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A Bluedot Living Newsletter

Welcome to The Hub, a Bluedot Living newsletter that gathers good news, good food, and good tips for living every day more sustainably.

If your friend sent you this, sign up here — check out our local newsletters covering Martha's Vineyard, San Diego, and Los Angeles, as well as our Marketplace newsletter featuring sustainable products for your home. You can sign up for all those here, and for our Brooklyn newsletter here.

If this newsletter is cut short by your email program. View it in full here.

SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES

Meet our new Dot, not the same as our old Dot. Well, that is — she has the same spirit, smarts, and sassiness. But this Dot resides in Los Angeles, where we have just launched Bluedot Living Los Angeles. In LA, Dot writes from a donut shop, answering questions about car washes, crystals, and other California conundrums. We can’t agree on a name for LA Dot’s dog. Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com with ideas! (Write us about anything at all, if you’d like.) And thanks, Elissa Turnbull, for the lovely illustration. Sign up for our Los Angeles newsletter here.

DISPATCHES FROM ALL OVER · SUSTAINABLE LIVING ADVICE · ECO-FRIENDLY RECIPES

“Solutions from nature pass our imagination of what is possible.”

–Kenny Ausubel at Bioneers Conference on April 7, 2023, paraphrasing Janine Benyus, co-founder of The Biomimicry Institute. As Earth Day celebrates another year around the sun, we at Bluedot Living celebrate the growing recognition that our best solutions to address the climate crisis are rooted in nature. From regenerative agriculture, to harnessing the power of wind and sun, to Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the wisdom of Indigenous land stewards, the answers aren’t necessarily complicated, nor are they out of reach. Biomimicry acknowledges our natural world as mentor and teacher. As we mark Earth Day and — let’s be honest — perhaps feel a bit daunted by the challenges ahead, let’s pay particular attention to Earth’s capacity for healing, for transformation, for creative problem-solving. As Janine Benyus says, “we are surrounded by geniuses.” 

QUICK LINKS

Skip scrolling! Here's what you'll find in this edition of the Bluedot Newsletter:

Tea Lane Associates

DISPATCHES FROM ALL OVER

BIG IDEAS AND LOCAL CHANGEMAKERS

Bluedot editor Leslie Garrett describes how 65 years ago, a community worked together to make sure Lake Tahoe stayed clean and blue. Ready to ditch the lawn? Writer Sarika Chawla tells us how she transformed her yard (with some help from the experts) at her home outside New York City. And Sarah Glazer brings us up close to Laysan albatross chicks on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where locals are stepping up to protect them from predators.

Tea Lane Associates

To study up, read our What.On.Earth.

International Dark Sky Week runs until April 22. Give yourself the gift of a spectacular night sky (and protect migrating birds and even aquatic ecosystems) by reducing your outdoor light pollution:

  • Use only warm-colored LEDs outdoors.

  • Dimmers, motion sensors, and timers can reduce outdoor light and save you money.

  • Sit back and marvel.

THE BLUEDOT KITCHEN

Prioritizing seasonal and local ingredients gives you sustainable eating at its very best. The Whole Roasted Rockfish comes via our Bluedot Living San Diego site, from correspondent Nicole Litvack. If you don’t have fresh rockfish nearby (there are many varieties on the West Coast), you can use any medium-firm fish. One of our favorite California cooks is Pascale Beale. For our new Bluedot Living Los Angeles website, Pascale gave us this yummy Leek, Snap Pea, and Burrata Salad. If your local greenhouses or farms aren’t producing those veggies yet, save this for a late-Spring supper.

RECIPE: Whole Roasted Rockfish

RECIPE: Warm Leek, Snap Pea, and Burrata Salad

The Cabbage Dispatch: Bea Copeland Builds a Home

Follow Bea Copeland, millennial home enthusiast and DIYer, as she turns a decrepit, abandoned cabin into a cozy cottage. In our new eight-part article and video series we’re calling The Cabbage Dispatch (Cabin + Cottage = Cabbage), Bea makes decisions on sustainable building materials, stocks up on some great thrifting, and plans for life in her new home. Follow Bluedot’s Instagram so you can catch this series when it launches the week after Earth Day.

Mr. Fix-it: How to Repair a Screen Door

The slap of a screen door shutting — it’s one of those lovely warm-weather sounds, isn’t it? What’s not so lovely is the buzz of flies and mosquitoes making a beeline into your house through a hole in your screen. Don’t even think of tossing out the holey screen and getting a new one! Mr. Fix-it shows you how to fix a screen door (works on window screens too!), and in the process, save your spring sanity.

Dear Dot: How Can I Celebrate Without Balloons?

Dear Dot,
How can I celebrate an event without balloons?
–Cathy, Chilmark, Mass.

Dear Cathy,
If you’re a beachcomber like me or, perhaps someone who hikes along a river or stream, you’ve likely come across evidence of past frivolity in the form of deflated balloons, their ribbons filthy and tangled. What you’re not seeing unless you, too, have come across the Balloons Blow website, are the many balloon bits found in the stomach of, say, a Hawksbill sea turtle or a Bighorn sheep, each of whom mistook balloons for food. 
We find another cautionary tale in the Great Cleveland Balloon Release Disaster of 1986. Cleveland wanted to get into the Guiness Book of World Records (and not for being the city most likely to set its river on fire). The record the city had its eyes on was largest balloon release in the world, with roughly 1.5 million balloons slated for the heavens. But instead of floating away into the arms of God, the balloons fell on Cleveland, closing the airport, causing traffic accidents, and injuring two prize-winning horses who were spooked by the arrival of balloons in their pasture. The moral of the story? What goes up must come down. 
But, while balloons might now be spherus non grata in Cleveland, the lesson hasn’t caught on in the rest of the world, despite laws that prohibit balloons in many cities, states, and countries. So what’s a festive stand-in for balloons? 

Read on to get Dot’s suggestions on how to celebrate without hot air! And there’s lots more Dot, offering up eco-advice here.

BUY LESS/BUY BETTER

It’s April, and here in the colder regions of the country we’re rejoicing as the cherry, ornamental pear, and magnolia blossoms open, and tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths perfume the air. We don’t care if it’s still a bit chilly — remember this cartoon from The New Yorker? — it’s time for a picnic!

Ecozoi

A picnic is only as good as the vittles, and those depend on conscientious packing to arrive in good form. Ecozoi’s stainless steel and silicone food storage containers protect sandwiches and fruit from dreaded smushing. Buy now.

READ MORE

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi’s easy-to-carry cooler bags come with a lifetime warranty, and they really are cooler than most — each one is made from repurposed materials, and no two are alike. You just know you’ll get a very colorful model! Buy now.

READ MORE

For more sustainable shopping recs,
check out our Marketplace and sign up for our new BuyBetter newsletter.

The Social Hour

It is almost #EarthDay! What better way to celebrate than learning the history of Earth Day, recycling to help reduce our carbon footprint, or volunteering at a local beach cleanup! 

FOLLOW US

Bluedot's Guide to Getting Rid of Anything

If you’re taking Dot’s advice to celebrate life’s occasions with something other than balloons, you just might find yourself with plenty of champagne and wine corks. Sure you could compost them (first make sure they’re actually cork and not plastic), but consider donating them to organizations that turn them into shipping material, fishing tackle, shoe soles, even model-train tracks. To find a drop-off location close to you, check out Bluedot’s Guide to Getting Rid of (Almost) Anything.

What’s Behind the Name “Bluedot”?

“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. 


Thanks for being part of our Bluedot community!


–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.

SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES

Read past issues of The Hub here.

Bluedot Living® magazine and bluedotliving.com are published by Bluedot, Inc.

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