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Formerly The Hub |
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Welcome to The Weekly, a Bluedot Living newsletter that gathers good news, good food, and good tips for living every day more sustainably. |
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Welcome to The Weekly, a Bluedot Living newsletter that gathers good news, good food, and good tips for living every day more sustainably. |
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If you purchase anything via one of our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission. All Dear Dot illustrations by Elissa Turnbull. |
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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES |
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“Lowering my camera, I hurry along one of those hard-won trails to catch up with my group,” Diane Selkirk writes in this story about rewilding Patagonia. “Our guide points out lenga and ñirre trees — native species once suppressed by ranching — while guanacos browse nearby. During mating season, he tells us, scenes like this can turn violent.” Read more about how that can look and how it underscores a larger truth: Conservation isn’t about a pastoral ideal. It’s about survival.
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Enter the Bluedot Living x The Hermit Giveaway for a chance to win a Year of Snacks for you and a friend. The prize includes 42 bags of wild-caught calamari jerky — high-protein, zero-sugar snacks made from one of the cleanest fisheries in the world — plus two T-shirts, valued at $500+. With no land or freshwater use and significantly lower carbon emissions than land-based meats, calamari jerky is a smarter way to fuel everyday adventures. Stock up, share, and snack better all year long.
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Enter between February 13 at 6:00 a.m. EST and on February 22 at 11:59 p.m. EST. No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to U.S. residents aged 13 and older.
See Official Rules for more details.
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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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“The astonishing thing is that even though we will never truly know what it is like to be another creature or another person or any configuration of chemistry and chance other than ourselves, we are made of the same matter as the granite that will mark our graves and share 98% of our DNA with the moss that will cover them. We share with them and with each other more than atoms — we share the wild luck of having drawn from the cosmic lottery this world of birdsong and waterfalls and lichen and spring, none of which had to exist, all of which could have been and can always be otherwise.”
– Maria Popova, The Marginalian
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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.
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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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Spend time outdoors with your girlfriends (Happy Galentine’s Day), start a passion project with your partner, listen to the first birdcalls of mating season, and tell someone you love them!
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Share these mini-cakes with all the sweeties in your life! This recipe for chocolate-tahini cake uses oil and vinegar in place of eggs and butter, a low-cost, low-impact alternative that is just as delicious.
Get the recipe.
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Paid Advertisement with Oricle Hearing |
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Have we found the holy grail of hearing aids?
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‘Tis the season when our thoughts, perhaps, turn to flowers. If, like us, you are squeamish about buying cut flowers, take a look at Unwilted, which creates blossoms that will never die. Liz Carter makes blooms and bouquets from Forest Sustainability Council–certified Italian crepe paper dyed with non-toxic inks. “Liz and her two-person team cut the paper by hand and delicately fold and glue it to realistically resemble peonies, poppies, carnations, daisies, and more,” writes Emily Cain. “Customers can buy single stems or bouquets, all shipped in plastic-free, carbon-neutral packaging.” Read about Liz’s journey from flower shop owner to floral artist.
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Illustration by Elissa Turnbull |
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Dear Dot,
My biodegradable cat litter says it's flushable. We have a septic tank, which makes me hesitant to flush. What should I do?
–Rona, West Tisbury
Dear Rona,
I, too, am possessor of both a septic system and a number of cats (two of my felines insist that I do not possess them but am merely granted the privilege of attending to their needs. The third is asleep on my clean laundry). So I was curious to hear the answer to your question. And hear it I did. You perhaps did, too. For it was loud. And resounding. When asked for his thoughts about whether or not to flush biodegradable “flushable” cat litter, the voice of environmental consultant and registered sanitarian Doug Cooper rang out from his home in Edgartown, Massachusetts, and it said thus: “NOOOO!”
When pressed to explain, Cooper put it this way: “Even if biodegradable, it is introducing solids that unnecessarily burden the tank. It can settle in low spots in the plumbing system, can coalesce with paper products to create clogs…” Or, more concisely, “NOOOO!”
So what can you do? Keep reading to find out how to dispose of kitty’s litter in an Earth-friendly way.
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What does it take to spend your career working on something that might not pay off right away — but could change everything if it does? This week on Imagine If, we’re joined by plasma physicist Alex Creely of Commonwealth Fusion Systems for a grounded, human conversation about one of the most ambitious clean-energy ideas of our time: fusion power. Alex walks us through what it really means to “build a star on Earth,” why fusion has always felt just out of reach, and what’s shifted in recent years to make the next decade feel pivotal.
Click now to listen on your favorite listening platform!
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If you make a purchase through our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission. |
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The bathroom is full of products designed to disappear quickly — used briefly, tossed, and replaced without much thought. But it’s also one of the easiest places to make changes that actually stick, simply by choosing better versions of what’s already in daily rotation. There’s no complicated learning curve, just smarter materials and fewer things headed for the trash.
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From floss and toothbrushes to toothpaste and mouthwash, oral care products generate a lot of waste. It’s easy to swap in replacements. Bamboo toothbrushes and plastic-free floss are an easy place to start. Level up by trying toothpaste or mouthwash tablets, which do the job without bulky bottles and tubes. Tablets also skip the added water, making them easier to store, ship, and travel with — plus, you’ll save 15% on tablets when you subscribe and save. (Don’t worry, it’s easy to cancel or adjust your subscription if you’re not in love.) Buy now
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Instead of using a new piece of cotton every time you apply toner or remove makeup, try a reusable. We love Zero Waste Outlet’s soft bamboo and cotton rounds, which come with an elegant holder, while the ones from Zero Waste Store come in assorted colors to match your decor. Buy now
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If you love cleaning your ears every day (despite doctors’ orders), then you know how quickly you can go through cotton swabs. These plastic-free swabs can go straight into the compost, not the trash. Buy now
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The Keep-This Handbook |
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In celebration of flavors that go together like peanut butter and jelly, Bluedot contributor Nicole Litvack shares some ways to infuse your kitchen with love. With classic combinations like apples and cheddar or unique couplings like miso and maple, you can use what you already have in your kitchen to elevate any dish. Get the full list of perfect pairs.
Got some favorite pairings of your own? Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com.
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The Story Behind Bluedot |
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In this week when many of us will celebrate the power of love, we think it’s apt to quote astronomer Carl Sagan, whose “Pale Blue Dot” inspired our name. He was moved to write these words after seeing an image taken (at his suggestion) of the Earth from outer space by Voyager 1 on Feb. 14, 1990.
“Look again at that dot,” Sagan said of the tiny blue speck. “That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. …
“There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. 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.”
Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you next week.
– Jamie Kageleiry, Leslie Garrett, Emily Cain, and Robin Jones
Editors
Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com
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Leslie Garrett has been covering climate stories for close to two decades. She makes her home in Canada, west of Toronto. She’s still figuring out her favorite spot but it’s definitely near the water.
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.
Robin Jones is a Southern California native who served as an editor at Westways magazine for more than a decade. She lives in Long Beach and teaches journalism at Cal State Long Beach.
Emily Cain is a recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where she wrote and edited for the university’s award-winning magazine, DIG. |
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