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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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Where some of us live, fall arrived on Tuesday at the very same hour the temperatures plunged and suddenly we’re turning the heat on. But did you know that the foliage fall is famous for has less to do with cold and more with the length of each day?
“The reason some plants turn into Jackson Pollock paintings in the fall while others skip the art show altogether comes down to pigments,” Lucas Thors wrote in this story from our archives. “Plants track the seasons by using photoperiods (day length). Photoperiods dictate how much chlorophyll (the green pigment involved with photosynthesis) their leaves produce. During the summer, plants fill their leaves with chlorophyll, so as to absorb as much sunlight as possible.”
“With a shorter photoperiod and cooler temperatures,” a Massachusetts botanist told him, “there is no reason, from an evolutionary perspective, for the plant to photosynthesize.” As chlorophyll diminishes within the leaf, so does the summertime green. And that is what paves the way for fall color. Happy fall, happy color! |
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DISPATCHES FROM ALL OVER · SUSTAINABLE LIVING ADVICE · ECO-FRIENDLY RECIPES |
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“You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”
– Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
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Join a community creating real change, one everyday action at a time. Bluedot Living equips readers with practical resources, inspiring stories, and solutions that work—98% say we have helped them make planet-positive changes. Become a member for as little as $5/month to support hopeful climate journalism and enjoy exclusive member benefits. |
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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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Black bears are on the prowl, bulking up for the winter on a (mostly) plant-based diet. Home gardeners are pickling, freezing, and cellar-storing their harvest. And Amtrak is rolling out their new fleet of cleaner, more reliable trains. Sounds like fall! |
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Get more of Bluedot Living delivered directly to your inbox. From The Weekly news hub to Bluedot Living Kitchen and the biweekly Buy Better Marketplace, and more, we offer a range of newsletters tailored to your interests and wherever you are on your sustainable living journey. |
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Shredded down to delicious bite-size pieces and coated with a simple dressing, Brussels sprouts take the spotlight in this salad. And with toasted walnuts and Parmesan cheese, each forkful is a delicious welcome to fall. Laura Roosevelt says she doesn’t remember where she found the recipe two decades ago, but it’s become a family favorite. Bring this seasonal mix to your own family’s dinner table this year.
Get the recipe.
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“Fall arrived all of a sudden, as it always does; you can almost watch it happen,” Lizzy Fallows writes in this Notes From the Home Front column from our archives. For Lizzy, that means monster-sized pumpkins in the garden, pastel-colored sunsets, empty but welcoming beaches, new vegetables at the farmers market, and foxes arriving for daily visits at dusk. “When asked to pick a favorite season,” she says, “it might just have to be fall. No, I will never buy a pumpkin-spiced oat latte, but I will take time to really absorb the fleeting colorful, contrasting, bountiful, spooky ways of fall.” |
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Dear Dot,
Has anyone noticed the slow creep of plastic packaged produce in the vegetable and produce aisles in our grocery stores? Many items pre-sliced (mushrooms, spiralized squashes, and so on) or pre-cooked (beets, lentils, etc.). For sure a convenience, but at what cost? Others just bagged and boxed. Even organic salads boxed in plastic! Whatever happened to being able to just put the produce of your choice in the quantity of your choice in a string bag? A recent visit to Whole Foods, where most produce is still available unpackaged, suggests to me that we could do better.
– Lowely Finnerty
Dear Lowely,
I have indeed noticed, and I share your dismay. But, as you know, I am a take-action kinda gal and I encourage both of us, now that we’ve grumbled and lamented, to join forces to create the change we want, or at least slow down the plastic proliferation that threatens to invade every part of our lives. There are a few things we can do. What are they? Keep reading. |
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For some, fall is all about the spooky stuff. For others, it’s the season of soft blankets, glowing candles, and making home feel a little warmer. Whichever camp you fall into, you’ll enjoy these thoughtful picks that bring a little autumn atmosphere home.
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Sackcloth & Ashes makes cozy blankets designed for chilly nights, afternoons on the couch, and curling up on crisp fall weekends. For every blanket purchased, the company donates one blanket to a homeless shelter in the state where the blanket is delivered, so every order makes a positive impact in your own community. ($120+)
Feel Warm Inside and Out |
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Made in Wisconsin, Northern Forge’s handmade steel Halloween decorations are built to last year after year. We’ve just increased our assortment and now have even more spooky solar-powered light pillars and yard stakes, in addition to a wider variety of customizable home address signs. Shipping is free. ($35+)
Light Up Your Lawn |
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Friendsheep’s colorful wool décor adds an easy dose of autumn charm. Handmade in Nepal by Fair Trade artisans, the brand’s cheerful coasters, garlands, and dryer balls bring seasonal color and personality to everyday spaces — no plastic pumpkins required. ($15+)
Warm Your Space With Wool |
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The Keep-This Handbook |
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Reading about our world can help us make sense of it — and inspire us to take action to protect it. But don’t just read about sustainability. Practice it by bartering, borrowing, or second-hand-buying your next book! Our Bookworm’s Guide to Sustainability gives you the goods on green reads. |
What You Can Do: Join a Solar Co-op |
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Solar United Neighbors helps communities across the U.S. form solar co-ops. These groups of property owners typically consist of between 30 and 100 members and are able to get more competitive bids from solar installers, reducing the price per property. |
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Honestly … Let’s Talk |
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I recently sat across the table from a new friend, puzzling over a conversation she’d had a few days earlier with some friends she goes for walks with. My new friend had been commenting about the sea-level rise she’s noticed at her house that sits, literally, across the street from the Atlantic Ocean. She’s been swimming near the pier there since she was 18 and commented that, especially recently, she’s noticed just how much higher the water is, how much less beach there is. “That’s not true,” one of her walking companions, a much more recent resident, replied.
My friend was stunned. She’d been sharing her experience, something she has seen with her own eyes, with someone much newer to the community. Someone who doesn’t know where the water hit 40 years ago, someone who doesn’t sit across from the ocean, logging its moods and fluctuations day upon day.
My new friend and I were talking about how to respond in conversations like that. Do we let it go? Do we push back? Is it even possible to change someone’s mind?
Plenty of seasoned climate communicators insist that these conversations are worth having.
Especially among people we know well. “Let’s normalize debunking each other,” pleads Amanda Shendruk in her newsletter. Her argument is simple: Misinformation spreads like a virus. But, citing plenty of data points, Shendruk notes that “We’re all more likely to believe debunking when it comes from close ties.”
My friend did respond. She pointed out that she’s watched this change in sea levels over years, that the safety of herself and her home rely on her paying attention. She noted that, whether or not we want to acknowledge it, a warming climate is changing not just our shorelines, but also our lives. And the thing is, the vast majority of us agree, as we noted in this story on our site reporting that, globally, 89% of people want to see leaders take action on climate.
What this tells us is that responding to misinformation, pushing back against untruths, just might find a more receptive audience than we imagine. My friend’s walking companion didn’t say much in response to gentle pushback. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t thinking about it … and paying closer attention to just how near the ocean is creeping to her home, too.
Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you next week.
– Leslie Garrett (Jamie Kageleiry, 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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