Thursday, Feb 12

Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.

Dear Reader,

Dot recently read about a study indicating that people wanted to live a more sustainable lifestyle (we know that the vast majority of us are concerned about climate change), but that most don’t like being told what to do. Put another way, they wanted to be invited — not mandated — into choices that were easier on the Earth. 

Turns out that we are all stubborn toddlers at heart, but, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney summed it up in a recent speech, “we must take the world as it is, not as we wish it would be.” [Insert Dot’s long, deep, resigned sigh here.]

This leaves policy-makers who care about the planet looking for that sweet spot wherein we can pull ourselves back from the worst effects of climate change while not inspiring a backlash. (As we learned from COVID, even actions that are life-saving are likely to be met with resistance if they are viewed as government overreach.)

I’m with Willow Defebaugh, Atmos’ Editor-in-Chief, who suggests that making the awe that’s so abundant in our natural world more available to people could change how we view ourselves in this world and, therefore, how far we’ll go to protect it. (Studies show that even photos of our incredible natural world can evoke feelings of awe. Check out Bluedot contributor Yasmin Namini’s breathtaking photographs in her regular At Home on Earth feature.) 

Reverentially,

Dot

Juniper Ridge crafts sustainable home fragrance, body products, and teas inspired by the wild beauty of the American West. The Oakland-based brand forages and sustainably harvests wild plants before using steam distillation to capture these plants’ incredible essences in scents. Find this and more sustainable products in the Bluedot Living Collection.

For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here. 

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