“I learned how to turn on a diesel generator before I learned to read,” writes Bella Bennett in this story about growing off-grid in Chilmark. “It’s not simple to get grid access at the end of a two-mile ancient way in Chilmark — today or thirty years ago — so my family made our own power.” Adventures ensued.

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

• The Sounds of Silence

• A Nice Mushroom-Farro Soup for a Cold Day

• What’s So Bad About Hunting?

• Shop Canadian, Eh? Some Great, Sustainable Canadian Companies

• Dear Dot: Is Chicken Better Than Beef (for the Planet)?

• Kate Feiffer Asks: Is Doodling Good for the Environment?

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The MV Chamber Turns 100!

2025 marks a century of supporting our island community. Celebrate with us as we roll out exciting new programming throughout the year. Don’t miss out—join today and be part of this milestone!

In Praise of Silence

We often don’t realize just how quiet the Vineyard is until we leave it. (That painting, Sunset at Crab Creek, is by Lanny McDowell.) Sure, there are winds howling, waves crashing, and gulls squawking. But those are the sounds of the natural world, not the cacophony of modern life. There is one sound, however, that even our Island can’t escape: leaf blowers. Leaf blowers, according to the folks at Yale Climate Connections, “slosh together a mixture of gasoline and oil in the combustion chamber and then spew out as much as one-third of that fuel as an unburned aerosol.” They’re also ear-splittingly loud (even the electric ones, which, while quieter and emitting less carbon, are not silent). What’s more, MVTimes gardening columnist Abigail Higgins told our Dear Dot that leaf blowers disturb the crucial leaf-dwelling arthropods, “upon which the other trophic spheres depend,” she said, which, in gardening speak, refers to their key role at the bottom of the food chain.

So it’s good news that the Vineyard Conservation Society is pushing for regulations around when and where leaf blowers can be used, with a longterm goal of banning them entirely. (This isn’t as radical as it sounds. Plenty of municipalities and states have already enacted bans.) If you want to make some noise about a potential ban, head to the Oak Bluffs Public Library on February 1, where there will be a discussion starting at 1:30 p.m.

While we have your attention: Have you renovated an old home? We’re interested in why, and how, people salvage old buildings (or even parts of old buildings). Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com. 

Have a great couple weeks.

– Britt Bowker, Leslie Garrett, Jamie Kageleiry

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Dear Dot has more rules for the (laundry) load.

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Canadian Companies We Love 

If you purchase anything via one of our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission.

As snow blankets unexpected swaths of the country, we wanted to take some time to appreciate our friends up north, in Canada, who say things like: “You think that’s cold? Try -31!” (Thanks, Shauna, in Red Deer, Alberta!) While many of us cower at the thought of such weather, our Canadian friends manage to get things done, including building the great companies we’re sharing with you today.

Click here to see even more Canadian brands we love.

Etee

Toronto-based Etee offers sustainable goods for home and body, including effective, just-add-water cleaning and skincare concentrates. The brand is always testing new products; if you sign up for their newsletter, you may receive an email asking if you’d like to try something out for free to provide your feedback! Save 10% with code BLUEDOTLIVING. Shop today or read our review.

Goodee

Goodee, a Black-owned B Corp in Montreal, specializes in hip decor, gardening tools, and other useful objets from around the world. The company’s three pillars are “good people, good design, and good impact.” We love the focus on what Goodee calls endangered and heritage crafts, which represent a third of the items sold. Shop today or read our review.

Mejuri Jewelry

Mejuri’s “everyday fine jewelry” mixes and matches well with other pieces. The Toronto brand uses over 90% recycled gold and silver and helped found Regeneration, an organization that processes waste and restores the natural habitats around legacy mining sites. Shop today or read our review.

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DEAR DOT: Is Chicken Better Than Beef (for the Planet)?

– Illustration by Elissa Turnbull

Dear Dot,

Do chickens use less water, land, and create fewer carbon emissions than other animals that people eat? Could you break down how much carbon is produced by each type of animal: chicken, beef, pork, sheep, fish, etc?

– Marjorie

Dear Marjorie,

Our plates are enduring much more scrutiny these days, aren’t they? And rightfully so. What we eat has a significant impact on our personal carbon footprint. Food is one of those areas where we individuals have a lot of power. We put agriculture on our plates three times a day. So let’s determine what the impact is — positive and negative — of that agriculture.

Bluedot’s new intern, Holly, is a determined researcher and returned to Dot with some interesting findings. Holly turned, first, to Our World in Data, where the tireless data cruncher Hannah Ritchie works. (Ritchie produced Not the End of the World (on Amazon), a book focusing on what the numbers tell us about our path toward a sustainable planet. Bluedot editor Jim Miller wrote about the book here.)

Ritchie and her fellow data nerds took a look at the carbon emissions, water consumption, and land use of our most popular meats: beef, lamb, pork, farmed fish, poultry, and tofu (obviously a meat substitute). And then Holly, apparently also a data nerd, gave me her calculations, telling me that producing 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of beef creates ten times more carbon dioxide than producing the same amount of poultry, consumes four times the water, and requires almost 27 times the land use. 

What else did Holly discover about the impact of our food choices? Read on.

See more Dot here. Got a question for her? Write her at deardot@bluedotliving.com

Mushroom Farro Soup With Root Vegetables

This classic mushroom soup from our archives is good for a cold day and good for a “Veganuary,” in which you may be deciding to opt for more plant-based meals. (Read why that’s good for the planet.) Here are more soup recipes. 

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Harvested by Vineyarders, for Vineyarders

In 2023, hunters donated 600 pounds of locally harvested venison to the Island Food Pantry. More fresh, sustainable meat will be distributed to local families this year. Deer hunting also helps keep booming deer and tick populations under control. Read more about how hunting can be a sustainable outdoor practice.

The Keep-This Handbook

Curious what work your green do-gooder neighbors have been up to? Us too. Which is why, last spring, we asked Bluedot reporter Lucas Thors to sniff out what’s going on and how it's contributing to a more resilient, sustainable Island. Read his town-by-town guide. And for more Island eco-resources, consult our Ultimate Simple, Smart, Sustainable Handbook to Martha’s Vineyard.

Britt Bowker has been writing and editing for newspapers and magazines across New England, spending a lot of her time on MV. 

Leslie Garrett has been covering climate stories for 20 years. Anywhere near the water is her favorite place to be.

Jamie Kageleiry is a longtime magazine and newspaper editor from Oak Bluffs. Her favorite spot on earth is being in a kayak, anywhere on MV.

SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES

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