At Home On Earth

SIMPLE / SMART / SUSTAINABLE / STORIES

Every spring, Nantucket erupts in a riot of color — roadsides thick with daffodils, lush gardens blooming with hydrangeas, storybook cottages covered in blush-pink roses. The nonprofit Nantucket Lights aims to get islanders to protect these views by making sure outdoor lighting doesn’t scare off pollinators. Their advice on how to set up your own outdoor lighting works whether you’re on Nantucket or in Reno, Nevada. Check it out. (And thanks, Bill Hoenk, for the great photo.)

“What I want you to hold on to today are two words: transformation and possibility. To address the climate crisis, the all-encompassing challenge that will touch whatever life and work you will go on to, requires that we not just change or adapt, but that we transform society, from extractive to regenerative. … What this moment in history requires is a tenacious focus on solutions, and a vision of what we are working toward, of what is possible.” 

– Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, founder of Urban Ocean Lab, and author of What If We Get It Right (on Amazon and Bookshop) in a commencement address at Middlebury College

You’ve likely stumbled over a commencement speech or two online, even if you haven’t attended one in person. While all are intended to congratulate and inspire, the best touch us where we are and equip our young people (or not so young — graduation isn’t restricted to youth) with advice that will move us. Which is exactly what was poignant about the address given by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. She doesn’t sugarcoat our crisis. “I am a scientist,” she told the graduates. “I know what we are up against.” 

But she reminded them — and all of us — that this moment goes far beyond understanding the scope of the problem. It requires “an expansive set of possibility.” We see that in so many of the stories that we publish on our site or read elsewhere. The innovation. The imagination. The tenacity. “What if we get it right?” Johnson has asked us. A question well worth considering. And then creating our answer. 

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• Destination: Shelburne Farms Inn

• Great Gifts for Great Dads 

• Dear Dot: Can I Make My Car More Eco-Friendly?

• The Best Outdoor Lighting to Keep Bees Buzzing

• Picnic: Pimento Cheese Samiches

• A San Francisco Streetcar Named Preservation

• Flying: How Far Am I Willing to Go?

• A Community-Driven Bus in the U.K.

FEATURED STORIES

BIG IDEAS AND LOCAL CHANGEMAKERS

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“As I round the bend to the Shelburne Farms Inn,” writes Sarah Glazer, “I catch my breath at the sight of a massive turreted structure of stone and shingles. The 1890 barn, reminiscent of a French chateau, was built by a Vanderbilt heiress and her husband to form the nucleus of their nearly 4,000-acre model farm just 20 minutes from the Burlington, Vermont, airport. I’ve come here to learn about the farm’s experiments — over nearly a century and a half — in sustainable farming, now conducted under the auspices of a nonprofit founded by the current heirs.” Hike (10 miles of trails with views of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains), learn (check out the cheese tour), eat (field-to-table feasts), stay (in a Vanderbilt mansion), and bring the kids (lots of educational programs, and the chance to pet sheep and hold chickens). Find out more.

 Bluedot Living Kitchen

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Dear Dot: Can I Make My Car More Eco-Friendly?

Dear Dot,

I can’t afford a new electric vehicle. Is there a way to make my internal combustion engine more energy-efficient? Does it matter what grade fuel I use?

— Poppy

Dear Poppy,

For too long, the notion of being environmentally responsible has been tangled up with the purchase of new eco-friendly things. Electric vehicles, for instance. But using what we have as responsibly as we can is often more virtuous, so your question is a good one. 

I took your query to Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity. Becker worked hard to get achievable fuel-efficiency standards passed in 2012 by the Obama administration, only to watch them be gutted in 2017 under Trump. But Becker is a man who does not accept defeat, nor should we. At the top of Becker’s list of how to reduce our fuel emissions is a simple one: Drive less.

Read on.

BUY LESS/BUY BETTER:

Great Gifts for Great Dads

If you make a purchase through our links, including from Amazon, we may earn a small commission.

For dads who love birding

• This solar-powered, internet-connected birdhouse that photographs and identifies the species that come to visit (on Amazon)

• Affordable, high-quality binoculars with a no-matter-what guarantee

• Find More Birds: 111 Surprising Ways to Spot More Birds Wherever You Are by Heather Wolf (on Bookshop and Amazon)

For dads who love cooking

• An epic outdoor pizza oven that will make this your tastiest summer yet

• Wonderful single-origin spices and exciting, flavorful rubs and blends from our favorite spice company  

• An exceptional cooking thermometer with a five-year warranty

 For dads whose gifters need last-minute ideas

• Tickets to a concert, festival, or sporting event

• A Masterclass subscription, perfect for dads who are always interested in learning something new

• An amazing selection of online baking classes from King Arthur 

• Quirky online classes from Common Goods, with topics ranging from Pickling to Smoky Cocktails to Pet Portrait Painting

• A surprise weekend away 

The Keep-This Handbook

On the Road

Like many young California natives, my best friend has packed up and moved to Texas. I still haven’t fully forgiven her for no longer living 10 minutes away from me, but I do thank her for giving me a reason to travel somewhere new (with a free place to crash!). So this summer, I’m trading in my Birkenstocks for cowboy boots, loading up my Prius, and road-tripping from Los Angeles to Dallas.

I decided to make the 20-something-hour drive because it is easier on the planet and my wallet. Plus, I have no doubt that my hybrid will make it after Bluedot contributor Krista Halverson made a 650-mile drive from L.A. to Utah on her own electric road trip. 

But sometimes, we want to travel farther — distances that aren’t feasible by car. Do you fly or sacrifice your vacation? That’s up to you. It is valuable to explore what this world has to offer to remind us what we are working so hard to save. If your flight is already booked, consider Finger Lakes Climate Fund’s carbon footprint calculator to cure that carbon guilt.

We’re happy to say we will see you next week, as our newsletter will now go out weekly. See you then!

–Emily Cain (and Leslie Garrett, Robin Jones, and Jamie Kageleiry)

Editors

Write us at editor@bluedotliving.com

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.

Sent to: _t.e.s.t_@example.com

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