Bluedot’s most read stories of this past year. It’s always fun for us to see what resonates with you. (Hint: It seems a lot of you have ants …) And it’s gratifying to know that the work we’re doing is making a difference in your lives. You’re certainly making a difference in ours — with your readership, your support of our solutions-focused local journalism, and your questions for Dear Dot (keep ’em coming: deardot@bluedotliving.com). It’s not too late to contribute.

And we’d love to hear what you have in store for 2025, or what you’d like Bluedot to cover going forward. 

For now, happy holidays and we'll see you in the new year.

– Jamie Kageleiry and Leslie Garrett

Editors

Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com

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.

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.

Sent to: _t.e.s.t_@example.com

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