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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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SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES |
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Diego and Miranda Magaña were born and raised in Oxnard, California, a concrete coastal city between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. It wasn’t until a drive back home from the Grand Canyon, through forest, deserts, farms, and back to the city, that Diego realized what was missing from his home: nature. To bring the city back to life, the brother-and-sister duo started MiniNature Reserve, a group of guerrilla gardeners growing native flowers, food, and medicinal plants in abandoned areas across Ventura County, like at the Carnegie Art Museum, pictured above, which has been closed since 2019. When the city paved over some of their gardens and banned them from continuing their work, they fought back. “We are at this place where we’re realizing that we have a lot of volunteers, and in a numbers game, we beat them,” Diego says of the government officials in opposition. “They don’t run the city. They serve us.” Read their story.
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For just $5/month, you can become a Bluedot Living member — investing in a healthier planet while unlocking real, everyday benefits for yourself. You'll enjoy 10% off every purchase from Bluedot Living Collection, our editor-curated marketplace of planet-friendly brands and products and you'll receive additional member-only store discounts each month. Many members recoup the cost of membership in just a handful of purchases from our store. From there, the savings continue — making sustainable living more accessible, affordable, and impactful.
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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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“Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.”
– E.B. White
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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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Gardening isn’t always as peaceful as Zach Galifianakis’s new Netflix show makes it seem. But with every raccoon invasion or stubborn weed come the joys of transforming your yard into a place where you reconnect with your food.
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The three sisters — beans, corn, and squash — have been planted together in Indigenous agriculture for millennia because they grow symbiotically and can produce higher yields together than when they’re grown by themselves. The beans grow in a symbiotic relationship with soil-dwelling bacteria to convert nitrogen gas from the air into a form that plants can use and enriches the soil, the skyward corn stalks give the beans a trellis to climb, and the squash suppresses weeds and provides shade with its broad leaves. This recipe mixes the trio into a sweet, warming salad that is perfect for those chilly May Gray days. Try foraging for greens that offer a similar sharp note, like radish greens or dandelion greens, to use in place of the arugula.
Get the recipe.
Drizzle with homemade Maple-Chili Oil.
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“When Luci Imbach moved to Nantucket in 2018,” writes Britt Bowker in our recent Nantucket Green Guide, “she brought with her a love for food, agriculture, and the systems that connect them. After studying environmental studies and food systems at the University of Vermont, she went on to work at an island farm, where she learned how to grow food. At the same time, she was helping a friend with landscaping and quickly realized how big that industry was on Nantucket. That’s when the idea clicked: What if she merged the two — food and landscaping — and started her own business?”
Read more about Luci’s business, and her tips for novice gardeners.
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Catch Microfibers Before They Reach Our Water |
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Every load releases tiny microfibers—many plastic—into our waterways, ending up in our food and bodies. The Cora Ball reduces shedding and catches fibers before they go down the drain. Just toss it in your wash to protect your clothes—and the planet.
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Illustration by Elissa Turnbull |
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Dear Dot,
I love my battery-driven leaf blower, string trimmer, and snow blower, but after what doesn't seem like that long (it's probably been five years of use), I've got a battery that will no longer hold a charge.
First question: How long should one of these batteries retain the ability to recharge? How much is that related to how it’s stored? Second question (even though one was two): What is the responsible way to recycle or dispose of these batteries?
– Bob
Dear Bob,
Dot is delighted that you are embracing battery-powered tools around your home, not only reducing carbon pollution (gas-powered tools emit more pollutants than a pick-up truck, according to a study) but also noise. Gas-powered leaf blowers produce enough noise to damage hearing. And they most definitely annoy your neighbors.
Dot remains firmly in the leave-the-leaves camp, and so it falls (lol) to Mr. Dot to mow and blow (and, when the time comes, de-snow). Thus, lacking expertise, I turned to Kevin Carroll, who is such a home gear enthusiast that he created an entire site dedicated to testing and reviewing what’s out there. Indeed, he pointed me to a comprehensive post about the best battery-powered lawn tools that anyone considering purchasing (or replacing) should check out.
But Kevin also weighed in on your particular dilemma, Bob, noting that the five years you got out of your battery is actually pretty darn good — and at the longer end of what we might expect. The typical lifespan, he says, is three to five years of regular use — or 500 to 1,000 charge cycles. Obviously, the more you use your tools, the quicker the battery will degrade, necessitating responsible disposal (we’ll get to that). First, let’s consider how to ensure you get the maximum lifespan out of your batteries.
Keep reading! |
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Most of us loathe doing laundry. There are so many steps! Gather the dirty linens. Sort them. Treat any stains. Start the machine. See if the stain treatments worked. Start the dryer or hang the clothes on a rack. Fold them. Maybe even do some ironing. And put it all away! It’s a half-dozen jobs masquerading as one. To make the job vastly more pleasurable, check out our Earth-friendly tips for the whole laundry routine. And for some of our favorite laundry products, keep reading. |
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Simply put, Dirty Labs outperforms every other “clean” detergent I’ve tried, and matches the big brands, too. Bio-based enzymes target stains at the molecular level. A 21.6-ounce aluminum bottle cleans an astounding 80 loads, cutting down on packaging and storage space. The fragrance-free detergent is Environmental Working Group Verified and boasts the National Eczema Association Seal of Approval. ($16+) Buy now.
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Air drying is one of the most effective ways to cut energy use. Pennsylvania Woodworks builds sturdy, foldable racks from solid hardwood in the United States, offering a long-lasting alternative to lightweight metal options. Available in several configurations, the racks all have space-saving designs and stow away easily. ($79.99+) Buy now.
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Most laundry bags are made from synthetic mesh that sheds microplastics during washing and drying. These organic cotton laundry bags, made in Oregon by Marley’s Monsters, will protect your delicates. They’re also perfect for corralling unPaper Towels and reusable facial rounds, making it easier to stick to sustainable routines even beyond laundry. ($12+) Buy now.
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What You Can Do: Call Your Rep to Save the Roadless Rule |
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The current administration has rescinded the so-called Roadless Rule, with the goal of stripping protections to more than 45 million acres of some of the last intact forest ecosystems in the U.S. — including national forests like the Tongass in Alaska (read Bluedot’s story about why the protection is necessary), the Olympic in Washington State, the Gila in New Mexico, and the White Mountain in New Hampshire. By rescinding the Roadless Rule, the administration aims to open the door to industrial logging, mining, drilling, and heavy-equipment operations. This will harm wildlife that depend on large, connected landscapes and deplete a crucial ecosystem that helps absorb carbon. A Congressional vote is imminent, so please call your reps and tell them to vote “no” on eliminating the Roadless Rule. |
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Let your hat do the talking! Bluedot Living’s organic baseball cap is embroidered with one of 13 planet-positive phrases — like “energy efficient” and “regenerative” — so you can wear your values out loud. Made from 100% organic cotton with a brass slider, it’s designed for everyday comfort, durability, and better impact all around.
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| Find Your Phrase |
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The Keep-This Handbook |
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The latest book from the beloved Remodelista folks, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden (available on Amazon and Thriftbooks), encourages a garden built on ease. It is a go-to for more than just the garden itself; it also offers advice on the best insect repellent, attractive recycled outdoor furniture, composting, biochar, and so much more. Click here for some of our favorite surprising advice from the book.
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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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